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In this
Issue...
- LOCAL COUNCIL MEETING REVIEW
- OVERFLYING
- BASE CLOSURES
- GENERAL REMINDERS
- LOCAL COUNCIL CONTACT NUMBERS
We have a lot to review today so we will get started with a
review of our local council meeting and then discuss the base
closures as well as a number of other issues.
LOCAL COUNCIL MEETING REVIEW
We
had nearly 70 members attend our local council meeting on
Wednesday, October 21. Hector Adler, VP of Inflight, was
our invited guest and he spoke about the changes he will be
making as they pertain to each local base, Inflight
Administration and the Training Department. He also took
questions for about an hour before we actually started the union
meeting. He spoke about contract negotiations and the fact
that when he first got here, he was not sure how long this would
go on but he has seen a noticeable difference over the summer in
the pace of negotiations and that both sides are working very
hard. Other issues brought forward by members in
attendance were the overhead space issues and specifically,
carry-on luggage problems that persist. Mr. Adler stated
he is not a fan of Zone Boarding, which US Airways currently
uses, and he would like to see the airline go back to boarding
from the rear of the aircraft. This idea was well received
by those in attendance, but Mr. Adler admitted it would be a
tough sell to management to go back to that.
Mike Flores, MEC President, gave a negotiations update and we
gave a handout on what sections have been closed, tabled and
what had been negotiated in the most recent sessions between the
JNC and the Company.
Paul Frishkorn, MEC Benefits Chair, spoke about the changes
for Benefits since Open Enrollment for 2010 had not closed and
then I followed with local issues regarding the recent charters,
changes to ACARS (which was written about in an MEC E-line) and
then the big topic was the overflying issue and what is and is
not overflying.
OVERFLYING
The contract is very
clear regarding ETB time (Section 9-12) in that ‘there is
no cap on the number of pay hours a flight attendant may gain
through picking up pairings from other flight attendants through
the ETB.’ The perception seems to be that overflying
is a huge issue in PHL. The reality is that in the last
High Block report I received, there were 183 flight attendants
on that list and keep in mind, PHL is a base with 2,000 flight
attendants. 49 of those 183 were over by 2+00 hours or
less or, the time you can make in a month circling over New
Jersey waiting to land at PHL. The reality is this - there
are a small number of people who are overflying by a lot of
hours. Of the 183 on the list, 27 overflew by 15 hours or
more. If you have 40 flight attendants overflying 40 each
in one month, that’s 1,600 hours of company time trips
that are not getting to the rest of the base. Now, the
other thing to consider is that overflying does not just affect
the most junior in a base – it affects anyone junior to
the person who overflies. If someone with 35 years
overflies by 40 hours, that is 40 hours that everyone with less
than 35 years doesn’t get a chance to work. If the
person who overflies has 20 years, then everyone with less than
20 years is affected.
The rule of thumb to protect yourself when looking at your
schedule is simple: In option 2 of CATCREW, you will see
your Projected Actual in the bottom left corner.
This number must be between your Obligation (OBL) and your MAX,
and those numbers are located in the upper right-hand corner of
option 2. Remember, you can add 3+00 hours to your
MAX. The under fly (UF) located at the bottom center of
option 2 in CATCREW is included in your Projected Actual.
The monthly MAX is normally set by crew scheduling at 90 hrs.
each month, but there have been months when it was set at
85. Simply put, Projected Actual must be between OBL and
MAX + 3 hrs. If you are over your MAX +3, you are
overflying.
Again, we thank everyone who attended on October 21. We
are seeing more and more people attend with each meeting and we
will have our next Council Meeting sometime in mid-April, prior
to the AFA Board of Director’s meeting.
BASE CLOSURES
On Tuesday, October
27, a special meeting of the MEC was held, via teleconference,
and we were notified that the company would announce the
following day the closing of the BOS, LGA and LAS crew bases and
their efforts to streamline the airline’s
operations. There are approximately 150 active flight
attendants in LGA and 180 in BOS. As most of you know by
now, the majority of the flying time from those bases will come
to PHL, including all E-190 time, and that is why the active
count in PHL will increase by 153 and DCA will increase by
41. AFA is currently working with the company on numerous
issues regarding these base closures to try and soften, as much
as possible, the impact these closures will have – and
will impact each base. As soon as we know about possible
buy-outs, transfers, etc., you will be notified via E-Line.
GENERAL REMINDERS
LOD/O
Example: A German
LOD/O, picks up, via AIL, ETB, swap, a trip to MUC in the B
position, for example, and the f/a in the LOD/O position is
junior. Question: Can the senior LOD/O bump the junior
LOD/O out of that position? Answer: No. The
LOD/O in the LOD/O position is entitled to keep that
position. If the FRA LOD/O and the MUC LOD/O decide to
swap trips and there is a more senior German LOD/O on their
trip, they are still entitled to keep their LOD/O position and
cannot be bumped out of it just because another GER LOD/O is on
the pairing (in a non-LOD/O position) and is more senior.
SEC LINE AUGMENTATION
If you are a
SEC line holder you CAN augment a split trip. Last month,
a f/a notified us because scheduling initially denied a split
trip during SEC line augmentation. If a scheduler denies
you a split trip during augmentation, ask to speak to a
supervisor because you are entitled to augment a split trip - if
you want.
VACATION BUYBACK
As you all know,
the company decided to award Vacation Buyback in all bases to
everyone that applied. The local council was notified at
the same time you were – we had no advance notice this
would happen. This will undoubtedly reduce the number of
SEC lines to bid for December and, by the way, I should have
those numbers by tomorrow and I will get that out as soon as
possible. The reason, according to what AFA was told, is
that senior management made this decision, in part, in an effort
to allay any potential problems that could negatively impact the
operations over the holidays. For those of you who will
fly over your vacation, regardless of whether you were awarded
Vacation Buyback, I would strongly suggest you review section
9.D.4 (page 9-14) of your contact regarding the ‘Use of
the ETB over Vacation.’
Since Vacation Buyback
has not been awarded for years, this language needs to be
reviewed.
Regards,
John
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