4.25.21 – APFA CLT Base Brief – Sunday, April 25, 2021

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Good Day CLT Flight Attendants,

We wanted to make sure you were aware that the 737 MAX aircraft were built into trips for Charlotte in May. Some Flight Attendants have had apprehension over working this aircraft since its return to service. American has held Town Halls for the other bases to discuss everything related to the MAX. These Town Halls can be viewed on Jetnet – 737 MAX Crew News 11/18/20. Also, there is a Newsroom > Boeing 737 MAX with an FAQ and a “Tell Me Why” video hosted by a Fleet Captain and the APA Chair. The updates related to recent events concerning the 737 MAX are also included on this page.

If you are experiencing apprehension over flying this aircraft, reach out to flight service with any questions and you can talk to one of our EAP reps by calling 817-540-0108 ext. 8701. We encourage you to educate yourself on this aircraft.

Here are some 737 MAX details:
    

• Boarding for this aircraft is 35 minutes before departure.
• The Captain will be available for a detailed briefing to answer any questions or concerns you have.
• All 4 Flight Attendants perform the safety demonstration.
• This aircraft is very quiet. Take your jumpseats right after the safety demo. You may not be aware the aircraft is on a takeoff run.
• The aft galley has air chillers for all cart locations.

Aircraft specific information can be found on Comply35 > My Publications > Document Library > Aircraft Information > 737 > 737 MAX Familiarization

Well for Work

As a reminder, all active Flight Attendants are required to a complete and Well for Work in Comply365 or at aa.comply365.net by the end of each month.

It is a short declaration acknowledging that you are aware of the symptoms of COVID-19 and agree to do an individual health evaluation before reporting to work each day to determine if you are displaying any new, unusual, or worsening symptoms of COVID-19.

If you are on leave, you are not required to submit a Well for Work self-declaration until you are back to active status. You do have to complete Well for Work if you are attending CQ.

Employee Parking

We will be returning to the employee lots on May 12th. Lot 1 will be closed, for now, so everyone will have to use Lot 2. We have enjoyed being in the parking deck for several months due to COVID. However, with air traffic picking up, the airport needs the parking decks for revenue passengers. We were promised improvements to the employee Lot, but it looks like they only worked on the gate readers and the exit ramps. This lot still has a lot of compact spaces that don’t work with today’s vehicles. We have taken our concerns to the airport with little response or action on their part. This lot does not allow employees walk to the terminal, and we are concerned about the bus schedule and social distancing.

This week, we will be presenting our concerns to the Charlotte Mayor and City Council. You can help by signing the online petition “Stop the Squeeze.”

Our goal is to gain support from the city to encourage the airport to address our concerns in a timely manner as we have been fighting for improvements for two years now. We will keep you updated on our efforts.

Final Bid Summary

The May PBS Award – starting and final summary – are as follows;

• • Projected Lineholders: 1376
  • Final Lineholders: 1357 (26 Flight Attendants were included in the original count to come back from leaves but did not clear – training etc.-in time for PBS closing)
  • Projected VLOAs: 97
  • Final VLOAs: 90   (The Company made an error in processing the VLOAs and eliminated some as a result)
  • Projected Reserves: 495
  • Final Reserves: 501 (With the elimination of the VLOAs, more people were added to the Reserve count) Percentage of Reserves to Lineholders- 36%. Percentage of Reserves to total head count- 26%)
  • Projected Line average: 77.0
  • Final Line Average: 74.31  (We had a cap of 85 hours. This helps to create more lines. We had no limit to Low hours and there were a large number of low lines awarded – this also creates more lines)

 

We had warned those slated for Reserve to bid both layers of Lineholder and Reserve with the possibility that many of you would be pulled off because May is a big month for bidding down and there may be an influx of returning flight attendants. This was not the case as many of the people who would have bid down were actually slated for Reserve due to the high percentage of Reserves in our base. Those who would have bid down chose to stay on Reserve.

All in all, our numbers came out pretty much as expected in the projected amounts as we saw a small loss of time for May and the system did not allow for the creation of many more lines.

Pay Protections for May

We have secured a Letter of Agreement (LOA)  for cancelations related to COVID as we have seen in the past few months. We do have some flights slated in Charlotte trips to SVD. There is an active volcano, and cancelations are anticipated. The Company has told us the only pay protections for these cancelations will be the contractual ones granted in JCBA 10.J.1.b. If you have cancelations related to COVID, you can “double-dip” using TTS/UBL only. An ETB transaction will negate the pay protection.

Due to an error in the Flex Day/Golden Day designation process, the closing date for this has been moved to the 30th. The First run of the TTS Ballots for May was on the 24th , ETB opens on the 25th and the PBS BID Award Challenge closes on the 27th- If you feel you have a misaward, fill out the “Support” tab on the FA portal and complete the “PBS Misaward Challenge Form” on APFA.org.

We are waiting for the Company to update us on several issues and will report out on any new details we receive. You can sign up for National and Local Briefs on APFA.org. We are moving in the direction of increased flying and increased passenger demand as the summer picks up. There will be many changes, and we are committed to addressing your concerns and keeping you informed. The Charlotte Local Number is 704-665-7474.

Take care of yourselves and each other. ~ The Charlotte APFA Team

In Solidarity,

Scott Hazlewood
APFA CLT Base President
[email protected]Frank Cagle
APFA CLT Base Vice President
[email protected]