8.20.15 – (LAA/LUS) – New Hire Classes/Presidential Grievance/Daily Ops/VEX Days/LHR Block Time/Code 59/LODO Provisions & Pay

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Thursday, August 20, 2015

Additional New Hire Training Classes Scheduled for 2015
Presidential Grievance – Crew Portal/ETB/PBS Issues
Flight Service Daily Operations Moves to IOC
Vacation Extension (VEX) Days for October Bid Month
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) Block Time
Code 59 (Ready for Departure/Brake Release)
Trading Premium Paid Positions
LODO Provisions & Pay

Additional New Hire Training Classes Scheduled for 2015 – LAA/LUS

Beginning on September 21, 2015, Flight Service will add five initial Flight Attendant training classes for the remainder of this year. Two classes are scheduled to support the legacy US Airways operation and three will support the legacy American Airlines operation in time for the Holidays. Initial Operating Experience (IOE) trips will be conducted in October and November.

Presidential Grievance – Crew Portal/ETB/ISAP – LUS

APFA would like to thank all Flight Attendants who have submitted screen shots and documentation to APFA regarding difficulties with Crew Portal. We would like to remind you, to assist in responding to a Flight Attendant’s question about their bid award, the Flight Attendant Resource Center (FARC) is available to provide assistance. The FARC can be reached at 480-693-8232 or 800-327-0117, option 2 followed by option 8

The final step is to send all of your documentation to [email protected] as we gather your concerns in preparation for the recently filed Presidential Grievance on Crew Portal, ETB and PBS issues.

Flight Service Daily Operations moves to IOC – LAA/LUS

Flight Service Daily Operations (Daily Ops) has moved into the new Integrated Operations Center (IOC) next to the Flight Academy in Ft. Worth.

For 24/7 Flight Attendant support and assistance from home or base, or while in mid-sequence or on layover, call 682-315-7070 – or toll free at 1-888-222-4737. Daily Ops are available to support you outside local base management hours. Should you require medical attention while on a layover, need emergency travel, assistance with an AMR Event report or require a mini-manual, we are here to help. Scheduling related issues need to continue to be brought to the Crew Scheduling department.

Calling from an international location? Use the AT&T country codes and dialing instructions guide, or obtain assistance from hotel operator. Need help with link? AT&T country code and dialing instructions:
http://www.att.com/media/att/2012/support/pdf/USADirectTravel-AccessCodes.pdf

Vacation Extension (VEX) Days for October Bid Month – LUS

A Flight Attendant who is scheduled for at least seven (7) consecutive vacation days may elect to place up to a total of four (4) days off BEFORE or AFTER, or SPLIT on either side of such vacation. The days off will act as a pre-planned absence and will carry NO pay or credit. Such days off will be counted toward the Reserve’s scheduled Golden Days. Such block of four (4) days, or portion thereof, may be extended into the next bid period.

In the event that you have Vacation in the first week of a bid month and you would like to have VEX days on any of the first 7 days of the month, you may want to submit your request for those VEX days in the VEX window for the preceding bid month’s VEX submission window. This will prevent you from being awarded a carry-over trip that touches a day that you wanted as a VEX day. You can still add VEX days during the normal monthly window, however once a trip is awarded you cannot use a VEX day to drop that trip.

For Example:

Vacation is 05NOV to 11NOV. Flight Attendant wants VEX days 01NOV-04NOV. Submit the VEX request between 19AUG to 31AUG (VEX Submission window for October bidding).

Submit Vacation Extension requests for October bid month no later than 23:59 PHX time on Monday, August 31st.

Flight Attendant Vacation Extension Form

London Heathrow Airport (LHR) Block Time – LAA

Earlier this month the block time for three LHR sequences was reduced from what was originally published on the bidsheet. Two sequences are at LGA involving flights 100 and 106. The third sequence is at DFW involving flight 50. Flight Attendants will be protected for the original block time of the sequences if the actual flying time does not exceed the original block time. Any necessary adjustment will be made by Pay Comp during closeout for August which takes place at the beginning of September.

Code 59 (Ready for Departure/Brake Release) – LUS

Code 59, also known as Ready for Departure (RFD) delay, is an ATC delay that prohibits pushback from a gate due to ramp or airport congestion, or deicing delays. The following flow charts were created to help you understand each of the two types of delays and assist in determining which one you might qualify for.

