1.22.26 – APFA LAX Base President Brief – Thursday, January 22, 2026

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Hey All,

This Update Will Cover 9 Topics:

1. California Sick for 2026
2. Determining How Much California Sick You Have Remaining
3. FMLA
4. Domestic Duty Time Limitations
5. International Duty Time Limitations
6. When Do I Go Illegal?
7. Standing Aggressive Reserve Bids
8. Block Hours
9. California State Disability Pay Transition

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1. California Sick for 2026

40 hours of California Sick became available for use on January 1, 2026. There are no changes to our accrual or how it is being administered.

It usually takes the company an average of 3-4 weeks  each January to get the new year’s program up and running. In the interim, our SK and US will still show as SK and US as we await recoding to CS (California Sick).

Recoding is done by Inflight Admin at AA HDQ. Their email address is [email protected]. (The STL does not refer to St Louis. It is an acronym for Short Term Leave).

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2. Determining How Much California Sick You Have Remaining

While contacting the State Sick Department or the Crew Attendance Managers to determine how much California Sick remains in our bank are options, they are not always viable options.

A quick way to determine how much California Sick you have remaining is to access your HISK in DECS:

1. Sign into DECS in SABRE (BSIPemplpyee number (enter) password)
2. Enter HISK
3. Scroll down to “Monthly Usage Record”
4. You will see columns with sick accrual and usage by month
5. Beginning with January, deduct each month’s usage from the 40 hour CASK bank to determine how much time is remaining

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3. FMLA

• Intermittent FMLA applications are only being approved for a six month duration. Your provider can still request a year duration on the application but you will be required to recertify your FMLA in six months.
• If your FMLA approval is unduly delayed, you have the right to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor. To file a complaint, call 1-866-487-9243 or file online at webapps.dol.gov/contactwhd/home/OnlineForm. 

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4. Domestic Duty Time Limitations

On the Domestic Operation, maximum duty times are determined by report time, based on Home Base Time.

If you elect to VE, your new maximum duty time is the applicable maximum duty time (below)…based on report time…plus 4 hours.

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5. International Duty Time Limitations

International duty time limitations depend on the type of International flying you are doing:

• Non-Long Range – Defined as any International duty period which does not contain flying in excess of 12:00 block.
• Mid-Range – For LAX, Mid-Range sequences are Hawaii turns (two International legs in the same duty period)  and LAX-PHX-Hawaii sequences (one Domestic and one International leg in the same duty period).
• Long-Range – Defined as any international duty period which has a scheduled International segment in excess of 12:00 block, but not more than 14:15 block.
• Extended Long-Range – defined as any international duty period which has a scheduled international segment in excess of 14:15 block.

• SYD is Extended Long-Range
• BNE is Long-Range
• HND may change between Non-Long-Range and Long-Range, depending on the season
• VE may be offered on Non-Long-Range and Long-Range.
• VE is not available on Extended Long-Range

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6. When Do I Go Illegal?

Or access: AAmILegal

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7. Standing Aggressive Reserve Bids

A standing aggressive bid…while seen by many as a good thing and portrayed by the company as a convenience…can be dangerous.

It gives the company the ability…outside of rest protections…to award trips outside our RAPs in accordance with the parameters we set.

It is best to delete standing aggressive bids unless we are OK with being awarded outside our RAPs.

While it seems inconvenient to have to input an aggressive bid in advance of a specific ROTD run or RAP. it is the only way we have currently to avoid being called outside our RAPs.

A standing aggressive bid…in real terms…places us on an assumed RAP 24/7.

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8. Block Hours

I have filed a Base Grievance disputing the company’s under-allocation of block hours to the LAX Flight Attendant base which causes unwarranted and unjust max constraints during the PBS award process.

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9. California State Disability Pay Transition

Changes in company policy have created an issue affecting flight attendants applying for California State Disability.

Because we cannot collect sick time and State Disability at the same time, our sick time usage must be stopped prior to collecting benefit payments. The process was seamless as of a few years ago, but administrative changes at AA have caused problems.

I have been working with the company for several months to develop a process where a flight attendant applying for State Disability can easily request that their sick time usage be turned off.

There is a new form which will be available in Comply shortly after approval by AA Legal and AA Labor. Once it goes live, it will greatly facilitate the transition to receiving State Disability payments.

The State Disability packet which I developed several years ago to assist flight attendants will be revised again once the Comply form goes live.

If you are considering applying for California State Disability, please do not hesitate to contact me  with any questions you may have. I can also send you the PDF version of my California State Disability Made Easy packet.

Safe Travels!

In Solidarity,

John Nikides
APFA LAX Base President 
[email protected]