4.10.15b – (LUS) PBS, ISAP, ETB, Reserve and CatCrew Problems

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April 10, 2015

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On Tuesday, April 7th, APFA Leaders met with the company in Dallas-Ft. Worth to discuss the challenges that our Flight Attendants have been facing regarding PBS, ISAP, the Electronic Trade Board and the new Reserve System. The company explained it is aware of the technical issues, and that bug fixes and enhancements are currently being made every week.
 
Here is a list of some of the enhancements/bug fixes to PBS, ISAP, ETB, Reserve and CatCrew that the Company has either completed or has committed to completing in the near future:
 
PBS
New Requirements:

• Not show any Credit for ETB Carry-In trips as “PRE-Existing Credit.”  PBS will show ALL, including Carry-In, ETB activity as Pay/No Credit. This change will occur in the May PBS Bid for the June Bid month.
• 11 Calendar Day Off in Domicile Waiver.  This Waiver will allow Flight Attendants to Waive the contractual requirement of 11 Calendar Days Off in domicile to a number of their choosing in order to facilitate a High Time PBS Award. This change will occur in the May PBS Bid for the June Bid month. 
• Allow Flight Attendants to work more than 15 Days in a Row with the applicable waivers of 35/7 and 24/7 Rest on a Layover, Allow Double-ups and Multiple Pairings. This change is in effect for the April PBS Bid for the May Bid Month
• Partial Month Proration. The effective date of this change is TBD. 

ISAP

• Reserve to Lineholder LOD/O Processing
• CSD/Non-CSD Bidding
• Obligation Minimum for Partial Month
• Identify Drop as ISAP Drop vs. ETB Drop

 

Implementation of the ISAP changes will be a soon as possible.
 
ETB

• Integrate Bulletin Board with ETB
• Search/Filter/Sort Functionality for Trips to Trade
• Search/Filter by # of Days
• Search/Filter by # of Duty Period
• Search/Filter by RON Cities
• Sort by Main Column Headers in “My Trade Board” Section
• Ability to “Hide” Completed Transaction in the “My Trades” Section
• Create the Ability to Designate a Pairing as “Not Available for Trade”

Implementation of these changes will occur in May with a specific date TBD. 
 
Reserve Section

• Fixed Submit Bid on Preferences Tab
• Fixed Issue where Message Indicates a Name Must Be Provided When Trying to Submit a RAP Bid
• Getting Bids Will Check For Out of Sync Priorities and Fix Them if Found
• Allow Reserves to trade Pairings
• Improve the transparency and information on Screen 18 in CatCrew to reflect Seniority 

 

The Union will push the Company to implement these changes as soon as possible.
 
CatCrew

• CatCrew Emulator Replacement in Crew Portal – 4th Quarter 2015
• FLICA Reimbursement Extension until the Emulator is updated and replace within the Crew Portal

 

These are only a few of the issues that have been fixed for Flight Attendants since the launch of the new Scheduling and PBS System. There are additional fixes in the upcoming weeks and months.  
 
As you can see, this continues to be a work in progress. It’s encouraging to see that progress is being made in many areas, due to our Flight Attendant workforce continuing to be proactive in reporting these issues to both the Company and APFA. We thank you for your continued patience and professionalism as the issues are worked out in different areas.
 
We encourage all Flight Attendants to continue to report issues with the new Scheduling System by submitting a PBS Help Form. This form also alerts the Company as to what’s not working and needs immediate attention. This form is the best way to have your questions acted upon and addressed.
 
Leslie Mayo
APFA National Communications Chair