2.16.16 – (LUS) – LUS Reserve Update – February 2016

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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

LUS Reserve Update – February 2016 – LUS

Reserve and Scheduling sections of the 2013 Red Book Contract can be easy to read, but much harder to interpret. As we move forward with this Reserve system, we are encountering many Reserve Flight Attendants who require explanation or the true intent of the Contractual language in various sections. APFA and Crew Scheduling have been working to resolve any questions that Reserves may come across. Here are a few examples of the issues APFA Reserve Representatives on both the National and Base Level have been working on:

ASG Indicator Code, Also Known As “Clicks”

APFA and the Company have come to an agreement on On Premise Reserve (OPR) Clicks and Reassignment Clicks.

An OPR assigned or awarded a pairing will now receive an ASG code “clicks” for the number of days of the pairing assignment/award. This does not matter how you received the OPR assignment ( ROTA or Daily Processing). For example: If a Flight Attendant is awarded or assigned a three (3) day pairing while sitting OPR, she/he will receive three (3) “Clicks” for daily utilization, etc. in addition to receiving one click for sitting OPR if assigned.
Prior to departure, if a Reserve Flight Attendant is rescheduled, then such Reserve will receive the additional “clicks” for the reassigned pairing. For example: A daily assignment of a 2-day pairing receives two (2) “clicks”, but prior to departure the Reserve is rescheduled to a 3-day pairing. The Reserve will receive the greater number, for a total of three (3) clicks.

Reserve Assignment Process (RAP) and Aggressive Bid Extensions

RAP and Aggressive bid extensions can be communicated by the Flight Attendant to Crew Scheduling (CS) at anytime, but will not be considered until the current RAP is completed. For example: a Reserve is sitting RAP A from 0200 until 1400. She/he would desire to extend their RAP and/or Aggressive bid to RAP C from 1400 until 0200. The Reserve can notify CS at anytime during their RAP of their intentions to remain available, but CS will not process their bid until their current RAP is completed. Once a RAP shift has ended, a Reserve is off-duty, and is not required to answer a call from Scheduling.

The Reserve who is choosing to extend their RAP will be processed before any of the Flight Attendants in the RAP the Reserve has extended into. The Reserve may leave a list of preferences and/or time that the she/he would like to end their RAP extension. This Reserve would be considered aggressive for the award/assignment. If she/he is the only Reserve extending her/his RAP, then such Reserve would receive the “clicks”, since they are considered the next Reserve to be assigned from the daily processing rules. When speaking to Scheduling, the Reserve should ask the Scheduler if they are the only Reserve who is requesting to extend her/his RAP. This will help APFA Reserve Representatives in fighting for the owed “clicks”, if necessary.

Calling Out-of-Time with Aggressive Flying Usage

Aggressive flying has no cap, but can affect your ability to call out-of-time. Be aware that the first 40 hours of pay and credit, no matter how you received these hours, will NOT raise your monthly maximum. Aggressive flying AFTER the 40-hour threshold will increase your monthly maximum. Also, Electronic Trade Board (ETB) flying will not count toward calling out-of-time.

Examples:
1. Reserve Flies the First 40 Hours

All Aggressive – All pay and credit counts for timing out. Monthly maximum is not raised.

2. Reserve Flies the First 40 Hours

10 hours from Future Scheduling
30 hours from Daily – All pay and credit counts for timing out. Monthly maximum is not raised.

3. Reserve Flies the First 40 Hours

10 hours Future Scheduling
20 hours Daily Scheduling
10 hours Aggressive – All pay and credit counts for timing out. Monthly maximum is not raised.

4. Reserve Flies the First 40 Hours

10 hours Future Scheduling
5 hours Daily Scheduling
20 hours Aggressive

The Reserve in example #4 has a total of 35 hours of pay and credit to date, but decides to fly aggressive for a 20-hour trip. She/he now has a total of 55 hours pay and credit with a total of 40 hours aggressive. Only 25 hours of the aggressive hours will count toward timing out. The additional 15 hours will raise his/her monthly maximum. In this example, the monthly max was set at 90 hours, and the Reserves calling out-of-time would now be 105 hours minus 04:59(the value of a min day) to make the call out time 100.01 hours.
Once the Reserve reaches 40 hours of pay and credit in a month, any hours flown on aggressive status above 40 hours shall not be credited. When determining if the Reserve has met or exceeded the monthly pay cap, credited hours will be calculated based on the Reserves month-to-date hours credited to the minute including credit associated with flight time, sick, vacation, jury duty, bereavement, APFA business, deadhead, etc. ETB pay-no credit hours, etc. shall not be considered when calculating credited hours.

Minimum Reserve Call Out Time

Positive contact from Crew Schedule triggers the minimum call out of two (2) hours. Crew Scheduling leaving a message on the Flight Attendant’s voicemail to return a call does not constitute the start of the minimum two (2) hour call out. A Flight Attendant has fifteen (15) minutes to return a call to Scheduling once a message has been left on her/his primary number. If a secondary number is listed with Scheduling, the Flight Attendant has fifteen (15) minutes from the time the message was left on the secondary number to return Scheduling’s call.

Reserve Out-of-Base/Position

The 2013 Red Book Contract states that a Reserve has a minimum of two (2) hours to report after notification of a pairing by Crew Scheduling. The Contractual language does not indicate a radius within the airport that a Reserve must be located while on a Reserve Availability Period (RAP). It APFA’s position that a Reserve Flight Attendant has the ability, at any given time, to report for an assignment within two (2) hours, to prevent a flight delay, or to not receive any dependability infraction.

