Questions pilots actually ask.
What does it cost, and how do I get access?
It's free for verified AA pilots right now. You enter your AA employee number (checked against the roster), confirm your name, and verify with a one-time code sent to your @aa.com address. Verified pilots only.
What's actually in the app?
Four tools behind one login. AskPubs answers from the manuals, contract, regs and MEL with the page cited. PBS builds your regular lineholder bid layers from loaded roster, award and pairing data. Training puts your fleet's QUAL, REQUAL and CQ prep in one place beside drills for flows, maneuvers and callouts. Seniority shows where you stand, who is leaving your seat, when another could come into reach, and what it would pay. Same login, same pilot — each already knows your fleet, seat and number.
Is this affiliated with American Airlines or a union?
No. AskPubs is independent, built by a working pilot.
Is my data private?
Your manuals and contract are stored and searched on a private, access-controlled server — not a public file share. AskPubs uses code to retrieve, route, and check the relevant passages or PBS data first. To write the response, it sends only your question and the matching context to Anthropic's Claude, which molds the final wording but is not allowed to answer directly from its own knowledge and is not used to train models. Encrypted in transit (HTTPS); access limited to verified crew.
Are my chats monitored or logged?
Your chats aren't read by people for surveillance or discipline. Like any app, limited technical data (errors, usage, quality signals) helps keep it reliable and improve answers. Your conversations are tied to your account so you can come back and review them.
Can AskPubs make mistakes?
Yes. It's built so code finds the evidence first and AI only shapes the final answer, but you should still confirm anything important against the source it cites — which is exactly why every answer points to one.
Can I use it on my phone like an app?
Yes. On your phone, use Add to Home Screen (the Safari share menu on iOS, or the Chrome menu on Android) for a full-screen, app-like experience — handy before a trip or on a layover.
Can it be set up for other crew groups?
Yes. If a group has its documents in digital form, AskPubs can be loaded for them the same way.
AskPubs
Where do the answers come from?
Only the documents loaded for your fleet — manuals, contract, regs, MEL. Never the public internet. AskPubs code retrieves and checks the supporting passages before Claude writes the final answer from that context.
What aircraft are covered?
737, 777, 787, and A320, with answers scoped to your fleet.
What if I change fleet or equipment?
Update it in your profile — AskPubs will search the documents for your new fleet.
How does the aircraft lock work?
If you ask about a specific aircraft, AskPubs locks the conversation to that fleet (shown top-right) so follow-ups stay on the same aircraft. Clear it with the X on the aircraft badge.
Can I ask follow-up questions?
Yes — follow-ups work best when they stay in the same conversation.
What should I do if an answer looks wrong?
Reword it, add detail, or ask more specifically. If it still looks off, use the in-app report or email [email protected].
PBS
How does the bid builder work?
Tell it the kind of month you want in plain English — weekends off, no red-eyes, max credit. It already knows your seniority, base, fleet, and loaded award data, so it builds regular lineholder layers L1-L7 with specific settings, explains each one, and gives you a clean list to keep open while you enter PBS. Reserve layers are handled separately from regular lineholder bids.
Does it know my seniority?
Yes. Your rank, base, fleet, and last month's award are pulled from the roster — you never re-enter them. Answers are about your actual position, not a generic estimate.
Does it submit my bid for me?
No. It builds the layers and hands them back as a clean list; you enter them in PBS and can adjust anything first. You stay in control.
How does it know what I can hold?
It compares your rank to loaded award and pairing data — credit, days off, weekends, LCW, MALV, IMAX when applicable, and the rank range that held it. Real data and code-driven comparisons first; AI only shapes the explanation. The bidding decision is still yours.
What if the bid packages aren't out yet?
It'll tell you, and help you review last month's result or plan ahead until the new packages drop. If a month, base, fleet, or seat slice is not loaded, AskPubs is designed to say that instead of inventing a holdability answer.
Training
What's in the training lane?
Your fleet's training organized the way AA actually trains it — QUAL, REQUAL and CQ. AA's own lessons, guides, videos and Crewcast sit beside drills for your flows, maneuvers and callouts. Pick your fleet and seat once; everything after that is yours.
Where do the maneuvers come from?
The PTG-published maneuvers for your fleet and event — not a separate prep list somebody invented. On the CQ track the event timeline (RGSO, RTSO, MOO, RLEO) is the syllabus, and tapping an event gives you its purpose, airports, plates, AA lessons, and the maneuvers AA lists for that day.
What are Review, Chair-fly, and Check?
Three ways through the same procedure. Review shows the full choreography, including the yellow notes — those are part of the procedure, not commentary. Chair-fly hides your seat's lines so you say them out loud, then reveal. Check marks each of your lines got-it or missed; it's all-or-nothing to master, and misses queue up on the home screen.
Is this AA's official training?
No. AskPubs is independent. Where AA publishes a lesson, guide or video, the lane links you straight to it rather than paraphrasing it — the drills around them are ours, and your check ride is still AA's.
Seniority
What does the seniority tab tell me?
Where you sit on the list and among those actually bidding, the most junior number that held each award type at your seat last month, who left your seat ahead of you and where they went, when a different seat could come into reach, and what that seat would pay month by month against staying put.
Where do the numbers come from?
Standing and seat composition from the seniority list as loaded. Movement from comparing consecutive awarded months and following the pilots who left. Pay from the CBA Section 3 tables at your own longevity year, with the short-call and long-call guarantees for reserve scenarios. It is measurement, not a model.
Will it tell me when I'll hold a seat?
It gives you a window, not a date — earliest, estimate, latest. A single month would imply a certainty the seniority list doesn't have. Retirements are only part of what opens a seat; most of the room ahead of you comes from upgrades and base changes, and the lane shows which, for your seat.
Why does it say "not eligible for this seat"?
Because you're junior to every pilot in it today. Those vacancies go to the pilots senior to you who bid them, and that queue isn't in the data yet — so instead of guessing a month, it shows where you stand and leaves the months blank. It's the tool being careful, not broken.
Is the pay comparison my actual paycheck?
No — it's a comparison, and it says what it assumes. Base CBA rates at your longevity year, the international override not included, the company 401(k) shown as its own line rather than folded in, training months charged to a new seat, and earnings stopping at your retirement month. Use it to weigh seats against each other, not to predict a W-2.