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

February 2026 ORD Staffing and Allocations

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

Happy New Year, Chicago!

Congratulations on making it through the holidays! Now it is time to look forward to 2026. This weekend was the February Staffing and Allocations call, and we want to help make sure you are ready for a new year of flying.

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Kin Care

As a reminder, in Illinois we have Kincare under state law. Effective January 1st of each year, the State of Illinois allows for 27 paid hours of sick leave that may be used to care for eligible family members. All designated Kincare removals will be coded as a non-chargeable absence. Meaning, we can use 27 paid hours from our yearly sick bank to care for eligible family members without receiving attendance points.

If you need a refresh on Kincare, or how it works. Please review the following information:
https://www.apfa.org/2025/08/22/8-22-25-apfa-ord-base-brief-kin-care/

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Important Dates

• Contractual month: January 31st– March 1st
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day – January 19th
• Black History month begins – February 1st
• Valentine’s Day – February 14th
• Presidents Day – February 16th
• Lunar New Year – February 17th
• Ash Wednesday (beginning of Lent) – February 18th

Attendance and Performance Policy Information here.

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Allocations

February has the winter lull for flying. HNL remains throughout February to provide additional widebody flying.

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Staffing

We have seen an increase in our reserve percentage for February. We asked for less reserves and more lineholders, which would have enabled more VLOAs. The company declined.

Compared to February 2025, ORD has seen a 10.9% increase in flying, with a 1.0% increase in reserve numbers. We will continue to encourage alternative options when it involves any increase in reserve numbers.

ORD has a reserve percentage of 19.4% for Jan vs the system average of 17.7%. New Hire class 26-1 will begin soon and is scheduled to graduate at the end of February.

There will be 2,104 lineholders in February.

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Daily Departures

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Sequence Distribution

• 1-day: 29% in February vs 22% in January
• 2-day: 23% in February vs 25% in January
• 3-day: 44% in February vs 49% in January
• 4-day: 4% in February vs 4% in January
• ODAN Starts per day: 8.4 in February vs 6.3 in January

9% of flying is Wide Body.

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PBS Preliminary Manning Plan

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Safe Travels!

In Solidarity,

Justin Patterson
APFA ORD Base President
ORD Base Number: (773) 645-0809
Cell: (509) 720-0067
[email protected]

Dray Howard
APFA ORD Base Vice President
ORD Base Number: (773) 645-0809
Cell: (630) 215-8410
[email protected]