8.05.25 – APFA DCA Base Brief – September 2025 Staffing and Allocations

September 2025 DCA Staffing and Allocations

Tuesday, August 5, 2025

When PBS processing begins, if additional Lineholders are needed, those with Reserve status will be changed to Lineholder status in the following order:

1. Tentative Flight Attendants whose preference was Lineholder in the LRD process.
2. Reserve Flight Attendants who toggled to Pref LH in the LRD who were unable to hold Lineholder status in LRD.
3. Most junior Reserve Flight Attendants involuntarily moved to Lineholder status after all the above have been utilized.

Important: If you are in one of these 3 categories above, you will want to bid 7 layers of Reserve and 7 layers of Lineholder in PBS.

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• DCA: 45,329 (-1,155)
• IAD: 1,793 (-35)
• BWI: 3,434 (+6)

50,556 total flying hours (DCA, IAD, BWI) ( -1,184 month-over-month) (+6,395 year-over-year)

Year-over-year block hours has increased by 16.2% and headcount has increased by 98 Flight Attendants.

• September will not be a flex month.
• The Contractual targeted credit range default is 70-90 hours.
• September will have an opening line average of 76.1 hours. This opening line average is down 1% from September 2024.
• DCA’s most senior Reserve for September has a system seniority of 26,986 (January 29, 2025).

September Events and Timelines

• September Bid Month: August 31 – September 30
• Labor Day: Monday, September 1
• Schedule Change: September 3
• 9/11 Ceremonies: September 11
• First Day of Fall: September 22
• Professional Football Charters
• Honor Flights

Allocations Notes for September

• Total sequences 893 (DCA, IAD, BWI):
  • 4 FA sequences: 351 total
  • 3 FA sequences: 542 total
• DCA Sequences: 820
• ODANS:
  • BOS operates 23 days
  • PVD operates 25 days
  • PWM operates 27 days
  • RDU operates 27 days
• DCA
  • Charters/Honor Flights:3156 13186 13192 13204 13205 13206 13224 13230 13251 13274 13282 13302 13315 13317 13326
  • LAX turns operate 30 days
  • PHX ‘pink eye’ operates 30 days
  • SAT 30-hour layover operates 9 days
  • NAS turns operates 3 days
  • DFW morning turns operate 28 days
  • FLL morning turns operate 26 days
  • RSW morning turns operates 18 days
  • PBI morning turns operate 24 days
  • MIA morning turns operate 15 days
  • MSY afternoon turns operate 16 days
  • DFW afternoon turns operate 31 days
  • MIA afternoon turns operate 19 days
  • 3 Spanish Speaker positions
  • Canada RON’s YYC and YYZ
  • NIPD RON’s:  9 BGI, 2 CUN, 1 CUR, 1 GUA, 1 KIN, 2 QRO
• BWI
  • BWI: 47 sequences
  • DFW turns operates 31 days
  • 25 high time 2-days
  • 28 3-day trips
  • No Canada trips
  • No Charters
• IAD
  • 26 sequences
  • 25 high time 2 days
  • 5 NIPD with 1 CUN RON
• Sit times with 2.31 hours or more
  • DCA: 288
  • IAD: 10
  • BWI: 29

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Scheduled Duty Days:

• <8 hours: 47.5%
• 8-10 hours: 25.2%
• 10-12 hours: 23.1%
• >12 hours: 4.2%

Scheduled Legs in Duty Day:

• 1-leg: 32.6%
• 2-legs: 49.4%
• 3-legs: 16.2%
• 4-legs: 1.8%

Scheduled Layover Rest:

• < 11 hours: 0.2%
• 11-12 hours: 4.9%
• 12-14 hours: 23.8%
• 16-18 hours: 18.0%
• >24 hours: 10.4%

Scheduled Sit Times:

• 2-2.5 hours: 12.5%
• 2.5-3 hours: 9.6%
• >3 hours: 3.6%
• >2 hours: 25.7%

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September 2025 Bidding Timelines

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September 2025 System Reserve Seniority

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VLOAs for September 2025

Under the 2024 CBA 25.B, Voluntary Leaves of Absence (VLOA) are available at all bases for the September 2025 bid month. 26 unpaid VLOAs are being offered for DCA. The company has stated that VLOAs for September are being offered due to a regular seasonal reduction in flights.

