5.28.22 – Negotiations Update #13

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Negotiations Update #13

Negotiations continued in DFW on May 17th-19th. During this session, we continued discussions with Management on Section 14- International Flying, Section 11-Hours of Service, Section 30- Dispute Resolution and Grievance Procedure, and Section 31 – System Board of Adjustment. You may view status updates about these sections on the Negotiations Status page of the APFA website.

Section 11- Hours of Service

This week we reached an agreement on three items in this section: standby duty day limitations, ODAN duty day limitations, and voluntary extension (VE).

Management agreed to change the standby duty day calculation to be based on the standby report time, rather than the sequence report time, using the chart in 11.F rather than the chart in 11.E. The problem we’re addressing is that currently, Reserves start their standby shifts in the early morning but then when given a sequence off of a standby shift, only the sequence start time is considered.

In the ODAN language, the parties agreed to increase the minimum break time between segments by one (1) hour, which would ensure ODANs are constructed with a minimum break of five (5) hours pure rest between flights, which is 6:15 hours “block to block” on domestic ODAN sequences, and 6:30 “block to block” on NIPD ODAN sequences. In addition, the Flight Attendant will be scheduled with a break between segments of no more than 9:59 pure rest. This updates the language with the new 10 hour FAR minimum rest.

The Negotiating Committee and management exchanged several proposals during this latest session, with both sides holding firm on their respective positions in several areas, the details of which may be found on the Negotiations page on the APFA website. Of particular concern is management’s desire to be able to assign a single IPD sequence of up to six (6) days which exceeds the 35 hours in 7 days (reserve)/ 30 hours in 7 days (line holder) limitations currently in place. While we currently have the option to waive our contractual legalities, we are not interested in allowing the company to assign sequences that exceed these protections.

After much back and forth on the voluntary extension (VE) language, management agreed in principle to several significant improvements: a maximum of 4 hours for the voluntary extension, as well as additional compensation based on the length of the extension. We also agreed to use a similar formula for domestic voluntary extensions to what is used in the International section, which in certain instances will result in more pay for Flight Attendants. We are finalizing the language, which should be completed at our next session.

Once the Flight Attendant has agreed to the extension, they may be used for up to four hours past their operational maximum duty day (current JCBA language contains no maximum when voluntarily extending).

A Flight Attendant who voluntarily agrees to remain on duty shall receive pay for the duty period at a rate of 200% and credit at 100% for remaining on duty up to three (3) hours. If the Flight Attendant remains on duty in excess of three (3) hours up to a maximum of four (4) hours, the Flight Attendant shall receive pay for the duty period at the rate of three hundred percent (300%) and credit at 100%, instead of two hundred percent (200%) and credit at one hundred percent (100%).

Once a Flight Attendant has volunteered for the extension, it cannot be rescinded (same as today). Once the extension is accepted, the Flight Attendant will be paid the 200% for the duty period), even if the duty day doesn’t exceed the maximum in actual operations. The 200%/300% pay for the duty period would replace the current 1:2 duty rig calculation for VE pay.

Section 14- International Flying 

Additional discussions continued in this section, with both sides exchanging proposals. We remain apart on a few items.

Management is holding firm with their proposal to provide a mere ten (10) hours of rest on NIPD sequences, as well as proposing the ability to reduce the 14 hours scheduled layover rest following an IPD segment to a minimum of ten (10) hours (in actual operations). Neither of these proposed changes is acceptable to your negotiating committee. More details can be found on the Negotiations page on the APFA website.

We did agree on the voluntary extension (VE) language for non long-range flying. Again, we are finalizing the language but have agreed to the following concepts:

• We proposed both a cap to the maximum time a Flight Attendant can be required to remain on duty once volunteering to extend, as well as a tiered pay structure depending on the actual length of the extension.
• The parties agreed to a maximum of four (4) hours past the current 16-duty day max for VE. A Flight Attendant who agrees to remain on duty for more than sixteen (16) hours shall receive pay for the duty period at a rate of two hundred percent (200%) including premiums and credit at one hundred percent (100%). If the Flight Attendant remains on duty in excess of exceeding nineteen (19) hours up to a maximum of twenty (20) hours, the Flight Attendant shall receive pay for the duty period at the rate of three hundred percent (300%) including premiums and credit at one hundred percent (100%), instead of two hundred percent (200%) including premiums and credit at one hundred percent (100%).
• Once a Flight Attendant has agreed to extend up to four (4) hours, such agreement may not be rescinded. Once the Flight Attendant agrees to exceed the maximum duty limitations, they will receive the two hundred percent (200%) pay specified above, even if the duty limitations are not exceeded.

These are significant gains as this provides a maximum time we can be required to be on duty, as well as additional compensation when extending past three (3) hours.
Section 30 – Dispute Resolution and Grievance Procedures
Section 31 – System Board of Adjustment

The union passed proposals on Sections 30 and 31 this week to the company. We are engaged in a major rewrite of these two sections, which will be the subject of a separate negotiations update.

Next Meeting

Our next scheduled meeting with the company is June 7th-9th in DFW.

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• Keep up-to-date on negotiations.
• Discuss info with your flying partners.
• Encourage your flying partners to support actions to pressure the Company to agree to our demands.

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In Solidarity,

Your APFA Negotiating Committee

Reese Cole
Kelly J. Hagan
Julie Hedrick
Timothy Legeros
Brian Morgan
Wendy Oswald
Susan Wroble
Joe Burns, Lead Negotiating Attorney

[email protected]