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Greetings,
American Eagle 2009
Negotiations Survey Report You
AFA Negotiating Committee is pleased to present you with a
report on our survey. First of all, we want to thank all of you
who took the time and thought to answer the survey – the
results of which will guide your Committee as we define our
bargaining priorities at the table. We had a very good rate of
return. The
Committee found it intriguing that the demographic results
showed that now, more than ever, our members consider this a
career, not merely a job or stepping stone to something
else. This
validates our belief that our goals are worthwhile. It was also
encouraging to see that you believed achieving Family Medical
Leave for domestic partners was substantially important. The majority of
respondents were domiciled in Your
Committee looks forward to standing in solidarity with you as we
enter into this Section 6 negotiations. Further survey results
are as follows (numbers are the percentage of flight attendants
responding): 1)
Where are you
domiciled? a.
DFW
(43.7%) b. ORD
(30.8 %) c.
JFK/LGA (
9.3%) d. MIA
(
5.6%) e.
SJU
(
5.1%) f.
LAX
(
4.5%) g.
2)
How long have you been a
flight attendant at American Eagle? a.
0-1 YRS.
(11.1%) b. 2-5
YRS.
(35.5%) c.
6-9 YRS.
(22.4%) d. 10-13
YRS.
(14.9%) e.
14 + YRS.
(16.1%) 3)
What is your
gender? a.
Female
(74.8%) b. Male
(25.2%) 4)
What is your age
group? a.
19-25
(
4.5%) b. 26-35
(17.6%) c.
35-45
(20.7%) d. 46-55
(32.7%) e.
56 + Yrs.
(24.4%) 5)
Are you the primary wage
earner in your household? a.
Yes
(63.3%) b. No
(36.7%) 6)
How many dependants do
you support for tax purposes? (i.e. children, parents, college
students) a.
0
(67.8%) b. 1
(19.4%) c.
2
(
8.8%) d. 3
(
2.0%) e.
4 +
(
2.0%) 7)
Do you normally fly as
a?.. a.
Lineholder
(71.0%) b. Relief Lineholder
(
1.3%) c.
Reduced Guarantee ( 3.5%) d. Reserve
(24.2%) 8)
If you travel more than
50 miles to your domicile, what method of transportation do you
usually use? a.
American Eagle
(10.4%) b. American Airlines
(18.8%) c.
Another Airline
(
7.1%) d. Public Transportation
(
0.8%) e.
Car
(12.7%) f.
I live closer than 50
miles
(50.3%) 9)
If you commute, the
primary reason is: a.
For better flying and
schedules (
8.2%) b. For
increased compensation
(
1.5%) c.
To avoid reserve
(
2.3%) d. My
domicile closed; didn’t move (
5.1%) e.
Other
(24.4%) f.
Do not commute;
doesn’t apply
(58.4%) 10) Do
you fly reserve? a.
Yes
(31.1%) b. No
(68.9%) 11) I
plan to retire from American Eagle: a.
Within 1-3 years
(
5.3%) b. Within 4-6 years
(11.4%) c.
Within 7-8 years
(
6.3%) d. After
8 or more years
(47.2%) e.
I don’t plan to
retire
(29.8%) It
will come as no surprise that of the current
compensation improvements sought, you ranked an increase
in hourly wages as your most important issue followed closely by
increased per diem, increased pay for OT, increased vacation pay
and number of paid Holidays. The
top three ranked categories for new compensation
were Duty/Trip rigs, Holding Pay (pay for remaining on the
ground onboard with passengers) and Minimum Day (minimum daily
flight hour credit for each duty period) Improvements in nearly every facet of the current Reserve
system were called for under the results provided in this
survey. Not one
respondent was satisfied with our current
system! We
heard your voices loud and clear that oftentimes our current
rest is inadequate.
The overwhelming majority of you indicated that increased
rest is essential for us to perform our jobs safely and
efficiently. Rest
may be fine on the schedule, but all too often we heard you say
that scheduled rest is reduced to unacceptable
levels. While
we all want to be refreshed and perform our jobs safely, a large
number of you voiced concern that sometimes our work environment
is not the safest or cleanest. You provided anecdotes of dirty
planes and other issues that gave you pause for
concern. Of
those responding, being taken off a scheduled trip and assigned
other flying or being extended was an issue that needed to be
addressed in some manner. And a majority of you stated that trip
trading with Open Time is the most important line adjustment
tool. Of course,
when the system is frozen, it doesn’t do much
good! In
the area of medical leaves and benefits, you gave clear
direction that major improvements are needed in this area. Absent new favorable
legislation on Family Medical Leave, we must negotiate
provisions that are fair and inclusive for flight
attendants. As
for retirement, with the contraction of the airline industry, a
large portion of our flight attendant population is making the
choice to make a career at Eagle. That makes it essential for all of us to work
really hard and pull together to make Eagle a better place to
stay.
Once we have a ratified agreement, the survey
in its entirety will be available for viewing by any member in
good standing. |
