SEPTEMBER 11 CLOSING REMARKS AT BANQUET

TONIGHT MARKS THE BEGINNING OF AN ANNUAL TRADITION WITH THE ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION SAFETY AWARDS. I CANNOT IMAGINE A MORE WORTHY GROUP OF RECIPIENTS THAN THOSE WE JUST HONORED.

APA’S FLIGHT ASSIST COMMITTEE WAS THERE FOR OUR CREWMEMBERS IN OUR DARKEST HOURS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS.

THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL FLIGHT ATTENDANTS JOINED US AS WE CLIMBED BACK ABOARD OUR AIRCRAFT SCANT DAYS AFTER THE ATTACKS, AT A TIME WHEN LITTLE COULD BE DONE TO GUARANTEE OUR CREWS’ SAFETY.

CAPTAIN HANS MANTEL, FIRST OFFICERS DARREN MACGILLIVRAY AND KENT THORPE, FLIGHT ATTENDANTS ARLETTA CORNETT AND KAREN SHERROUSE, DISPATCHER JULIE ROBICHAUX, AND PASSENGER KWAME JAMES SURELY PREVENTED ANOTHER CATASTROPIC LOSS ON DECEMBER 22 WHEN THEY SUCCESSFULLY COUNTERED TERRORIST RICHARD REID’S ATTEMPT TO DETONATE EXPLOSIVES ON BOARD FLIGHT #63.

CAPTAIN DEAN WEBBER AND FIRST OFFICER VINCE BELSER REACTED SWIFTLY WHEN A DERANGED PASSENGER BREACHED THEIR COCKPIT ABOARD FLIGHT #1238 ON 0CT0BER 8, STOPPING THAT INDIVIDUAL IN HIS TRACKS AND AVERTING TRAGEDY.

IN ADDITION TO THESE WELL-DOCUMENTED EVENTS, I THINK IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE PROPERLY RECOGNIZE ALL OF OUR FELLOW PILOTS AND CREWMEMBERS FOR THE VITAL ROLE THEY HAVE EACH PLAYED IN HELPING TO SAVE OUR AIRLINE, AN ENTIRE INDUSTRY AND A WAY OF LIFE. DESPITE THE DAILY INDIGNITIES THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED SIMPLY TRYING TO GET TO WORK, OUR PILOTS AND FLIGHT ATTENDANTS MET THE CHALLENGES OF THE PAST YEAR WITH ABSOLUTE PROFESSIONALISM. HAD OUR CREWMEMBERS NOT ANSWERED THE CALL, AMERICAN AIRLINES MAY WELL HAVE FOUNDERED AND WE WOULD NOT BE GATHERED HERE TONIGHT. IT’S THAT SIMPLE.

OUR CREWS RESPONDED AS THEY DID BASED ON TRUST—TRUST IN THEMSELVES, AND TRUST IN EACH OTHER. I SUSPECT THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTACKS A YEAR AGO NEVER IMAGINED THAT THE RESULT WOULD BE A STRONGER NATION. YET IF OUR CREWMEMBERS ARE ANY INDICATION, THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT HAS HAPPENED.

THE STAGGERING LOSSES FROM LAST SEPTEMBER 11—THE HUMAN TOLL—WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US. WE MUST NEVER FORGET CAPTAIN JOHN OGONOWSKI AND FIRST OFFICER TOM MCGUINNESS ABOARD FLIGHT 11, CAPTAIN CHIC BURLINGAME AND FIRST OFFICER DAVID CHARLEBOIS ABOARD FLIGHT #77, THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS ABOARD BOTH FLIGHTS, AND THE MANY, MANY OTHERS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE ATTACKS.

WE RECEIVED YET ANOTHER TERRIBLE SHOCK ON NOVEMBER 12 WHEN FLIGHT #587 WENT DOWN JUST AFTER TAKEOFF FROM JFK. WE GRIEVE THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN ED STATES, FIRST OFFICER STEN MOLIN, AND THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AND PASSENGERS ABOARD THAT FLIGHT. WE ARE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, AND OUR GOAL IS TO IDENTIFY PRECISELY WHAT WENT WRONG THAT MORNING TO SAFEGUARD AGAINST ANYTHING LIKE IT HAPPENING AGAIN.

AS WE CONCLUDE OUR OBSERVANCES OF THE PAST YEAR, WE MUST MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR OWN LIVES, BOTH PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL. TO DO SO REQUIRES TREMENDOUS STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. IT IS CLEAR TO ME THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF THAT PARTICULAR COMMODITY IN THIS ROOM, ON THE LINE AND ACROSS OUR NATION.

IN CLOSING, ON BEHALF OF THE ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION AND ALL 13,500 AMERICAN AIRLINES PILOTS, WE EXTEND OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO THIS EVENING’S HONOREES. AND FOR EVERYONE ELSE HERE TONIGHT, WE THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.