11.15.06 – (LAA) – Holdiay Staffing Tests, Scheduling Letters of Agreement, Delta Announces Recall of FAs

This is Lori Bassani, APFA Public Affairs, with the APFA Hotline for Wednesday, November 15, 2006.

APFA News: The following are some important reminders from the Scheduling Department: When bidding for December we encourage you to back yourself up with additional selections than you normally would due to the holidays. As you are aware, some Flight Attendants bid differently for December and, therefore, you may not hold what you are used to holding in other months.

Monthly fall-offs from an International base to a Domestic base are not considered a permanent change of base and, therefore, would not alter reserve rotation. Those who fall-off to Domestic would only serve Reserve if your seniority fell within the Reserve seniority pool of the Domestic base, and you had not satisfied your reserve rotation in the prior 3 months. You cannot voluntarily fall-off from International if you are scheduled to be on Reserve, however you may be forced back if there are insufficient volunteers.

It is important to note that three Holiday Staffing Tests we utilized July 2005 are in effect today:

1) International to Domestic Option II – effective July 1, 2006 – January 31, 2007 can be used anytime coverage is critical during the 4 designated holiday months of January, July, September, and December. This allows International Flight Attendants to fly Domestic Option II after it has been proffered at the Domestic base.

2) Domestic to International Option II – effective July 1, 2006 – January 31, 2007 can be used anytime coverage is critical during the 4 designated holiday months of January, July, September, and December. This allows Domestic flight attendants who have maintained their International qualification to fly International Option II after it has been proffered at the International base.

3) Reserve TT Test – effective for trips departing between December 2, 2006-December 31,2006. Reserve FA must first confirm assignment. FA may post on HIBOARD and may only trade for trip of same duration. FA must send a HISEND (using the generic base-specific form) once a match is made and Crew Schedule will process if legal and all requirements are met.

The procedures for requesting Cross-Division Option II flying through HISEND as well as for Reserve TT procedures can be found on APFA’s Web site under Letters of Agreement, then Scheduling Letters of Agreement – 6.27.06.

Another reminder from the APFA Safety and Security Department: all FAs system wide, particularly those flying into and out of Miami and Chicago during November and December, should double check that your manuals are up-to-date and that you are carrying all required safety equipment!

And, now, a relocation alert from the APFA Hotel Department. Effective November 25 through December 15, 2006, crews who layover at Charles de Gaulle (CDG) in Paris, France, will be temporarily relocated due to construction reaching a critical point. Please access the secure section of the APFA web site for the name and location of the temporary relocation hotel. Crews will return to the regular layover hotel on December 15, 2006.

The APFA Executive Committee met this week at APFA Headquarters. As soon as the minutes from this meeting are finalized, they will be available for viewing online at www.apfa.org.

Bankruptcy Watch:Delta Airlines announced the recall of 1,000 Flight Attendants beginning in January from a high attrition rate due to the inability of some Flight Attendants to further tolerate the bankrupt airline’s diminishing work rules and reduced pay. In a Reuters’ article this week, Dan Akins, APFA’s aviation financial consultant, was quoted as stating “The rate of recall hasn’t been so much based on growth or good times. It’s based on people leaving the jobs.”

Fuel Watch: As of Monday, November 13^th, a barrel of crude oil cost $60.02, down $1.44 from last Monday’s price. The crack spread price was $11.56, down .49 cents from last week’s price. This brings the cost of one barrel of jet fuel to $70.14 – down $1.93 from the price of jet fuel a week ago.

The total for one barrel of jet fuel a year ago November was $71.02 – nearly $1 less than the price of a barrel of jet fuel today.

Please remember that we have 2,654 APFA members still on furlough.

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That’s it for this week. Thank you for calling the APFA Hotline.