4.18.17 – (LAA) – Clarification on May Bid Award Process

Clarification on May Bid Award Process – LAA

As stated in a previous communication, APFA has filed a Presidential Grievance challenging the Company’s phased approach of implementing incomplete provisions, including pay protections and the elimination of Available (AVBL) days for LAA Flight Attendants.

Following the recent APFA Scheduling Hotline regarding bidding tips for May, we have received many questions on how the Company plans to build vacation relief lines and which ones will be busted (deleted).

Crew Planning has stated that the bid award programming will not change with the elimination of AVBL days on vacation relief lines and open replacement lines. Awards will be done in seniority order. When the program encounters a Flight Attendant on vacation, the corresponding vacation relief line will be constructed with trips from the awarded line and, instead of AVBL days, trips from open time. As long as the relief line can be built to at least 65 hours, it will be awarded. When the computer cannot construct a line to 65 or more hours, the line will be deleted and the remaining trips from that line will be placed into the open time pool.

Phase 1 will be run through completion. During Phase 2, the relief lines are built. If any relief lines cannot be built to at least 65 hours, the line will be deleted and Phase 1 and 2 will be run again until all reliefs are built to 65 or more hours, or deleted. This process will ensure a Flight Attendant who was not awarded a deleted relief selection will be considered for his/her next choice.

Trips from the deleted lines will be placed into the open time pool and made available for building open replacement lines. Because the awards process will need to be rerun multiple times, it will take longer for initial and final bids to post.

Crew Planning will honor your preferences to the extent possible, excluding NP (no plot) and DF (duty free period choices) when constructing relief lines (these options have never been considered with relief lines).

Open replacement lines will be built with trips remaining in open time. NP (no preplot) will not be considered, however DF (duty free periods) and all other options will continue to be considered.

Renee Mayer
APFA National Scheduling Chair
[email protected]