5.17.22 – APFA CLT Base Brief – Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Good Day CLT Flight Attendants,

We wanted to address some of the issues we have been seeing, and provide some insight on how to handle them.

Early Boarding
The Company and the Union came to a settlement last winter on Agents boarding the aircraft before the contractual boarding times. Unfortunately, the settlement has done little to curb the problem and early boarding continues to be a problem with many stations continuing to knowingly violate our contract. If you encounter a violation, please note the following information and follow the steps

1. A dependability briefing must be completed, and you must make it clear to the agents that they do not have permission to board early. The boarding time must be agreed upon.
2.  If the passengers cross the threshold before the agreed upon time, you will need to document the violation. Get a copy of the scan/boarding time.
3. Note the flight number, date, STATION, GATE NUMBER, city pair (CLT-DFW) and time of day. Have a copy of the published sequence.
4. Fill out a direct connect with the information. Note that the APFA and the company have a settlement on this matter.
5. If the claim is denied, send a copy of all the information to your FSM and to APFA. Send the info to [email protected] or [email protected]. The Company has moved their position on this several times and we will take it forward for payment.

End of the Pandemic Leaves

The Company has ended the Pandemic Leave Program, but COVID still affects our Flight Attendants at a high rate. If you contract COVID, here are some guidelines you should follow.

1. Get a PCR test to confirm a positive test, home tests are not as reliable.
2. If you feel you have contracted COVID at work, file an IOD. Follow the directions of the treating Company physician.
3. Contact your primary care doctor. Follow their instructions on how to treat the symptoms and any need for
   quarantine. (Virtual visits may be warranted through Dr. on Demand.)
4. The Company has stated they will charge points for COVID, and will terminate if warranted. You can recode this absence using FMLA BLOCK leave as directed by your doctor. A block leave can be used side by side with any intermittent FMLA you may already have.
5. Save all the medical documentation.
6. Complete the APFA COVID-19 Exposure Reporting Form.

Reserve Tips
Courtesy calls to Reserves who have acknowledged their ROTA/D assignments have been discontinued by Crew Scheduling. As a result, we are seeing more and more Reserves who are acknowledging their assignments and then getting missed trips because the confirmation did not go through. We are currently researching the root causes for the malfunctions, but you need to protect yourself.

If you are given an assignment while on Reserve, acknowledge the assignment through faportal.aa.com. Mobile apps have proven to be unreliable. Once you have acknowledged through the Crew Portal, the acknowledge button will disappear.  If you are able, we suggest you make a screen recording as you acknowledge an assignment since there is no way to verify after the acknowledge button has disappeared. Remember to acknowledge your ROTA assignments by 22:30 (HBT) or ROTD assignments by prior to the start of your RAP (With the exception of RAP A).

We have been holding virtual reserve classes almost weekly with our newest members. If you want to join any of these classes, send a note to [email protected] and we will add you to the list. The next class will be Friday, May 20th at Noon (ET).

General Reminders
The Company has gone full blast with their latest silo of the Attendance Flight Service Manager (AFSM) program. While you are required to do a connect meeting with your FSM, they now have little say if you have an emergency absence and you are facing a barrel loaded with points. Contact your AFSM if you want to dispute any attendance issues and if you need Union representation, call us as soon as you receive notification of a meeting to ensure we have a rep available on that day. Contact APFA CLT at 704-665-7474.

We live in an electronic age, and we can’t remember how we did it without a cell phone. Having said that, remember it is Company policy not to be on your personal electronic devices while working a flight (with a few exceptions). The Company has been in crack down mode and will discipline if violations are reported. Avoid penalties and conflicts with your co-workers by avoiding personal use of your devices while working.

We have seen an uptick in peer-to-peer complaints that have gone straight to the Company. These complaints lead to investigations that can be very intrusive and tend to spiral into other subjects leading to discipline. If you have a beef with a coworker, call us first. Your Professional Standards Reps are members of your Union who are working Flight Attendants and peer support volunteers. The process is confidential and non-punitive. We are here to listen and discuss issues that arise in the workplace and to consult on situations that need attention. We work closely with other Unions, including the Pilots APA Professional Standards team when needed. Please call us first or email us with any concerns you have. Visit the Professional Standards page on APFA.org for the contact information at each base.

The Employee Assistance Program is also available for a variety of topics, mental health, substance abuse, critical incident stress management are just a few. Trauma, anxiety or depression can affect anyone. If you need to talk, we are here to help. Call us at 817-540-0108, ext 2.

We are headed into one of the busiest summers we have ever seen.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

The Charlotte APFA Team

In Solidarity,

Scott Hazlewood
APFA CLT Base President
[email protected]