3.06.22 – APFA ORD Base Brief – Sunday, March 6, 2022

Sunday, March 6, 2022

APFA ORD Base Brief

Hello Chicago! Spring is almost here. Along with the warm weather, we see the return of our International Premium Destination (IPD) flying. Also, we are happy to welcome a handful of new hire Flight Attendants over these last few months, both from initial training and base transfers. Welcome to the ORD base!

A Celebration of Life – Abby Alconcher

On March 2nd, the base celebrated the life and accomplishments of Abby Alconcher, the former APFA National EAP Specialist. It was always a joy to be with Abby, and we can all still hear her infectious laugh. A special thank you to everyone who helped to make this beautiful event a success. Abby was a true unionist and the APFA will honor her posthumously with the Distinguished Service Award at the APFA Annual Convention this coming week.

Reserve

The Company recently put out a communication regarding Flight Attendant responsibilities while on Reserve. Please take some time to review the following January 5th mobileCCI message:

If you have a triggering event while on Reserve, such as a Missed Trip (TM), late sick call, sick on contact, etc… the Company will be alerted, and they will conduct a review of your travel to ensure you were in position for your reserve assignment. Depending on the investigation findings, your actions could result in discipline up to and including termination. To be clear, FAs across the system HAVE been terminated for infractions. We believe the discipline imposed in many cases is excessive and will continue to fight those individually. If you have questions about your responsibilities while on Reserve, please reach out to us.

ODAN Survey

Thank you to everyone that participated in the ODAN survey that we included in the recent base brief. This survey provided a variety of information we will be able to use for future allocation calls.

Union Representation

Remember, any time you have a meeting with a member of management, you are entitled to union representation. JCBA Section 35.R. defines your contractual right to have Union Representation present for all meetings with the Company. This includes your FSM, HR and Corporate Security. We are here to support you! If needed, reach out to local reps prior to these meetings.

IPD Flying

The return of many of our IPD destinations brings different rules from different countries. If you are flying to one of our returning destinations, please be sure to review the “Destination Information” located in your tablet if you have any questions regarding any specific rules for that country.

APFA Contract and Scheduling

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 job numbers are up slightly from March. April will have 129,283 job hours. To put that into perspective for pre-COVID flying, April 2019 had approximately 134,000 job hours.

The system reserve percentage is 19.3%, with Chicago being towards the higher end, at 19.1%. We believe this number is much higher than needed for ORD and stated that on the call.  There is really no clear answer on that number other than the company expressing concern with the high reserve sick percentage.  The expected open line average for ORD is 80.00 hours, which is higher than the system average of 79.6. This line average is higher than we would like to see in ORD.  We expressed our concern regarding yet another month with possible PBS constraints due to high line average.

Allocations

April brings a lot of our IPD flying: ATH, CDG, FCO, and LHR. The Easter holiday is Sunday, April 17th. We are still waiting for the final FAA language on the 10-hour minimum rest rule. In preparation for rule change, the Company is building March sequences with a minimum of 11 hours of layover time (with very few exceptions). We did see an impact on trip construction as a result. We have asked for a higher percentage for turns, as those have decreased in recent months. ODAN starts per day, at 3.7, is much lower than we like.

PBS Preliminary Manning Plan

Please be kind to one another! Stay safe.

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]