The first scenario covers ATC delays. Should an ATC delay be absorbed at the gate, the Captain will establish an RFD time when the aircraft and crew would have been ready for departure. The key to this is that the ‘crew must have been ready for departure’ – if the aircraft is not in place, Flight Attendants have not arrived from a connecting flight or the flight deck crew is not ready for departure then the Captain cannot establish a RFD time. However, if the aircraft and full flight crew is ready at the scheduled departure time and ATC assigns a delay the Captain may establish a RFD time based on the originally scheduled departure time.

The second scenario covers delays at the gate once the aircraft is ready for pushback. In order to claim payment for any delay, everything must be ready for an immediate pushback. This includes all doors closed, jetway pulled and tug driver in place. The ACARS units on US aircraft differ from those on AA aircraft and therefore what establishes the OUT time for pay also differs. The ACARS units on US aircraft will capture the OUT time once all doors are closed and the parking brake is released. If this time is not captured accurately or you have a delay at the gate in excess of 10 minutes, follow the second flow chart and if you meet all the criteria then the Captain will file a claim for a Ramp Delay.

If you are held at the gate for deice sequencing your ramp delay begins at the time you would have been ready for pushback. This also applies even if Company personnel request that you keep the passenger door open during the delay.

Code 59 / Brake Release Claim Form – To be completed by the Captain

Until the ACARS units can be harmonized throughout the AA and US fleets, Pilots should contact their respective Chief Pilot’s office to file a claim rather than sending an ACARS message as the AA pilots do. Pilots will need to provide the information requested on the above claim form for proper filing of a RFD claim. Pilots have been reminded to include Flight Attendants names and CATCREW numbers of the bottom of the form.

Trading Premium Paid Positions – LUS

In order to be paid properly for trading into a premium paid positions after you have checked-in for a flight, be sure to notify the Pilots of the position trade.

Here are some helpful guidelines:

Aircraft with New ACARS Automation

The Pilots can refer to the “AOC MISC” page in the ACARS Changes bulletin. Only one position change can be entered at a time – and the position change will only cover a single flight segment. The same entry must be repeated prior to each flight leg segment.

Pilot procedures:

Select the “AOC MISC” screen
In 1L under MISC CODE, type 86
In 2L under DATA, type in the premium position Flight Attendant’s employee number preceded by the premium position designator.
The position number can be located on the flight release in the crew verification section. Leading zeroes need to be included so that the number entered contains the premium designator followed by a six (6) digit employee number. (For example: If a Flight Attendant with employee number 023456 swaps into the “A” position, enter code “A023456”.
Select SEND
Repeat steps 1. through 5. above for additional premium pay swaps.

Aircraft without ACARS Automation

If the aircraft is not equipped with the new ACARS software, a (manual) PE-80 Form should be submitted to Crew Pay Compensation by the Pilot.

If you did not inform the captain of the premium paid swap or ACARs failed to properly submit the swap, you will need to submit a PE-80 Form, found on Wings, to Crew Pay Compensation.

To verify that a premium position trade was completed, check Menu Option # 3 in CATCREW. Be sure to check the column to the right of the Base Column, as seen in the screenshot below. Verify the A, B, or E premium position is properly noted.

LODO Provisions & Pay – LUS (CLT, PHL ONLY)

Recently, it has become necessary for Daily Scheduling to use LOD/O reserves to cover domestic pairings due to the extremely high demand for non-LOD/O reserves, especially in PHL and CLT. When this type of assignment is necessary, pay protections do exist under certain circumstances (15.G.2.f and 15.G.3). The following provides a clarification as to when and how pay protections apply:

A LOD/O reserve will be paid international and LOD/O premium for assignments which occur when a LOD/O reserve is assigned a domestic pairing to protect the operation. The eligible domestic pairings must be a pairing that was assigned and not awarded through Daily Scheduling.
If a LOD/O reserve is restricted (held back) by a crew scheduler from flying a non-LOD/O trip and the reserve is not subsequently awarded a LOD/O pairing, the reserve will be pay protected for the non-LOD/O trip for which the reserve could have been awarded. Further, if the LOD/O who was held back is awarded a lesser paying LOD/O trip, the reserve will be eligible for pay protection for the difference between the two pairings.

To ensure you are properly compensated for the aforementioned pay protections please submit a claims form for processing.

Brian Clark
APFA National Communications Interim Chair
[email protected]