COMPANY DECLARES CRITICAL PERIOD AUGUST 2, 2009

LETTER OF AGREEMENT 17 REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY

The company has advised that, due to a continued shortage of Flight Attendants to cover immediate trips, they will be extending the provisions of Letter of Agreement 17 (formerly LOA 12 in the TCE) through today, August 2, 2009. This is the contractual provision where a Flight Attendant who loses hours from his/her schedule may be required to accept Time Available, in certain limited situations, following the declaration of a "Critical Period" by the Company.  LOA 17 only speaks to options available to schedule holders who lose time as a result of rescheduling or cancellation. For details and specific contract language, click here.  In short, your rights under LOA 17 are as follows:

•   You must be compensated at one and one-half times your hourly incentive rate for all additional hours flown as a result of assignment by crew scheduling.
•   If you request it, the company must provide you Y1/F6 travel to and from your base for the assignment.
•   You must have the option of selecting any open pattern that departs during the Critical Period.
•   If you do not select a specific pattern from open flying, you must be assigned the lowest value open pattern.
•   You may only be assigned a pattern that operates outside your Time Available obligation with your consent.
•   With approval from crew scheduling, you must be released from the remainder of the assigned pattern if you transit a base station and the Critical Period has ended.
•   You must be permitted to accept or decline any Time Availability remaining following the assignment of a pattern under this agreement.

DOWNLINE RESCHEDULING

Downline rescheduling appears to be unusually high, as well.  Remember to adjust your Rescheduling Preferences in CENTRY.  While this will not eliminate the possibility of being rescheduled, it can affect the order in which Flight Attendants are chosen for rescheduling, particularly if others—even those more senior—have not recorded their own preference to not be rescheduled. 

If you have not already entered a request in CENTRY, now is a good time to do it.  You may enter or change your request at any time.  You do not need to put in a new request for each month of flying, but it is recommended you update your request upon return from a CCL, medical or SLIP leave or any other extended absence. 

On the CENTRY homepage, click Schedule Adjustments and then Rescheduled Preferences.  The options are: Yes I prefer to be rescheduled or No I prefer not to be rescheduled or I have no preference.  For those who would prefer to be rescheduled, there is a blank area in which to include optional scheduling request syntax.

From the CBA Section 6.L.3. (page 6.60) – En Route or Layover Rescheduling:  "A Flight Attendant may submit a rescheduling request through CENTRY to indicate whether he/she prefers to be selected or by-passed for a rescheduling while at a layover station," subject to certain conditions.  "Such request shall be reviewed by Crew Scheduling prior to a rescheduling when time permits, in accordance with paragraph L.2. of this Section." 

The remainder of this section of your contract describes the order in which FAs may be subject to rescheduling.  Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the complete language, which can be found of pages 6.60-6.61 of your Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

Remember to ALWAYS ask for a Review of Crew Orders when you question the legality of an assignment or rescheduling from Crew Scheduling.  Contact a Local 94 officer to discuss scheduling violations and to file a grievance, if necessary.

BUDDY PASS EMBARGOES

As some have learned the hard way this weekend, Delta’s Family and Friends (or “Buddy Pass”) program includes embargo or “blackout dates” during which these  passes may not be used.  According to Delta, they occasionally embargo Buddy Passes to certain destinations on peak travel dates, near major holidays and heavy travel periods or due to unusual circumstances, even if specific flights have seats available.  DeltaNet indicates August 1 and 2, 2009 (yesterday and today) are blackout dates.  The only other date currently listed as a blackout date is next Sunday, August 9, 2009. 

As this system is new to all of us, we strongly recommend taking the time to research updated embargo dates and/or travel restrictions on DeltaNet before pass-riding.  You can search for a page called “Pass Travel Alerts” or enter “Buddy Pass Blackout” or “Buddy Pass Embargo” in the DeltaNet search function.  While the current embargo dates list we found is only published through next week, it is probably safe to say additional dates will be added as the summer/year progresses.

DON'T FORGET TO WEAR YOUR UNION PIN - AT WORK AND TO TRAINING! 

Local 94 DTW Office
Walk-in hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
734.532.8404   FAX 734.941.5447
Hotline ~ 888.3NWAAFA   www.nwaafa.org   www.lec94.org
 
President
Diana Mitcham
 dmitcham@nwaafa.org
734.532.8404 ext. 6