12.09.24 – APFA CLT Base Brief – January 2025 Staffing and Allocations

January 2025 CLT Staffing and Allocations

Monday, December 9, 2024

We had our monthly call to discuss the schedule for January. We end the holiday schedule in the first week of January and head into the lower winter schedule. Systemwide, the flight schedule is pulled down almost 4%; Charlotte is fairing well with less than a 2% pull down. The systemwide changes have a rippling effect on the types of flights available to build the schedule for all bases. There is a schedule change on January 7 that reduces our time to the lowest point in the month, and it is directly in line with the elimination of banks of flights. We will see the bank reductions on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. The winter schedule is lower, and you can see the direct impact of special events nationwide on the system. You do not see events impacting the summer schedule as much. For example, the Presidential Inauguration on January 20 creates additional flying, and even with the reduction of the banks, Tuesday, January 21, has a much healthier schedule than any other Tuesday for the whole month. Overall, the special events throughout the month have a very visible impact on the system and are felt in all bases.

The pulldown directly affects the construction of the trips. The layovers and rest are impacted, the amount of sit time is affected, the opportunity to build certain types of trips (Red Eyes, for example), the number of one-days, two-days, etc., are affected, and we can see those effects in our trips. This happens every year, and you see some traditional types of trips fade away with the winter schedule.

Overall, CLT is fairing well with the pulldown. We continue to see a robust schedule with 162,913 hours. This is an increase over last year, but less hours compared to December and even the fall schedule we had in October and September.

With the reduction in flying, there is an opportunity to offer VLOAs. CLT will have 65 VLOAs. All 65 VLOA’s were awarded to Lineholders on December 7. All Flight Attendants on the Tentative list will be Lineholders for January 2025.

January is a high vacation month, but with the low line average and the reduction in flying, we do not foresee a lot of higher line constraints, and the cutoffs should be at a much lower seniority when PBS runs.

Our Reserve numbers are still way too high. 25.9% is the second highest percentage next to PHX. While some bases are seeing their numbers go down to16%, Charlotte remains the catch all hub for the broken trips. The company has had higher amounts of reserves in Charlotte for January every year since the merger. The extra reserves are in place just to cover the first few days of the month. Our usage numbers match the company’s numbers. The reserve usage goes down in January and February drastically, yet they insist on keeping the numbers high. The real reason the numbers are high is to compensate for a fragile system that breaks far too frequently. Most of the flying for the East Coast bases will pass through Charlotte, and that is where they are repaired. We are a catch all base. The company keeps the high reserves for the unexpected (Weather events, etc.), not for the anticipated, or historical need. There is no refined formula for setting the numbers, it’s just a precaution and a band aid when the system breaks. The reserve cut off seniority will be April 7, 2014.

Our trips break down as:

• 1 days will make up 19% of our trips.
• 2 days will make up 18% of our trips.
• 2/3 days will make up 18% of our trips.
• 3 days will make up 31% of our trips.
• 3/4 days will make up 3% of our trips.
• 4 days will make up 3% of our trips.
• ODANs will make up 5% of our trips.
• Red Eyes will make up 1% of our trips.
• All Night Turns (Bullets) and Pink Eyes will come in at less than 1% of our trips.

The 1-days are way down from what we have seen in the past few months. The number of 4 leg one days has increased to try and off set the loss of traditional turns.

The 2-days are also way down as a result of the schedule change to the winter schedule. The largest increase was to the 2/3 days and the actual 3 days. We have been watching the 2/3 days for months now and warning that these need to be under control. While these are popular, they pay a lot less than a traditional 3 day. If you get assigned these, you will be working more days for the same pay. A Reserve or junior Lineholder may be assigned a higher block of days working for less actual pay. This may make it difficult for a reserve who works every day on duty to even break guarantee or limit the earning potential for JR Lineholders. The trips with a long layover have risen to 21% of our trips, while these trips may be desirable, they are beginning to create problems with the overall distribution of trips.

The 3-days have risen to 31% of our trips. We also see more sit times with 3 days. 24% of our trips have sit times over 2+30 hours and we are seeing more 2+29 sits that we believe are in anticipation of the new CBA penalty pay going into effect later next year. There are more 4 leg days being built into 3-day trips. We had seen these taper off in the fall, but they are back with the schedule change.

The 4-days are slightly down but 41% of them are not commutable. There are still some good 4 days, but they seem to be impacted for whole weeks when the schedule is pulled down. It may be harder to find 4 four days to make an even month.

The Red Eyes, Pink Eyes and Bullets took a hit. They are down with only the traditional ones on the schedule. The ODANs were only slightly down, and we fared well compared to some of the other bases. Some Bases saw an elimination of ODANs, and some got their ODANs cut in half. Our geographic location and a short haul network keep us in a better position to have the ODANs. We have not seen a direct cut as a result of the changes to the CBA.

The following graph breaks down the peaks and valleys of the time change.

From the graph, you can see the impact of the bank reductions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It may provide a blueprint when planning your month and where the time is.

January 2025 Bidding Timelines

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Attendance/Incentive Points and Holiday Pay

Please Note: The Critical Period for Attendance/Incentive Points is separate from Holiday Pay.

APFA Holiday Pay Hotline

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Our trips have not improved. The Company has its interpretation of productivity, and it is not in line with ours. Our Reserve numbers are high because of the trip construction model and the reluctance to deviate from the past practice of having high Reserves to cover the first week. The reduction in the winter schedule should be used as an opportunity to try different things to solve some of the problems. Instead, the Company continues to cling to what they know and how things have always been done. Real change comes with innovation and risk. We don’t see that very much with this management group.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

The Charlotte APFA Team

In Solidarity,

Scott Hazlewood
APFA CLT Base President
[email protected]