FRH – 7.01.16

Friday, July 1, 2016
 

• July Hours for Live Chat – LAA/LUS
• Reschedule & Reassignment Q&A – LAA
• Last Five Days Sequence Protection (L5D) – LAA
• Vacation Extension (VEX) Requests for August 2016 – LUS
• Meet #PHA5E & JCBA Training/Roundtable Discussions in SFO – LAA/LUS
• JCBA Training & Roundtable Discussions – LAA

July Hours for Live Chat – LAA/LUS

The testing phase of Live Chat in June went well and was well received by those who used it; therefore we will roll it out in July as originally planned as an after-hours option to contact the Contract/Scheduling Reps. The hours of Live Chat for July will be M – F (5pm – 11pm CST) and Sat -Sun (9am – 5pm CST). Please be sure to advise members to leave a message if hold times are excessive and a rep will return their email as soon as possible.

Reschedule & Reassignment Q&A – LAA

Q1: When can Crew Schedule/Crew Tracking reschedule or reassign me?
A1: A reschedule is a change in a sequence due to a misconnect, illegality, cancellation or equipment substitution. A reassignment is a change in a sequence due to company need even though you were legal and available for your originally scheduled trip. In the case of a reassignment, the Flight Attendant will be paid the originally scheduled trip or what s/he actually flies, whichever is greater.

Rescheduling (per Article 9.O) may occur due to the result of irregular operations due to weather delays, equipment delays, cancellations, crew shortages and misconnections. Crews will, to the extent possible, be rescheduled together, although a reserve on the crew should be rescheduled prior to a regularly scheduled crew member.

Move-ups are contractually permissible reassignments (Article 9.R) and apply when a trip assigned to an out-of base crew is uncovered due to the late arrival of another crew to the station.

Q2: How will I be notified of the change to my schedule?
A2: Per the 1996 Joint Operating Committee Report, ACARS may be used for today’s operation notifications. It must include specifics of the reassignment or reschedule (flight number, departure time, destination and which flight attendants). Alternatively, Crew Tracking may make direct contact, you may be directed to contact Crew Tracking by the agent or Flight Service may meet your flight to notify you. For the next-day’s operation, first-party contact must be made.

Q3: What is my obligation on a layover?
A3: The FAA considers the term “rest” to mean that a Flight Attendant is free from all duty so is not responsible to answer a call. A Flight Attendant may choose to answer a call, but is not obligated to do so. If there was an obligation, then the period away from work would not be considered rest.
 
Interim Pay Protections – Exclusions and Schedule Conflicts Q&A – LAA

Q1: What is not included with Interim Pay Protection?

A1: Same as today, carryover, international override or other premiums are not included. Same as today, pay protection for trips originating on reserve days (RF and SB flying) are not included. All schedule conflict trip removals, including FA- initiated conflict after bid awards.

Q2: Can you explain the difference between a Schedule Conflict and a MIC (Misconnect /Illegality/Cancellation)?

A2: A Schedule Conflict is defined as either a conflict or illegality for the first trip of the month that is created by the bid award.  The FA has the option to resolve the Schedule Conflict through trading or dropping either sequence.  If no action is taken, 72 hours prior to the new month the first trip of the new month would automatically be removed. The removed trip would not be covered by the Interim Pay Protection.

A MIC is an illegality that does not exist when the FA has received their award or has been scheduled throughout the month, but is generated through subsequent circumstances i.e. weather, mechanical, etc. The removed trip would be covered by the Interim Pay Protection if MIC procedures are followed.

Q3: What is a conflict that the FA did not initiate?

A3: The FA does not have a conflict for the subsequent month, but due to an assignment by Crew Schedule at the end of the current month, a conflict is created in the following month.  I.E. Reassignment (RA) Reschedule due to MIC, a reserve assignment or an Availability assignment by Crew Schedule. The removed trip would be covered by the Interim Pay Protection when MIC procedures are followed.

Q4: What is a FA-initiated conflict after bid awards?

A4: The FA does not have a conflict for the subsequent month, but decides to pick up additional time from the company at the end of the current month and, as a result; the additional flying creates the conflict in the next month.  The Flight Attendant does have this option, since current month flying takes precedence over next month flying. The removed trip would not be covered by the Interim Pay Protection.
 
Last Five Days Sequence Protection (L5D) – LAA

Flight Attendants who are experiencing cancellations for the last trip in the last five days of the month, if contacted prior to sign in, are only required to be on the Make Up list and to participate in the HISEND MU Round for each Day Originally Scheduled To Fly (DOSTF). 

Your Guarantee is NOT automatically protected. The Flight Attendant must participate in the applicable HISEND MU Rounds (and be on the MU list for all days originally scheduled to fly plus 8 hours which may require the Flight Attendant to add their name to the MU list an additional day). The obligation window is indicated in your HI1 header after the cancellation. If the Flight Attendant opts out of protecting their guarantee, then the guarantee is incrementally reduced by the value of the sequence (if the Flight Attendant is at or below guarantee in PPROJ).

Also, a Flight Attendant is only obligated to participate in the HISEND MU rounds on DOSTF and to accept a single trip of any length that signs in within the obligation window until midnight of the last day of the month (originally scheduled trip plus eight (8) hours after scheduled arrival time). If the Flight Attendant does not participate or does not bid enough (and doesn’t state “plot to protect guarantee within obligation” on their HISEND message), the protection will be lost. If not plotted then the Flight Attendant may choose to participate in subsequent MU/II/CC/AB proffer rounds and may decline proffered flying without losing protection.

Please refer to the Scheduling page at APFA.org for a more detailed explanation including the Pay Protection Flow Chart for L5D.
 
 
Vacation Extension (VEX) Requests for August 2016 – LUS

• June 19 – 30 submit via VEX Form on Wings – Flight Service – Lines & Pairings (Bidding) page

When submitting for VEX Days you must have a continuous vacation block of at least seven (7) days. The days off will act as a pre-planned absence, and will carry NO pay or credit. Such days off will be counted toward the Reserve’s scheduled Golden Days. Such block of four (4) days, or portion thereof, may be extended into the next bid period.
 
 
Meet #PHA5E & JCBA Training/Roundtable Discussions in SFO – LAA/LUS

Meet #PHA5E
 
Date: Friday, July 15, 2016
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: TBA

Meet #PHA5E- the 5th phase of flight- the beginning of your career. PHA5E provides an avenue for newer Flight Attendants to become involved. We are the future! The more active the membership, the more unified we stand. We welcome Flight Attendants from every seniority – let’s get involved together!

Learn about:
• How APFA operates and APFA’s structure
• Changes in 2016 under the JCBA
• How APFA can help you
• Current contract language Q & A
• How you can get involved with APFA
Questions about the #PHA5E program?

Contact: Allie Malis, Torrance Hurtault, and Reese Cole at  [email protected].

 

JCBA Training & Roundtable Discussions – LAA

Date: Friday, July 15, 2016
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: TBA

Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) Negotiators Vicki Balistreri (LUS) and Paul Hartshorn, Jr. (LUS) will be in the SFO crew base to answer your questions and host a roundtable discussion about changes/procedures in the 2014 JCBA. Please join us to discuss the Contract we will all be working under at Flight Attendant Operational Integration (FOI). Everyone from LAA and LUS are welcome, regardless of your crew base.
 
The order of the discussion will be as follows:
1. Vacation/ Vacation Bidding Process
2. Sick
3. Hours of Service
4. Scheduling/ Rescheduling/ Pay Protections
5. Deadheading- what’s changing?
6. Reserve
7. Additional Q & A