1.10.14 – (LAA) – Meeting with AFA/AA, Resumes, Equity, Non Rev Travel, HISK, Proffers/Transfers Purged, Human Trafficking, FAR 117, New Hires
APFA Members | Subscribe to the APFA Hotline |
Non-Members | Subscribe to the APFA Hotline |
Press | Subscribe to APFA’s Press Release |
Meeting with AFA/AA, Resumes, Equity, Non Rev Travel, HISK, Proffers/Transfers Purged, Human Trafficking, FAR 117, New Hires
Bargaining/Representation at the New American
What’s next? As we mentioned last week, APFA had an initial discussion with the National Mediation Board (NMB) about the single carrier determination process. As part of our agreement with AFA on bargaining and representation, after we reach agreement with the Company on the bargaining process and the legacy US Airways Flight Attendants ratify the APFA/AFA agreement, the unions will have until June 9, 2014, to jointly file a single carrier petition with the NMB. When that happens, AFA will inform the NMB that it does not seek to represent the combined work group and APFA will notify the NMB that we wish to be the representative.
As we reported on Monday, our meeting with AFA and management on the process of bargaining will be held next week in Washington, D.C. We will keep you apprised of developments as they occur.
Administrative and Committee Positions
APFA is now accepting resumés for the positions of five Division Representatives, six National Coordinators (Communications, Contract, Health, Hotel, Safety/Security, Scheduling), five members of the National Balloting Committee, and four members of the National Budget Committee. Resumés must be submitted to the APFA Secretary, Jeff Pharr, prior to March 12, 2014. For more information, visit www.apfa.org.
Day 30 Equity Distribution
The Day-30 equity shares we reported on earlier this week have been distributed. Since the second distribution is approximately 4% of the initial distribution, the distributions to eligible Flight Attendants was proportionately smaller. The company has informed us that the ePays statement associated with today’s stock distribution should be available in ePays on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
APFA’s Equity Claim Call Center is available for all Flight Attendants from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday for two weeks. The toll free number is 855-332-3407. There, you will be able to speak directly to a BMC representative regarding the distribution of the claim. You can also email BMC at [email protected].
For more information, visit APFA’s equity website and Jetnet. If you have questions about how to access your account or need information on how to buy, sell or transfer your shares, contact AA’s Call Center at 888-285-9438.
Non Rev Travel Policy Working Group Date Set
At APFA’s request, management has agreed to put together a working group to discuss the recently announced changes to American’s travel policy. The group will meet on January 22nd in Dallas to discuss research behind the policy changes as well as the possibility of adjustments to the policy going forward. Stay tuned to this hotline for more information.
Sick/VC Accrual Now Available in HISK/L
Preliminary vacation and sick accrual for 2013 is available for Flight Attendant review in your HISK/L display in DECS. Flight Attendants should contact the Flight Attendant Service Center (FASC) no later than 1800 Central on Thursday, January 16, 2014, if there is a discrepancy with your 2013 accruals. The final accruals will be posted on Friday, January 17, 2014.
If you have incurred an unpaid sick absence since January 1st of this year and are still on payroll, these absences will automatically be recoded with any newly accrued sick hours. As a reminder, if you were active all twelve months of 2013, the threshold for sick and vacation accruals is 585 hours (average of 50 hours per active month for January thru November and 35 hours for December).
The HISK/L was not programmed to reflect the lower threshold for December and the company will manually adjust to ensure that threshold is taken into consideration for purposes of accrual. The threshold for the 2014 calendar year will be 420 hours, or an average of 35 hours per active month.
Proffer and Transfer Preferences Purged
As a reminder Proffer/Transfer preferences were purged on January 3rd. You must reenter your preference if you want to be eligible to be awarded a future proffer, transfer or mutual. In addition, remember that you must keep your preferences up to date and remove any preference that you are no longer interested in being awarded as it is not possible to rescind a transfer, proffer or mutual request once it has been awarded.
Second VEOP Reminder
As reported on last week’s hotline, the timeframe for our second VEOP has not yet been determined. We will be meeting with the new management team later this quarter to determine the exact timing of the next VEOP offer. As soon as a timeline for bidding and departure dates has been determined, we will include this information on the hotline.
Human Trafficking Training in Bay Area and Phoenix
Airline Ambassadors will provide an Airport Training on January 23 at San Jose Airport with Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition and again on February 10 at Phoenix Airport with Innocents at Risk. Airline and airport personnel are invited to attend with a confirmed Reservation. Space is limited to 100 guests, free of charge, and is complimentary.
For more information, click here.
Update on FAR 117
Flight Attendants recently received notice on the changes regarding FAR 117, pilot flight and duty and rest times. The policy regarding pilot fatigue has been many years in the making. The catastrophic Colgan Air crash in Buffalo in 2009 that killed all 49 people on board unfortunately provided the catalyst to address this long standing issue. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2010 included a mandate for the FAA to develop a comprehensive fatigue policy for flight deck crew. The FAA policy committee considered variables such as trip sequences, time off, time zones, duty rigs, etc. In addition, the policy included requirements to address training deficiencies, record keeping, and hours of training for the flight deck crew.
APFA has remained engaged throughout this process and will continue to push for comprehensive Flight Attendant fatigue policy. The issue of Flight Attendant fatigue is important to our membership and our role as safety professionals on board the aircraft is paramount. APFA has made our position clear to FAA Administrator Huerta and we look forward to working together to address the issue.
New Hires!
On January 8, 2013, class 13-39 graduated from FSU and reported to the bases of DCA, DFW, IOR, LAX, MIA and ORD. Please welcome our newest members to the line and all of the new hires that have joined us over the past year.
New hire training for this year is set to begin on Monday, January 13th with class 14-01. This year, the prospective number of new hires is even greater than the number joining our ranks last year. Welcome!
AmericanAirlines + US Airways
“On Our Way”
Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Coordinator