2.01.21 – APFA PHL Base Brief – February 1, 2021

Monday, February 1, 2021

Philadelphia Flight Attendants,

As you may have heard, Tracey and I have been duly elected for another term in office as your President and Vice President, respectively. The term begins April 1, 2021, and runs through March 31, 2023. We also have quite a few base council reps that have been duly elected. Once the term begins, we will be sending out updated information on the base council.

PHL has an office from which we operate during regular business hours. We also work remotely, as necessary. Our office number is 215-360-3115.

If your Flight Service Manager contacts you for a meeting to discuss anything, please remember that you have a contractual right to Union Representation. Please reach out to us for assistance.

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Possible Staffing Overage Due to the Pandemic

As much as we welcome the news of a vaccine and eventual relief from the pandemic, it does not appear things are moving as quickly as hoped. In the recent state of airline address, American stated that we would most likely have to prepare for another round of furloughs due to demand not returning as anticipated.

This is beyond disappointing. Please know APFA is going to do everything contractually possible to mitigate as much job loss as possible. We also will continue to advocate and fight for additional stimulus and payroll protections. We will continue to work with our sisters and brothers at AFA-CWA on Capitol Hill to ensure that aviation’s essential workers are included in a larger relief package. As before, we will need your help to make that happen.

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Update Your Contact Information

With all the movement going on within our bases, we ask that you please make sure APFA has your most current and updated contact information. You may update your information on the APFA website.

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COVID-19 Exposures

There has been a lot of confusion surrounding the process for COVID-19 exposures and positive tests. If you are notified by the company that you have been exposed, you will be removed with a “13” paid removal code for the required quarantine timeframe.

If you have a positive exposure that you have been made aware of from someone in your home or outside of work, you will need to file for the pandemic leave. Once approved, you will be removed with a “DR” code for the required quarantine timeframe.

If you have a positive test, you will need to notify your Flight Service Manager and file for the pandemic leave on Jetnet. You will also receive a call from a Premise doctor to gather contact tracing information and to remove you for the fourteen days.

It is important that you only call in sick trip-by-trip until your pandemic leave is approved. APFA has a COVID-19 reporting form on the website to offer follow-up and to ensure procedures are being followed. If you need more information, please refer to the recent APFA Health Department hotline for a COVID-19 process checklist.

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COVID-19 Vaccines

Many of you have contacted me to ask for more information about adding your name to a vaccination list. PHL is unique in that we have Flight Attendants that live in Pennsylvania and several neighboring states.

Below are some COVID-19 links that you may find useful:

Philadelphia, PA:
https://covid-vaccine-interest.phila.gov

State of Pennsylvania:
pa.gov/guides/responding-to-covid-19/#COVID-19Vaccine
*Pennsylvania soon plans to utilize an online portal where individuals can sign up for a timeslot to receive the vaccine at a vaccine provider. This will ensure Pennsylvanians can safely receive the vaccine without lines or people congregating in locations during the pandemic.

Montgomery County, PA:
https://veoci.com/veoci/p/form/n8e5ry45jw8y#tab=entryForm

Chester County, PA:
https://www.chesco.org/224/Health

Bucks County, PA:
https://covid19-vaccine-bucksgis.hub.arcgis.com/

New Jersey: 
https://covidvaccine.nj.gov/

Delaware: 
https://coronavirus.delaware.gov/vaccine/

American Airlines will be offering vaccines at Premise locations when they receive access to the vaccine. Please continue to monitor your company email for information.

I have signed joint letters to state Governors representing DE, MD, NJ, and PA, asking that vaccines be secured for Flight Attendants and other frontline aviation workers in Tier 1B of their vaccination plan.

Letter to Delaware Governor Carney
Letter to Maryland Governor Hogan
Letter to New Jersey Governor Murphy
Letter to Pennsylvania Governor Wolf

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PHL Parking

Please remember: If you are going to be parking in the parking garage for longer than your trip sequence, you need to park in the E or F upper levels.

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Vacation Bidding

Annual vacation bidding opens today at 1200 CT. To view your accrued vacation days in 2020, go to your Crew Portal, click on Monthly Bids > Vacation > Accrual > Last year : 2020. The accrued days in 2020 will appear in your Original Accrual section of the Vacation section. These days will be bid during the Primary Round of vacation bidding. Vacation guides and videos as well as the 2020-2021 vacation calendars may be found on Jetnet.

Last week we had a meeting with the Company, required per the contract, to discuss the vacation matrix. To say this was a bloodbath is an understatement. Every Base President expressed disappointment and frustration over the lack of vacation buyback that was offered. The Company should have sent out information preparing us for the possibility that they would only offer the contractual minimum. Many of you felt blindsided by this because the Company has always offered as much buyback as was balloted. Many Flight Attendants count on that lump sum payout for various financial reasons.

We also had robust conversations over the matrix. Do not be shocked when you see all the vacation backloaded into February, March, and April. We battled with them to move days between months, and they refused. The only thing they were open to looking at was smoothing or spreading days out more evenly within a month. Trust me, they did not do as much of that as they could have or should have.

I am not going to lie- this matrix is beyond disgusting and disappointing for those out here working during this pandemic. We always look forward to our paid vacation time. No one wants to wait another year for paid time off.

In Solidarity,

Kim Kaswinkel
APFA PHL Base President
[email protected]

Tracey Montanari
APFA PHL Base Vice President
[email protected]