The Company’s latest version of their Dependability Program, states the following:

Reserve Not Positioned/Available for Duty (ROB) – A reserve flight attendant is required to be positioned to report for duty as soon as possible but no later than two hours (2:00) of assignment while on reserve duty. Accepting credit for reserve duty for which a flight attendant is not positioned/available as required will be addressed both as a dependability and work performance infraction.

A Reserve must be in position to begin their assigned pairing or On Premise Reserve (OPR) shift. It is the responsibility of the Reserve Flight Attendant to be in-base/position for such assignments.

Trading Reserve Assignments

The 2013 Red Book Contractual language does not permit a Reserve Flight Attendant the ability to trade her/his assigned/awarded pairing from Crew Scheduling to a Lineholder or another Reserve via the Electronic Trade Board (ETB). A Reserve Flight Attendant wishing to trade their pairing with another Flight Attendant may call Scheduling to do a manual trade providing that the pairing is traded for same day and same duration.

A Reserve holding an ETB pairing may trade or drop on the ETB up to two (2) hours before check-in of such pairing.

Reserve Off Day Trade Bid Input

A Reserve wishing to participate in trading their PBS awarded day(s) off can do so using an ISAP-like system. This system can be found under CATCREW Option #39. It processes daily from 20:00 until 06:00 HBT.

Reserves shall be allowed to trade days off utilizing a system consistent with ISAP. Patterns of days off traded must conform to the patterns established in Section 10.D.18 or the 2013 Red Book Contract. This ISAP process does not have the ability to run the bid persistent, resulting in the Reserves need to enter the trade bids everyday. The initial ISAP-like trade system will run two (2) days out from the beginning of the bid period and the Reserve will have the ability to enter trades up to seven (7) before the initial run. Once the run is completed, the Reserve must enter their trade choices everyday.

APFA is aware of the complexity involved in trading days off though this system, and will continue to advocate for a better system. The Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) will permit day off trades to be traded using the Electronic Trade Board (ETB). APFA has asked the Company to implement this process prior to Flight Attendant Operational Integration (FOI).

Back-to-Back RAP Assignments/24-Hour Break Between RAP and Trip

APFA has had numerous discussions with the Company on assigning back-to-back RAP periods. The Union understands that the 2013 Red Book Contractual language allows the Company to assign these RAPs back-to-back to protect the operation due to coverage levels.

We have asked the Company to supply the Flight Attendants and Union Leaders with a Reasons Report, which would reflect the reason(s) a Reserve was assigned a back-to-back RAP for a 24-hour consecutive period. APFA also challenged the obvious placing of a Reserve available for one (1) day into RAP A and B. The Company’s response was that in order to utilize the Reserves full potential, that it is necessary for this placement; APFA disagrees. Your Union feels that the RAPS should be filled by seniority taking into consideration legalities and honoring the FAs bids, not because of availability.

APFA has expressed to the Company that the Reserve Flight Attendant workgroup wishes to utilize their 24-hour break between RAP and trip assignments in order to fulfill the FAR and contractual language of 24/7. This would ensure the ability to pick up ETB trip(s) on Golden Days (GDs) and or Moveable Day (MDs). APFA was informed that CATCREW cannot currently read this legality when transmitting Flight Attendant information to ETB or when waiving the 24/7 and flying into a GD/MD.

The Company informed APFA that if the system were to be updated to identify this 24-hour pure break, they would reserve the right to schedule the Reserve accordingly using this same 24-hour pure break. APFA disagrees and would like to see this at the Reserves option only. The system does identify the 24-hour pure break achieved from a layover city, and will honor the request to waive the 24/7 using the rest from a layover. But keep in mind that the Company can also use this rest to have you continue flying. We do not see this happening very often, but believe that it does happen under critical coverage and irregular operations, but must go though the Priority of Trip Assignment (POTA) language before doing so.

Pay No Credit (PNC)

A Reserve Flight Attendant in actual operations flying into their GD(s) or MD(s) shall be compensated PNC. If actual operations cause a Reserve duty period to be extended into her/his GD(s) or MD(s), any pay hours on or after 0000 of her/his GD(s) or MD(s) shall be PNC. During Winter Storm Jonas, many Reserves were out on pairings that extended into their GDs and MDs. Please check your paycheck to ensure you were paid correctly. If you were not compensated please file a PE-80 claim form to bring this to the attention of pay claims. You have sixty (60) days to file a claim.

Also, in the event a Reserve has been assigned into a MD or has extended their duty period for more than one (1) hour into a GD or MD because of actual operations, the Reserve and the Company shall mutually agree to the reinstatement of a GD(s) on a different day in the bid period. The Reserve will be required to contact Crew Scheduling for the reinstatement of these days off within 48 hours of such assignment. If no agreement is reached, the Reserve fails to call within 48 hours, or the Reserve has no more days of availability in the bid period, she/he shall receive PNC equal to the value of a Reserve day.

In closing, APFA Reserve Representatives are working on many items to help clarify and enable the Reserve Flight Attendant to understand the Contract and to make sure the intent of the Contract is being followed by the Company. We understand your frustrations and concerns when Crew Scheduling intentionally and accidentally does not abide by the Contractual language set forth by our Collective Bargaining Agreements. As we transition into the 2014 JCBA, many of the items in the 2013 Red Book will be carried over. It is our mission to remain diligent during this transition process. Remember, New/Probationary Flight Attendants who are dues paying members of APFA shall be entitled to the same Union representation and rights of any other American Airlines Flight Attendant.

Should you have questions or issues, please contact your APFA leadership. The following is a list of additional resources for your assistance: