5.16.14 – (LAA) – Airbus A321, Pilot Business-Class Internatinal Deadhead, JNC Update, Summer Leaves of Absence Available, Constitutional Changes Balloting, New Hires and Vacation, Hotel Updates, eManual Update, Make-up Flying, Sick Call Coding, KCM Remin

APFA Hotline – May 16, 2014

 

HOT TOPICS:
Airbus A321-Transcon (Lack Of) Galley Pay – [email protected]
The company has responded to our hotline message last week regarding the lack of galley pay on 3-class A321T used in the transcon markets. In accordance with Article 28.B.2. of the CBA, APFA will be filing a Presidential Grievance with AA seeking galley pay moving forward, as well as back pay for all Flight Attendants who have worked galley on a transcon on the A321T. The APFA will seek an expeditious resolution/speedy arbitration as this involves a pay issue.
 
Pilot Business-Class International Deadhead – [email protected]
We’ve received emails and calls from Flight Attendants regarding pilots who are given priority seating in Business Class on International flights. To clarify, the company and APA agreed to preferential treatment for pilots on deadhead transportation last year during their MOU talks. The APFA believes this a direct violation of our CBA Article 21.A Non Discrimination, which reads: “The Company will not discriminate between transportation and hotel accommodations provided for Flight Attendants and cockpit members.” While we were of the agreement, we were only recently notified of its implementation.
 
APFA believes this is a direct violation of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We have asked the company to adhere to our non-discrimination contractual language and provide matching accommodations to Flight Attendants. They disagree and have denied our request. 

APFA will be filing a Presidential grievance seeking to have the Company immediately adhere to our contractual language and provide for Flight Attendants the same deadhead procedures provided to the pilots. If you experience a deadhead on an International Flight where a member of the cockpit is accommodated ahead of you and outside of FCFS order, please email [email protected] with details including your employee number, HI3, all relevant details and a copy of the standby list. This email is for data collection purposes only.

Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Update – [email protected]
The JNC continued passing proposals on a number of articles. Progress has been made utilizing the “adopt and go” method of bargaining as agreed to in the Negotiations Protocol Agreement (NPA).

Bargaining will continue next week in Dallas. Look for more detailed updates as negotiations progress. Information regarding the NPA can be found at www.www.apfa.org/negotiations.

Summer Leaves of Absence Available – [email protected]
A two-month Leave of absence will be offered for August and September as a result of the lower than anticipated number of Flight Attendants accepting the recent VEOP and the push to reconfigure the 737 to October. The reconfiguration will increase the minimum crew from 3 to 4 and, therefore, drive the need for additional bid jobs. 
 
Based on agreement between APFA and the company, this leave will be coded as an Overage Leave, which provides for active travel during the Leave including D1 travel and travel on other airlines. The ballot to proffer for the Leave will be available on the Flight Service website. The proffer opens on Monday, May 19 and will close a 1000CT on Monday, June 16, 2014. Up to 500 Leaves will be offered primarily at domestic bases. 
 
Probationary Flight Attendants are eligible to bid for the Leave. However, please note that if the Leave reaches your bidding seniority, your probationary period will be extended accordingly. You will not accrue Company or Classification (pay) seniority while on the Leave of Absence. Your Occupational (Bidding) Seniority will not be affected provided you are not taking other Leaves consecutively to the Overage Leave.
 
Please review the Q and A available on the Flight Service website for more information about the Leaves.
 
Constitutional Changes Balloting – [email protected] (ballot questions) or [email protected] (specific information on changes)
Flight Attendants will soon be receiving two important pieces of mail regarding proposed changes to the APFA Constitution. The first (which was mailed this week) is a letter from the Board of Directors outlining proposed Constitutional changes. Detailed summaries of each of the changes, along with the official ballot instructions will be mailed early next week. Watch your mail boxes for these items and visit www.www.apfa.org/constitution to see the information online. As usual, this is a 30-day ballot. It is crucial that every Flight Attendant votes! These Constitutional changes represent an important step toward bringing together all 24,000 Flight Attendants – the face of the new American!
 
New Hires and Vacation – [email protected]
Attention 2013 new hires: If you have not already done so, please check your HI10 to see when any accrued vacation days earned in 2013 were awarded for the fiscal (vacation) year beginning on May 2, 2014 thru May 1, 2015. Flight Attendants are eligible to accrue vacation for each month provided you are on payroll at least 15 days in a contractual month, and you met your annual flying threshold for your active months. You can find your eligible months and threshold information in your HISK/L. 
 
Keep in mind we bid for vacation on a trips-missed basis, which means that in a line month you will be paid and removed from any trip that conflicts/touches your vacation days. On a Reserve month you will be paid and removed from any Reserve day that conflicts with your vacation days. It is a good idea to know your exact vacation days prior to bidding so that you can bid accordingly and maximize your accrued vacation. More information on vacation accrual and pay and credit can be found on p.32 of the On Duty Contract Guide.
 
Hotel Updates – [email protected]
RDU – Temporary relocations for RDU long layovers continue. If you were scheduled to stay at the long RDU layover hotel, please visit the Temporary Relocations page on APFA’s Hotel page for your new hotel assignment, or check HIHTL in DECS.
 
CUN – To address some concerns raised about possible mold in crew rooms at the short layover hotel, we discussed moving the crews to a lower floor. Since all crew were on the same floor, this will take a few days for the hotel staff to fully transition our crews. Please email [email protected] if you experience any allergy symptoms and include the date of stay and room number.
 
SJC – Our current layover hotel changed flags and you will see a new name as of Monday, May 19. A notice was sent out to all bases and the HIHTL information has been updated. You may also find the updated name on the System List on the APFA Hotel Department Page.
 
SAT – Workers will be renovating the SAT short-layover hotel lobby area for the remainder of May. As a result of this disruption and the noise associated with the renovation, all crew members departing in the afternoons will be relocated; early departures will not be affected. Please refer to the APFA Temporary Relocation page of www.apfa.org for your new hotel assignment or check your HIHTL.
 
There have been reports of hotels providing an already-completed sign in sheet on crew arrival that contains first and last names of each crewmember. For security reasons, we only sign our first initial and last name. The APFA Hotel Department is looking into which hotels have been doing this so that we can rectify the problem. Please forward the name of the hotel, city and date to [email protected].
 
Site inspections for SJU, SJD and ATL have been completed, and recommendations have been made to the company. The LAX review is complete and APFA’s recommendation will be made by Monday.
 
LAX – Site inspection next week for short layover hotel.
 
Make-Up Flying and Sick Call Coding – [email protected]
Did you know that when you call in sick for a HISEND MU round trip that: 1 – It will be removed with a code 15; and 2 – You will still have a sick occurrence under the attendance policy? Make-Up flying is not paid if the Flight Attendants calls in sick. 

eManual Update – [email protected]
As we draw closer to obtaining FAA approval for our Flight Attendant eManual, all AA aircraft will be equipped with on board emergency checklist (OEC) packets. Flight Service will be providing an in-flight manual bulletin on the OEC packets along with the necessary communication to all Flight Attendants next week, May 21st. The bulletin is expected to arrive at bases May 19-21.

Until the FAA has granted approval for AA Flight Service to move from the current paper in-flight manual to the eManual available via our AA issued tablets, Flight Attendants are required to maintain an up to date compliant “paper” in-flight manual as well as ensuring their tablets are updated with the most current revisions and downloads.

Known Crew Member (KCM) Reminder – [email protected]
KCM portals continue to be added to airports across the US airport system. Flight Attendants can access the KCM web site (www.knowncrewmember.org) to locate the latest list of airports providing KCM portals for Crew Members and the location of the portal entries at each participating airport. KCM portals are for uniformed Crew Members only and each Crew Member is required to provide a valid and current Crew ID Badge along with a government ID with photo (valid passport or driver’s license) to the TSA Officer at the KCM portal.

Crew Members may be subjected to random security screening when processing through the KCM portals. If this should happen, Flight Attendants should comply with the screening and proceed to the nearest regular airport security screening entry in order to avoid sanctions and penalties issued by the TSA. If any Flight Attendant experiences a problem while attempting to process through a KCM portal, please send a report to [email protected] and include the KCM portal location, date, time along with a summary of the issue.

Medical Clearance – [email protected]
The APFA Health and IOD Department receives many calls regarding clearing medical. Because of our occupation we are required to clear through AA Medical Call A Nurse for the following conditions.

• Hospitalization (admitted to the hospital), surgery (in or outpatient) or emergency room/urgent care visits
• Medical history that requires a personal medical clearance as previously determined by AA Medical
• Medications that can affect alertness or mental function, or newly prescribed medications you will continue to use after returning to work
• Returning from an Injury-on-Duty (IOD)
• Blocked ears
• Maternity leave
• Any condition or treatment relating to absence that affects your ability to perform essential job functions.
• Your manager/supervisor requests you obtain clearance
• If you have questions call AA Call A Nurse: 800 555-2373
• You may also call the Health Department at APFA Headquarters (817) 540-0108, ext. 8301 for Health and 8303 for IODs

Benefits and Hostage Form – [email protected]
Having more and more of our benefits online makes it easier to make changes to things like our beneficiaries, as situations in our lives change. One form, not available online and specific to Flight Attendants expresses your wishes in the event of you are missing or held hostage or prisoner. This form allows you to direct your pay and benefits to someone else for the duration of your absence.

If you were hired after 1993, you filled this form out on the last day of training and it was put into your personnel file. If you were on the line in 1993, you were sent the form to fill out and return to your supervisor.

Most of us have never updated that form, and it may have someone listed who is no longer the right person, such as an ex-spouse or someone who may be deceased.

You can print out a form here, and send the update form to your Flight Service Manager. The most recently-submitted form on file prevails.

