2.04.26 – APFA DCA Base Brief – March 2026 Staffing and Allocations

March 2026 DCA Staffing and Allocations

Wednesday, February 4, 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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52,403 total flying hours (DCA, IAD, BWI) (+1805 Hrs month -over-month) (+4324 hrs Year-over-year)

Year-over-year block hours has increased by 9.4 percent and head count has increased by 82 Flight Attendants.

• March is not a flex month
• Contractual targeted range 70-90 hours
• Opening line average 75.7 hours
• DCA’s most senior reserve for March has a system seniority number of 26,216 (16 May 2024)
• No VLOA’s

Important Dates

• March Bid Month: March 2 – March 31
• Schedule Change – Sunday, March 8
• Daylight Saving Time Begins – Sunday, March 8
• St. Patrick’s Day – Tuesday, March 17
• Palm Sunday – Sunday, March 29

Allocations Notes for March

• Total sequences 854 (DCA, IAD, BWI):
  • 4 FA sequences: 507 total
  • 3 FA sequences: 347 total
• DCA Sequences: 784
• ODANS:
  • BOS operates 26 days
  • JAX operates 26 days
• DCA
  • No charter/honor flights
  • LAX high time turns operates 19 days
  • PHX high time one days operates 31 days
  • PHX ‘pink eye’ 30 days
  • NAS turn operates 29 days
  •  Canada layovers: YVR, YYZ
  •  NIPD Layovers:AUA, BGI, BZE, CUN, CUR, KIN, MDE, PUJ, STI, STT
  • Five Spanish Speaker positions
• BWI
  • 53 sequences
  • DFW one day (5 AM) operates 22 days
  • 17 two-day trips
  • 26 three-day trips
  • NIPD 2 trips (domestic layover)
• IAD
  • 18 sequences
  • 3 – two-day trips
  • 5 -three-day trips
  • 5-three days NIPD ( domestic layover)

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Sequences with Sit Times of 2.31 Hours or More

• DCA: 257
• BWI: 22
• IAD: 5

Scheduled Duty Days:

• <8 hours: 48.0%
• 8-10 hours: 24.7%
• 10-12 hours: 23.5%
• >12 hours: 3.8%

Scheduled Legs in Duty Day:

• 1-leg: 36.7%
• 2-legs: 48.9%
• 3-legs: 13.6%
• 4-legs: 0.8%

Scheduled Layover Rest:

• < 11 hours: 0.4%
• 11-12 hours: 6.0%
• 12-14 hours: 28.3%
• 16-18 hours: 16.2%
• >24 hours: 11.8%

Scheduled Sit Times:

• 2-2.5 hours: 11.8%
• 2.5-3 hours: 9.0%
• >3 hours: 3.1%

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March 2026 Bidding Timelines

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March 2026 System Reserve Seniority

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To bid for vacation, go to the Crew Portal. Once logged in, click on:

Monthly Bids > Vacation > Annual > Bidding Ballots

If you have any questions regarding your accrual or bidding process, you may email [email protected] or open a ticket on the Support Tab on Crew Portal.

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New Hires Are Coming!

The 2026 new hire program has started. Class 2026-01 will be coming to base for INDOC on Monday, February 23. We will be receiving 13 new hires, and these new hires will be ready to fly Feb 24.  Class 2026 -01 will not bid in PBS for Feb or March but will be issued schedules due to missing the window to bid in PBS

Upcoming classes INDOC will be MAR 2, where we will receive 12 new hires.

Other dates scheduled for INDOC are:

•  March 9, 16, 23
•  April 6, 13

Headcount is not known yet.

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EFB

Please ensure that your EFB is up to date and FAA current this includes:

• iOS 26.0 (greater than 26.0 is legal)
• Comply365 13.3.1
• IFM revision 19.3

Your EFB must be current when reporting for duty and all device batteries must be charged to 90% or greater prior to the first flight of the day. Please remain compliant!

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EAP Appreciation

I would like to extend a heartfelt shout-out to our DCA EAP representative, Keisha Knutson, for her incredible volunteer work assisting flight attendants and others at the airport on January 29th. This day marked the one-year anniversary of the tragic crash of PSA Flight 5342 into the Potomac.

Our hearts and prayers continue to be with the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy, as well as with our brothers and sisters who were lost that day.

Thank you, Keisha, for being present and for providing support, compassion, and guidance to anyone who needed it. Your dedication did not go unnoticed.

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Winter Storm Fern

Winter Storm Fern had a significant impact on the airline industry, resulting in thousands of cancellations and widespread operational disruptions affecting flights, flight attendants, and pilots. Many crew members were displaced for days, and it took the company a considerable amount of time to stabilize operations and restore continuity to affected sequences. While we understand that winter storms are inherently disruptive, our contractual protections must still be upheld.

During this event, there were numerous contract violations. Currently, we are actively working to ensure the Flight Attendant Contract is fully honored, including proper payment for crew scheduling errors, hotel penalty pay, and failed continuity trips in accordance with contractual language.

If you identify any discrepancies in your sequences or believe you were not paid appropriately, please submit a Direct Connect request via the Crew Portal (Hot Path: Crew Portal → Links → Direct Connect). If your request is denied and you believe a contractual violation still exists, please contact your local base leadership. We will assist you in working with the company to ensure all applicable pay protections are properly applied.

Think Spring!

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]