AMERICAN:

Great News for American Airlines Crew Members!!

You can now pull up a calendar at the end of each flight month and send the 12 of them to us at the end of the year eliminating the need to fill in the log form!!  Saving your H2 calendar every month works great, but you have to be diligent about pulling it up.  Then you would only need to send us the twelve sheets at the end of the year!

We hope that American will start allowing yearly storage of this flight data as most airlines do, but until then just remember to save them!  This will be the preferred method next year!  It works well for both Pilots and Flight attendants.  See instructions below for obtaining calendars!

In the meantime, we have located another source for your flight data that works great for pilots.  You can get the information from your APA website.   You can pull up each month (going back several years!) and send the sheets to us.  It works great for domestic and international.  (The Flight Attendants union does not want the liability for posting the information)

Flying history for PILOTS can be found on the APA website,

To do this:

Go to APA Home page (click here for direct link)

On the top tab select National Committees

Continue with selecting More Committees    

(drops down really low on your screen – under legislative committees – use slide bar see “more committees”

Select TASC

Click on “Pilot Services Bar” across the top

Select “Previous Months Flying”

Select requested “Month and Year” you wish to retrieve

Click on “Retrieve Month" Button (slow to pull up)

then Click “view all HSS” for month

 Print out all twelve months and mail to us with your check for fifty dollars.  If you were in training at any time please let us know where and when so that we can give credit if credit is allowed.

 If you had an entire month off for whatever reason let us know so that we do not delay processing your report to find out if it was left out in error.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS:

Sign up for Reminder service!

Here's how to the get HI2 CALENDARS FROM AMR:

Go to AA Flight Service

click on "Sabre"

From the drop down box click on HI2 CALENDAR.  Your previous month is only available until around the 14th.  You may use the HI1 Calendar for your current month ONLY after you have finished flying for the month.

A calendar with square blocks will come up with your sequences listed below it.  Click on PRINT!  You might also download the file to a folder you have created to organize your monthly printouts.

Log form can also be used by those of you not able to access the APA website.

Here's what to do for the Log Form: 

If you have your date, city pairs and block out and "block in" times, download and fill in log form from our download page!

If you are a pilot and taking this information from your "paysheets" PLEASE NOTE:  American Airlines  lists your "out times" and your "minutes flown" not your "in time", we have written a special program to accommodate this.  Our software allows you to enter the "minutes"  and WE will automatically calculate the IN times for you!
Saving your HI-3's after each trip is a very good idea!

Download this special log form for use with AA "paysheets":

for Microsoft Excel users

for Microsoft Works users

After  downloading  our Flight Log sheet, enter your information into it.  Make payment on our website and send an email with your file attached and note  that payment has been made, name address and phone number.  We will email your report back to you ususally with in 3-24 hours.

For Flight Attendants,  I have been told that the needed information is available by calling your Pay Comp department and requesting "VIP CREW" sheets with your line showing  out and in times.  Your base administrator might also have the required information.    

Saving your H2 calendar every month works great, but you have to be diligent about pulling it up.  Then you would only need to send us the twelve sheets at the end of the year!

       Pilots & FA's:

PLEASE NOTE:  The portion listed as "AL" on your sheets is not what you are allowed for expenses as of Oct 15, 2002, according to Revenue Procedure 2002-63 pursuant to section 4.03, which states said transportation workers are subject to calculating expenses as per section "6.04 (1) which state:

"The rate may be prorated using the method prescribed by the Federal Travel Regulations.  Currently the Federal Travel Regulations allow three-fourths of the applicable federal M&IE rate for each partial day during which the employee or self employed individual is traveling away from home ..."  

Section 6.04 allows for the employer to choose method (1) or (2) which  allows for the employer to pay expense on the half day.  Please note that this refers to the EMPLOYER, not the crewmember.  The revenue procedure states clearly that the employee MUST use option (1) only.

What does this mean?  It means that if you use the amounts listed as "AL" on your pay sheets you will be significantly over claiming your expenses and possibly setting yourself up to be  disallowed in an audit.  The Tax comp department at American is aware of the problem as is the IRS.  We were told specifically by the writer of the new IRS revenue procedure that we could not add the half day portions even though they appear to be what AMR lists as your allowable expense for each trip when totaling our clients expenses.  Doing so would result in claiming the wrong amount!    We recommend using the form listed as for American Employees on our download page.   

We were told that individual crew members should contact their pay comp department at his/her base for more detailed information on when these items will be corrected or deleted entirely from showing up on their pay sheets.

One crew member from American was sent an email telling them that the 3/4 day rule was purely the preference of Pro-Diem.  This is not accurate!   You can verify this information by calling the office of the Associate Chief Counsel of Income Tax and Accounting and speaking to the current author of the revenue procedures that pertain to crew members. His name is Christian Wood and the   number is (202)622-4930.