Dear US Airways Employees, 

While the Pegasus Project currently assists US Airways flight attendants who are unable to work due to a critical or life-threatening illness or injury, I am excited to inform you that in early 2012, Pegasus will begin assisting all US Airways employees who meet this same criteria. In order to open our doors as soon as possible next year, we are asking all employees to contribute to Pegasus through United Way, as direct payroll deduction has not yet been established for all employees. If you currently give through United Way you may still amend your donor choices and add Pegasus by emailing Karen Olson at kolson@vsuw.org and let her know what changes you would like to make.
 

Pegasus assists with $500 a month and pays towards life-sustaining bills that keep the lights on, food on the table and a roof over head. Assistance is provided monthly until the individual is able to return to work or until they reach the life-time maximum of $5,000. 

 Pegasus was established in 1993 by flight attendants from US Airways and United Airlines as an assistance fund for members of the Association of Flight Attendants. We have assisted flight attendants at over 27 airlines. For the past decade US Airways flight attendants have donated the “lions share” of funds that have assisted flight attendants at various carriers and the Board of Pegasus has been comprised of primarily US Airways flight attendants. For this reason, the Board decided to bring Pegasus home to US Airways and expand our assistance to include all of our employees.

 When we made this decision, we knew that it would be difficult to accomplish without the assistance of US Airways, so we reached out in June of this year for their help. The company’s response was warm and receptive and they, too, were excited that this assistance fund will become available to help our employees in need.

 We want employees to know that while US Airways is helping us communicate with employees, we are a stand-alone nonprofit organization that is governed by our Board. Currently, the Pegasus Board is comprised of flight attendants, however we are now seeking individuals from each major group within US Airways to serve on the new Board. We would like to see a pilot, flight attendant, mechanic, gate/ticket counter agent, fleet service, operation representative, reservation agent and an administrative person serve on our Board, so that every major work group is represented and our Board if fair and balanced.

If you are interested in serving on the Board or serving on a Committee, we are currently accepting applications. Our application form can be found on our home page and is due back to Pegasus by December 9, 2011. Committee work will include fundraising, communications and researching resources for those seeking assistance, and we are in need of individuals who specializes in Information Technology who may have the skills to build a commerce section for our website where employees wares may be sold with a portion going to Pegasus.

 The cornerstone of Pegasus is confidentiality. Each of our Board members signs and strictly adheres to our Confidentiality Policy from our Policies and Procedures. The information from employees who seek assistance is only shared with the Review Board. When determining eligibility, if the Review Board is uncertain that the employee’s medical situation qualifies as critical or life-threatening, the Review Board forwards the employee’s information to the Pegasus Advisory Board physician who then determines if the eligibility criteria has been met.

While we currently assist flight attendants and will soon be assisting all US Airways employees, it is our hope to expand our criteria to include catastrophic (fire, flood, hurricane, etc.) and life-altering events (loss of the primary bread winner in the family, relocation in cases of domestic violence etc.). Expansion of our criteria can only take place once funds are adequate to do so.

We are excited to bring this very needed organization to all of our employees and we look forward to building upon the foundation that has already been established and to make it one that we can all be proud to support. I hope you will join me in funding the new Pegasus mission that will help us open our doors to all employees very soon.  

Nicki Kirkeby – Executive Director