(2012-0742-F) American Airlines Pilot Strike, 1997

91 folders, approximately 1,763 pages

This collection consists of records concerning the possible American Airlines pilots strike in 1997. American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) were unable to reach an agreement and on February 15, 1997, James Sovich, the president of the APA called for a strike. However, concerned that a strike would disrupt holiday travel, President Clinton created a Presidential Emergency Board to reach an agreement and stop the strike. This collection contains correspondence from public and private figures, including members of Congress, regarding their concerns about the possible strike.

The materials in FOIA 2012-0742-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. The records in this FOIA relate to the possible American Airlines pilots strike in 1997. American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) were unable to reach a new agreement and on February 15, 1997, James Sovich, the president of the APA called for a strike. At that time President Clinton invoked his powers under the 1926 Railway Labor Act to stop the strike and enact a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB). The act allows the President to create an emergency board when labor disputes threaten to “substantially interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country of essential transportation service.” The PEB created was a three member panel. The PEB worked with involved parties to reach an agreement and recommend a non-binding resolution. The panel had 30 days to make recommendations and the parties had another 30 days to consider the resolution. A tentative agreement was reached on March 19, 1997. FOIA request 2012-0742-F contains materials from several offices including WHORM Subject File and White House Staff and Office Files. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) records contain correspondence from public and private figures, including members of Congress, regarding their concerns about the possible strike. The White House Staff and Office Files contain correspondence, memos, reports, and news clippings.. These records include information gathered about the possible effects of a strike. Automated Records Management System and Tape Restoration Project email collections contain email correspondence concerning the American Airlines pilots strike in 1997. The email collections primarily consist of email describing strike related issues concerning American Airlines service to Puerto Rico, Allied Pilots Association (APA) negotiations, and Department of Transportation weekly reports to the Chief of Staff concerning the APA.

Textual

Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas- Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject Files, Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office, Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails, and Clinton Presidential Records: TRP Emails. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) contains a variety of series created to organize and track documents and correspondence. The WHORM Alpha file was compiled by the White House Office of Records Management from 1993 – 1996 and is a series of documents arranged by name of persons, organizations, or events. The WHORM Subject file was compiled by the White House Office of Records Management and is a series of categories designated by a letter/number combination. In addition, there are WHORM, WHORM Counsel, WHORM (CL), WHORM (OP), WHORM (Too Late); WHORM (Various Offices); and WHORM (Alpha Project) series. Staff and Office files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. WHORM files are processed at the document level; whereas, Staff and Office files are processed at the folder level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS database is comprised of six sub-series of email records called "buckets." The buckets generally represent a specific White House office. The buckets are titled: NPR for National Performance Review, OPD for Office of Policy Development, POTUS for President of the United States, WHO for White House Office, CEA for Council of Economic Advisers, and Default for emails not associated with an office. The Tape Restoration Project (TRP) is a database consisting of restored emails from the Automated Records Management System (ARMS) from July 1994 through June of 2000. The TRP is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential record email. The TRP database is comprised of the same six sub-series of email as in ARMS. TRP email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. FOIA 2012-0742-F includes WHORM records from these subject codes: CA Civil Aviation.

Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions.

Offical records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).

Staff Archivist, 2014. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released.

The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2012-0742-F:
Box 1
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File
Category Case Number
CA 203794
CA 204007
CA 204021
CA 204392
CA 204585
CA 204724
CA 204789
CA 204830
CA 204850
CA 204878
CA 205168
CA 205827
CA 205982
CA 205985
CA 206005
CA 206021
CA 206040
CA 206043
CA 206045
CA 206050
CA 206058
CA 206080
CA 206361
CA 206387
CA 206403
CA 206544
CA 206545
CA 206548
CA 206621
CA 206622
CA 206720
CA 206746
CA 206948
CA 206964
CA 206969
CA 206988
CA 207040
CA 207573
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File (continued)
Category Case Number
CA 207574
CA 207576
CA 207580
CA 207583
CA 207587
CA 207591
CA 207597
CA 207599
CA 207644
CA 207677
CA 207758
CA 208212
CA 208689
CA 208690
CA 209286
CA 209436
CA 209959
CA 211044
CA 211102
CA 211376
CA 215121
CA 218696
Box 2
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Chief of Staff
Panetta, Leon; Bowles, Erskine
Bowles- American Airlines [February-March 1997] [OA/ID 15119]
[February 14, 1997- Department of Transportation Talking Points on the American
Airlines Pilots Strike] [loose] [OA/ID 15119]
Counsel’s Office
Lindsey, Bruce
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: American Airlines/APA [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: American Airlines Statement [OA/ID
14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: [Briefing Materials] [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Contract Negotiations- Potential Strike
2/12/97 [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Correspondence [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Draft Joint Resolution [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Economic Impact/AA-APA [OA/ID
14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: General [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Letters/AA-APA [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: National Mediation Board Press Release
[OA/ID 14601]
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued)
Counsel’s Office
Lindsey, Bruce
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Other Airline Issues [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: PEB’s [President’s Emergency Board]
Findings [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: PEB [President’s Emergency Board]
Members [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: POTUS Correspondence [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: POTUS Statement [OA/ID 14601]
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: Railway Labor Act/Airlines [OA/ID
14601]
Box 3
[American Airlines- Allied Pilots Association]: [Strike contact numbers] [loose] [OA/ID
14601]
American Airlines Strike [1] [OA/ID 24795]
American Airlines Strike [2] [OA/ID 24795]
Legislative Affairs
Forbes, Jeff
Jeff Forbes- American Airlines Strike Information [OA/ID 14134]
National Economic Council
Robyn, Dorothy
American Airlines Pilot Dispute: [Clippings] [loose] [OA/ID 21478]
American Airlines Pilot Dispute: [Labor Dispute] [OA/ID 21478]
 American Airlines Pilot Dispute: [loose] [OA/ID 21478]
American Airlines Pilot Dispute: Ris, Will- American [OA/ID 21478]
Sperling, Gene
American Airlines [OA/ID 19185]
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management [Email]
WHO [OA/ID 500000]
[“Allied Pilots Association” or APA]
[02/07/1997-03/26/1997]
[American Airlines Strike]
[01/23/1997-03/19/1997]
Default [OA/ID 1100000]
[American Airlines Strike]
[02/11/1997-03/13/1997]
Clinton Presidential Records: Tape Restoration Project [Email]
Default [1100000]
[American Airlines Strike]
[01/23/1997-02/06/1997]