1.06.26 – APFA DCA Base Brief – February 2026 Staffing and Allocations

February 2026 DCA Staffing and Allocations

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

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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50,598 total flying hours (DCA, IAD, BWI) (+2291 hrs. month-over-month; +5170 hrs. Year-over-year).

Year-over-year block hours has increased by 12.2 percent and head count has increased by 91 Flight Attendants.

• February is not a flex month.
• Contractual targeted range: 70–90 hours.
• Opening line average: 77.1 hours.
• DCA ‘s most senior reserve for February has a system seniority number of 26,678 (January 15, 2025).
• 17 VLOA’s offered.

Important Dates

• February bid month January 31 through March 1
• February 8 Super Bowl
• February 12th schedule change ( spring flight schedule)
• February 14th Valentine’s Day
• February 16th Presidents’ Day
• February 18th Ash Wednesday

• Total sequences 809 (DCA, IAD, BWI):
  • 4 FA sequences: 494 total
  • 3 FA sequences: 315 total
• DCA Sequences: 740
• ODANS:
  • BOS operates 24 days
  • BDL operates 2 days
  • JAX operates 18 days
  • PWM operates 2 days
• DCA
  • No charter/honor flights
  • LAX high time turns operates 22 days (1:06 ground time; no aircraft change)
  • PHX high time turns operates 15 days (1:01 ground time; no aircraft change)
  • PHX ‘pink eye’ operates  30 days
  • NAS turn operates 22 days
  •  Canada layovers: YVR, YYZ
  •  NIPD Layovers: BDA, BGI, BZE, CUN, CUR, KIN, PUJ, PVR, QRO, SDQ, STL, STT
  • Five Spanish Speaker positions
• BWI
  • 48 sequences
  • BWI-CLT-MIA-BWI one day- operates 4 days only
  • DFW turns operates 26 days.
  • 12 two day trips
  • 24 three day trips
  • 11- sequences with NIPD RONS
• IAD
  • 21 sequences
  • 1 two day trip
  • 16 three day trips
  • Four NIPD trips- RON : COS, SJO.

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Sequences with Sit Times of 2.31 Hours or More

• DCA: 227
• BWI: 17
• IAD: 11

Scheduled Duty Days:

• <8 hours: 48.1%
• 8-10 hours: 24.6%
• 10-12 hours: 22.9%
• >12 hours: 4.4%

Scheduled Legs in Duty Day:

• 1-leg: 35.9%
• 2-legs: 49%
• 3-legs: 14.1%
• 4-legs: 1%

Scheduled Layover Rest:

• < 11 hours: 0.4%
• 11-12 hours: 6.7%
• 12-14 hours: 29%
• 16-18 hours: 16.4%
• >24 hours: 10.6%

Scheduled Sit Times:

• 2-2.5 hours: 12.1%
• 2.5-3 hours: 9.1%
• >3 hours: 3.0%

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February 2026 Bidding Timelines

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February 2026 System Reserve Seniority

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Congratulations to our final off probation class 2025-14

The 2026 new hire program is now prepared to begin initial training. While we do not have a comprehensive count of the flight attendants expected in DCA, we have been informed that we are slated to receive new hires in the coming year.

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Allocations Update

As communicated in previous months allocation briefs, we will continue to advocate for improved trip quality as we move into 2026. Three -day trips remain higher than desired. This is a systemic issue affecting the operation system wide. We will continue working to reduce 3- day pairings and increase 2-day trips in line with the requests of the membership.

This month, we did receive an additional high time one day turn operating 15 days (PHX turn) in conjunction with our existing high time LAX turn operating 22 days, We continue to advocate for increased ODAN sequences as percentages increased for February and also for additional one day sequences out of IAD and BWI.

Recently, crew staffing numbers have aligned more appropriately. Reserve and line holder numbers are functioning within PBS with fewer minimum line constraints than previously. We will continue to monitor this closely as these improvements significantly enhance overall quality of life.

We ask that you continue to communicate with your DCA based leadership regarding allocations by sharing what you are interested in, what is working and what is not. We appreciate your input as we continue to hear your voices and advocate on your behalf.

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]