The bidding window will close Thursday, August 7 at 1200 (CT). You may access the ballot in Comply365 > My Forms > AAFA > FA Voluntary Leave of Absence (VLOA). Flight Attendants awarded a VLOA will receive a CCI message.

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Inflight Quarterly Training 3Q2025

• A319S EOW (12/120) Differences
• A321XLR Differences
• Kannad ULTIMA-S Survival ELT
• Operational Reliability
• Inflight Dining Service Standards and Safety

This quarterly training must be completed by Tuesday, October 7 at 23:59 (CT) to avoid a Missed Assignment (MA).

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Congratulations to our new hires for March 2025! The first off-probation meeting for classes 2025-01 and 2025-02 will be held on August 26. We will begin conducting these milestone meetings monthly to complete the probationary periods for our newly hired Flight Attendants.

As of now, the company has informed us that the new hire program for 2025 is complete. The plan is to start hiring again, if needed, in the spring of 2026.

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DCA Flight Attendant Aircraft Qualifications

• B787: 872 FA’s qualified
• B777: 875 FA’S qualified
• B737: 876 FA’s qualified
• A320 series: 876 FA’s qualified

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Notice of Dispute (NOD) Updates

Last November, we filed a Notice of Dispute (NOD) regarding the distribution of parking hang tags at IAD. A company representative acknowledged that there was a violation in how the tags were issued—specifically, that the process circumvented seniority. However, they disagreed with our position that the process was not fully contractual. Despite this acknowledgment, the company continues to withhold IAD hang tags from Flight Attendants who have properly requested them. As a result, many of you have been forced to pay out of pocket for parking and then seek reimbursement.

We have officially rejected the company’s response to this NOD, and the matter has been escalated to the APFA Grievance Department for further review. We are still awaiting a final determination and will provide updates as soon as we receive them.

Looking ahead, we are entering the 2025-2026 parking cycle for both DCA and IAD. We will closely monitor this process to ensure that the contractual language is followed and that seniority is honored.

Most recently, we filed a dispute regarding the handling of BWI parking. This dispute was heard in late July. While the company claimed that no violation occurred in how hang tags were distributed, they did agree that seniority should have been the guiding principle. We have rejected this response, as we believe the language was still violated. This case is now with the APFA Grievance Department.

These cases highlight an ongoing issue regarding the company’s interpretation and application of our contractual language related to parking. We want to be clear: we will continue to fight to ensure that every Flight Attendant receives the appropriate parking hang tags. This is a basic cost of doing business, and it is the company’s responsibility to provide you with the necessary tools to perform your job.

As mentioned in a previous communication, we were planning to file a base NOD for the violation of sit time pay owed to reserve Flight Attendants. However, the APFA National has decided to file a Presidential Grievance instead.

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DCA Parking Lot: Rideshare Drivers and Our Safety and Security

We have recently started working with other unions at the airport to address ongoing issues related to rideshare drivers in the shared DCA employee parking lot. Since we all use the same lot, it’s crucial to coordinate our efforts to ensure both safety and accessibility are maintained.

Our local APFA DCA Government Affairs representative, Alex Roberts, has been actively collaborating with these unions. He will engage with the airport authority to explore potential solutions. Our goal is to find a balance that accommodates our passengers’ rideshare needs while preserving the security and integrity of our employee parking lot.

We will continue to keep you informed as more information becomes available.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the summer!

In Solidarity,

John Pennel
APFA DCA Base President
[email protected]

Dianne Britton
APFA DCA Base Vice President
[email protected]

Lisa Barnes
APFA DCA Base Council Representative – Allocations
[email protected]