FAA Honors American Airlines, American Eagle, TAESL and More Than 5,800 Aviation Maintenance Technicians for Ongoing Commitment
November 10 2006 - 6:49PM
PR Newswire (US)
Diamond Award Highest Level of Honor in FAA's Program to Recognize
Importance of Ongoing Training in the Airline Industry FORT WORTH,
Texas, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines,
American Eagle and TAESL have each been awarded the FAA Diamond
Award -- the highest level of recognition under the FAA program --
for their commitment to safety through ongoing training of Aviation
Maintenance Technicians (AMTs). TAESL is a joint venture between
American and Rolls-Royce that repairs and overhauls certain
aircraft engines for clients of Rolls-Royce, such as American.
Representatives and AMTs from American, American Eagle and TAESL
will be honored by the FAA at a joint ceremony scheduled for 3
p.m., Monday, Nov. 13, at the American Airlines Hangar 4 at
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The FAA program provides
incentives and recognition for AMTs to participate in initial and
recurrent training programs. More than 5,800 American and American
Eagle AMTs -- who are represented by the Transport Workers Union of
America, Air Transport Division and AFL-CIO -- will receive
individual awards for training accomplished in 2005, representing
almost 313,000 hours of AMT training at American and American
Eagle. "Safety is the cornerstone of our organization, and
achieving the Diamond Award demonstrates the commitment by our
professional AMTs and the company to provide a safe and reliable
flight experience and working environment," said Robert W. Reding,
Senior Vice President -- Technical Operations, American Airlines.
"The Working Together process, and the continued support of
effective training by management and the Transport Workers Union,
allows us to move forward in positioning our company to achieve a
competitive advantage by doing most of our maintenance work
in-house in a cost-competitive and efficient manner." Don Videtich,
International Maintenance Representative for TWU, said, "Recurrent
and specialized training is often overlooked by the industry. These
awards are an affirmation of the professionalism of our AMTs as
well as American Airlines, American Eagle and the FAA's commitment
to provide and recognize the importance of additional training."
Danny Martinez, American's Vice President -- Line Maintenance, said
the FAA understands the employer's responsibility to bear the
burden of productivity loss and training costs, so to increase the
incentive for management to fund training, the agency honors
employers who take a proactive role in training their technical
work force. "This honor is a testament to the proactive measures
our AMTs take to find opportunities inside and outside of the
company to learn and help improve our operations," said Blair
Gregg, Vice President -- Airline Maintenance for American Eagle.
"Recurrent training and other similar initiatives allows us to fine
tune our already stellar maintenance programs." The program has
five different award levels -- Bronze, Silver, Gold, Ruby and the
highest, Diamond. Individual AMT award levels are based on the
number of training hours in which an AMT participates during the
year. The employer award is based upon the percentage of their
eligible AMTs who receive AMT awards during the year. About
American Airlines American Airlines is the world's largest airline.
American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines
serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 4,000 daily
flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000
aircraft. American's award-winning Web site, AA.com, provides users
with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news,
information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding
member of the oneworld(R) Alliance, which brings together some of
the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them
to offer their customers more services and benefits than any
airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve more
than 600 destinations in over 135 countries and territories.
American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are
subsidiaries of AMR Corporation (NYSE:AMR). AmericanAirlines,
American Eagle, the AmericanConnection(R) airlines, AA.com and
AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc.
About American Eagle American Eagle is the largest U.S. regional
airline, operating more than 1,800 daily flights to more than 140
cities throughout the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico
and the Caribbean on behalf of American Airlines. American Airlines
is the world's largest airline. American, American Eagle and the
AmericanConnection (R) airlines serve 250 cities in more than 40
countries with more than 4,000 daily flights. The combined network
fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American's award-winning
Web site, AA.com, provides users with easy access to check and book
fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers.
American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld (R)
Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names
in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers
more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.
Together, its members serve more than 600 destinations in over 135
countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American
Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation.
AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com and
AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc.
About Transport Workers Union -- ATD (Air Transport Division) TWU
represents nearly 50,000 workers in America's airline industry. We
represent workers in virtually all Classes and Crafts. America's
airline industry is possibly the most volatile of all industries.
Often times, a downturn in the airlines' economic fortunes are a
forecaster of a national recession. TWU has had enough experience
with these economic waves to know that good fortunes of today can
quickly go in reverse tomorrow. Most veteran members, who have
lived through to the rocky ride since the 1978 Airline Deregulation
Act, know this fact. Yet others believe that the worst is behind
us. The industry, however, is strewn with carriers who have not
heeded the lessons of the late 70s and 80s. Obviously, our union
cannot become complacent if we are to continue to protect our
membership's hard won gains and secure their futures. Visit our web
site http://atd.twuatd.org/ Current AMR Corp. releases can be
accessed on the Internet. The address is http://www.aa.com/
DATASOURCE: American Airlines, Inc. CONTACT: John Hotard, or Andrea
Huguely, both of American Airlines, Inc., +1-817-967-1577, or Web
site: http://www.aa.com/ http://atd.twuatd.org/
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