If You Are A Victim Of Domestic Violence – [email protected]

• You are not alone
• It is not your fault
• There is help

Domestic violence is used to control another person in a relationship and takes many forms.  Some examples of abuse include:

• Name-calling
• Isolating a partner
• Withholding money
• Stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job
• Physical harm
• Stalking
• Intimidating

Many Flight Attendants never report they are a victim of domestic violence because of the fear of more violence, fear of losing their children or their job. The reality is, there is help for you and your children. The APFA EAP desk is experienced in helping our Flight Attendants who are victims of domestic violence.

If you are someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, make a confidential call to your APFA EAP desk at 1-817-540-0108 ext. 8701.      

9/11 Museum, NY – [email protected]
On Thursday, May 15^th, the National September 11th Memorial Museum in New York was dedicated. Families, first responders, survivors and dignitaries, including President and Mrs. Obama were in attendance. On May 21^st, after years of planning, the 9/11 Memorial Museum will officially open to tell the heartbreaking, courageous stories of 9/11. 
 
The APFA Archives has worked closely with the curator and staff of the Museum in their quest to honor our lost crewmembers and represent the flight attendant profession. Uniforms, graduation photos and other memorabilia were gifted to the permanent museum collection.
 
On Monday, APFA President, Laura Glading and APFA Historian, Sally Prater, will attend one of the pre-opening events and have the opportunity to tour the Museum. Flight Attendants may visit www.911memorial.org and also the memorial registries online at registries.911memorial.org for recordings of individuals connected to the 9/11 history. Laura shared her experience in a recording for the Museum earlier this year. 
 
The National September Memorial Museum will serve to ensure that the history and story of 9/11 and the memories of our colleagues are never forgotten.
 
Update on Malaysia Flight 370
The disappearance of Malaysian flight 370 has reopened the debate about the real-time tracking of transoceanic flights. Technology to continuously track aircraft exists, but regulators have not mandated its use.

During parts of virtually every ETOPS flight, aircraft cannot communicate with air traffic controllers using regular VHF radios and radar coverage becomes non-existent. The ACARS system, a digital data link system on planes that can communicate either by air band radio or satellite, is expensive to use, does not transmit continuously, and (as we learned from MH 370) can be turned off. Certain aircraft and engine types have the capability to automatically transmit operational data via satellite. This is what accounts for the so-called “handshakes” in the case of MH 370. However, if the air carrier does not subscribe to monitoring services, no positional information is transmitted.

In a report sent to the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Malaysian government recommended that the organization develop standards for real-time aircraft tracking.
The International Civil Aviation Organization met this week to discuss the global tracking of aircraft and will likely recommend next steps. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expected to outline suggestions for the continuous tracking of planes by the end of this year. 

In the meantime, Inmarsat, the company whose satellite had the last known contact with Flight 370, announced that they would invest $3 million to offer free airline global airline tracking service to all 11,000 commercial passenger traffic, virtually 100% of the world’s long haul fleet. The company’s website adds that they will also offer a ‘black box in the cloud’ service that, when triggered, would stream flight data recorder information and cockpit audio off a plane to aviation safety professionals somewhere else.

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REMINDERS!

Vacation Trade Bulletin Board at APFA.org
If you would like to trade your 2014-2015 vacation, APFA offers an electronic bulletin board at www.apfa.org to post your trade requests. Click here and follow instructions to post your requested VC trades.

APFA “Flyer” iPhone App
APFA’s Flyer App, Version 5 is available for download from APFA’s website. To download the app, click here.

APFA Website Update
If you’re an APFA member / pre-merger AA Flight Attendant, and don’t yet have access to APFA’s website, go to www.www.apfa.org and click on “Create An Account” under the Log In Form from the main page. Once you fill out the form, a verification email will be sent to you. Click on the specified link within the email, and you will gain immediate access to the members-only portion of APFA.org. Get to know it!

Staffing
Do you have a report concerning staffing-related issue and would like to submit data to APFA? Please email all details to [email protected]. This email is a no-response email. It is strictly used to collect data. If you have a scheduling or staffing question or issue, please email [email protected].

Share Your Photos
We continue to receive some great pictures from our members both on and off the plane. Please remember that in order for the photos to be useable, they must include the names and employee numbers of all Flight Attendants, as well as contact information (if available). Otherwise, the photos are unusable.

Photos may be incorporated in future APFA web and print projects, including upcoming issues of Skyword, press releases, our APFA New Hire guide and a welcome booklet for our future members from pre-merger US Airways. Please email your hi-res photos to: [email protected].

If you are emailing several high-resolution photos, please limit your photos to 3 per email as our server will block files over a certain size.

If you prefer to mail a hard copy, send to:
APFA Communications
1004 W. Euless Blvd.
Euless, TX, 76040

Photos must:

• Be the sole property of the sender. By sending in photos, you are giving APFA permission to use them in APFA communications.
• Contain the name(s), employee number(s) (if you can obtain your coworker’s employee number easily), email and phone number of each person in the photo in order to obtain permission to publish.
• Be tasteful in content.

AmericanAirlines + US Airways 
“On Our Way”

Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Coordinator