12.05.21 – APFA ORD Base Brief – Sunday, December 5, 2021

Sunday, December 5, 2021

December is already here! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week, wherever you may have been. This has been a crazy year. Thank you for all that you have done to work as a team and get us through these wild times. 2022 is right around the corner.

New Hires

Welcome to the new hires that have come to Chicago, a combined 29 new hires have arrived from classes 20-01 to 20-05. We hope that the remaining handful of classes can send more to Chicago. Please welcome them to the line with the Chicago spirit we are known for, we were all new at one point in time!

Perfect Attendance Incentive/Incentive Pay

On November 5th, APFA announced an LOA had been signed with AA regarding pay incentives during the holiday months.

Holiday Peak and Perfect Attendance Payments/Positive Space Commuting

If you have any questions regarding this LOA, please don’t hesitate to ask. For the January bid month the incentive pay period is through January 2nd. The Critical Period with regards to the incentive attendance credit is through January 3rd.

Flight Attendant Attendance & Performance Program

Negotiations Survey

APFA recently sent out a negotiation survey to all members. The survey closes December 10th at 1700 CT. The participation rate, to date, is lower than the Negotiators would like.  They need you!  An industry leading contract is achieved when all 24,000 FAs are educated, engaged and standing behind their Negotiations Team. Make your voice heard! Support your Negotiators!  Wear your APFA union pin (extra pins are in our K19 mailboxes)! Fill out the survey and ask your coworkers to complete theirs! You can find the survey by clicking here. Sign up today to be part of the Contract ACTION Team.

https://www.apfa.org/contract-action-team-sign-up/

To get the most up to date information regarding contract negotiations visit: ContractAction.org.

LHR Hotel Survey

Speaking of surveys, the APFA Hotel Department recently put out a survey regarding LHR long layover hotels. Please complete this survey to let the APFA Hotel Department know what is important to our base.  Keep in mind, each property in LHR holds a maximum of 150 rooms. This means if we leave one property, we will not automatically move to the other. It could also be a move to multiple properties. As of now, the hotel department is reporting there are no plans in the foreseeable future to convert the Forum to condos. You can find the survey by clicking here.

Early Boarding

Boarding times are contractual. You can find them in the JCBA Section 11.M. and JCBA Section 14.F. On October 14th APFA communicated that a settlement had been reached with American regarding violating contractual boarding times.

Early Boarding Presidential Grievance Settlement

Despite the commitment from the Company to communicate the importance of following the contractual boarding times, violations are still occurring.  It is important to be sure the Departure Dependability Briefing (DBB) is conducted with the agent; this ensures everyone is on the same page with regards to boarding times. Flight Service recently published a link that covers the basics of what should be discussed during the briefing. This huddle card shows you the Agents’ process for a DDB.

If you experience a violation and the passenger crosses the threshold of the aircraft prior to the agreed upon contractual boarding time, please do the following to ensure APFA is aware of the violation and can best follow up with the Company. As always, fill out the Early Boarding Report on the APFA homepage. As of now, this form is used solely to collect data and identify any patterns.

Next are a few steps you can take to follow up on a base level.

First:

• Fill out a direct connect. You can select either “misc.” or “ground/holding time.” Be sure to include:
• Employee number
• Date
• Sequence
• Flight pairing
• If a Departure Dependability Briefing was completed with the Agent and #1
• What time did the passengers cross the threshold and step onto the aircraft
• If possible, what time the Electric Gate Reader (EGR) was scanned
• Mention that APFA has reached a settlement with AA regarding early boarding. Based on this settlement you are requesting 15 minutes of flight pay.

 

This Direct Connect will most likely be denied, however the first step for anything in Flight Service is a Direct Connect.
Second (in the case that the first step is denied):

• Send a screenshot of the denied Direct Connect to your FSM, including the ticket number. Be sure to CC APFA local in this communication. This way we can monitor how Flight Service is responding.  Include the same information you provided in your Direct Connect, add any screenshots of the EGR you may have. An NS would help to ensure the entire crew is covered. Mention that APFA has reached a settlement with AA regarding early boarding, based on this settlement you are requesting 15 minutes of flight pay.

 

Third (assuming the first and second steps are denied):

• If both steps outlined above yield a “no” from the Company, reach out to APFA local and forward the email chain containing all the denials. APFA can follow up directly with flight service with a conversation and a NOD, if necessary.

 

We understand this process is a little cumbersome. The company loves data and this will ensure we have the documentation we need to stop the violations and protect your contractual rights.

Social Media

Please be mindful of using social media as a means to contact Union Representatives. While Facebook and other social media outlets are used by union reps, they are not continually monitored. If you need assistance, please utilize the phone numbers or emails provided to ensure your message is not lost.

APFA Contract & Scheduling Desk
Call 817-540-0108
Monday – Friday, 0700 – 1900 (CT)

APFA Live Messaging
Monday – Friday: 1500 – 2300 (CT)
Weekends and Holidays: 0900 – 1700 (CT)
(Link may be found on homepage of APFA.org)

Staffing

ORD numbers: JAN 114,369 versus DEC 123,484. Systemwide reserve percentage is 27.2%. ORD is at 28.1%, with 602 total reserves. The expected line average at PBS opening is 81.3, MUCH higher than we like, but is slightly lower than the system average. January is historically one of the highest reserve months, due to the first few days of the month being a holiday. However, the 2022 number is excessive.

The high reserve percentage is attributed to the fear of the continued track of high absenteeism we saw August thru October. APFA believes this is an overreaction and an over correction. ORD reps pointed out that the company’s own historical data did not support a high line average or high reserve percentage. We also suggested the company stop working in silos and look at all factors that impact staffing as a whole. For instance, the less than desirable trip pairings coupled with PBS constraints caused by the high line average. There was no real reply to our comments.

Allocations

The month of January will see heavy flying the first week of the month to accommodate the tail end of holiday travel, with a less heavy flight schedule for the rest of the month.

We could not find any noticeable improvements in sequences for January, despite the October commitment from American to improve the sequences month over month. Speaking of no noticeable improvements, the sit times are atrocious, and we are aware. We continue to point out that excessive sit times do nothing but waste time for our Flight Attendants.

ODAN starts per day decreased to 2.6 versus 3.9 in December.

---

Please be kind to each other. Stay safe out there!

In Solidarity,

Susan Wroble
APFA ORD Base President
(630) 802-2268
[email protected]

Dray Howard
APFA ORD Base Vice President
(630) 215-8410
[email protected]

Justin Patterson
APFA ORD Base Council Representative
(509) 720-0067
[email protected]