9.04.22 – APFA PHX Base Brief – October 2022 Staffing and Allocations

Sunday, September 4, 2022

October 2022 Allocations and Staffing

On Saturday, September 3, 2022, APFA Base representation had the monthly staffing and allocations call with the Company. On this call for PHX were Robin Agee and Secorra Flowers.

The Reserve percentages at most bases were under 20% for October, with the exceptions of CLT, PHX, SFO and LAX. Once again, PHX has the highest percentage of Reserves. When Robin spoke regarding the projections for PHX, she brought to their attention that the absenteeism in PHX has continually declined since the beginning of June, and does not warrant the 22.0% Reserve average slated for October. Planning proceeded to tell us that absenteeism was just one of the reasons for higher Reserves number, and other factors also played into projecting the Reserves that will be needed. Robin mentioned our decline in absenteeism and requested information as to what other issues would weigh into determining the percentages and asked for a complete overview of how our numbers were determined.

We received an answer after the call, and were told that the last confirmed numbers were from July so those numbers are used as a baseline. Also mentioned was IOC claiming they have the hardest time filling flights from PHX. Our rebuttal included the fact that PHX has no Flight Attendants that are on straight Reserve, and each month we have issues with Reserve to Lineholders getting assigned sequences into their Lineholder month. When that occurs it drops their Lineholder sequences into open time and causes an unusually high number of sequences open on the first and second day of the new month. Also, we reminded them that during irregular operations they are quick to repair sequences that originated in other bases with PHX reserves. When that happens, we have a reduced number of Reserves in PHX and instead of using them, scheduling “saves” them just in case and moves flying to other bases.

As for allocations (flight hours, sequence construction), there is no longer a monthly meeting. All discussions on the types of trips and construction are now to be addressed by email with Planning for review. In October, our hours decreased by 45. In September we had 56,690 and in October we will have 56,645 hours of flying. We will see a decrease in 1-days by 2%, 2-days will increase by 2% of our flying, with an increase in 3-days of 1% and a decrease of 1% in our 4-day sequences, (4% to 3%) with the majority commutable. ODANs increase from 5.967 to 9 starts per day, with the return of the SNA and LAS ODANs that have over 8 hours of on-duty rest scheduled.

As for the quality of the sequences we noticed a decrease in the 3+ hour sit times. The longer sit times are mostly limited to DFW/CLT/ORD/MIA and always with a plane change. The Company did mention that with the decrease in the sit times, using the one system solution, it did increase the number of 3-day sequences.

Beginning on Saturday, October 29th, the departure time for the PHX to LHR flight will change to an earlier departure time. Please be sure to take note of your report time(s), as they will frequently change throughout the month of November. I am sure that most Flight Attendants that work the LHR will welcome the longer layover.

In October, we will see flights once again into Toronto, Canada (YYZ) on our PHX bids. For this reason, we want to remind those Flight Attendants who prefer to not fly into Canada, to utilize the AVOID selection on their PBS bid. (Avoid landing at City). It is also important to note the YYZ is a destination that requires a COVID Vaccination. You can find a complete list by going to: Comply365 > My Publications > Destination Information > Destination Requiring COVID Vaccinations. Also, CUU (Chihuahua) has been added to the PHX bid sheet. For those with dietary issues that bring their food, you may want to avoid that destination, as well.

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Bid Sheet Information

Since paper copies of the Bid Sheets are no longer printed you may not know about some of the information available on the Flight Service website. The Flight Service Website now has a Bidding & Resource Tab where you can find the Current and Archived Bid Sheets.

The PBS Cover Sheet PDF has a lot of useful information:

• Bidding Timeline
• Support Tab Information
• VIP Crew Phone Tree Prompt Directory
• Contractual Scheduling Charts for Duty Days and Rest Periods
• How to find Standby and RAP information for your base
• Onboard Service Information
• Equipment Bid Position Information by A/C
• Service Highlights
• Changes to the Master Bid Sheet
• Equipment codes
• Monthly Airline Schedule Highlights
• Monthly Sequence Construction Highlights
• Charters

Hotel and Transportation information has been moved to its own document (Master Hotel List):

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Calling out Sick
If you know you are going to be missing work and taking a Block FMLA or Medical Leave. Make sure you keep track of the paperwork progress. You are responsible for calling out sick to avoid and Missed Trips (TM) or Late Sicks/Sick on Contact (LC).

We encourage you to contact Crew Scheduling and call out sick for the block of days you know you will not be available. You do not have to call out trip by trip, or day by day. You may call out in advance. If you do not know the ending date of the leave, then do not call out too far in advance, but just keep track of what your schedule states.

Should you receive correspondence from the PHX Attendance Flight Service Manager (Elaine Reynolds) please follow-up to keep her apprised of your circumstances, such as FMLA recoding. The system does not alert her to updates on your status.

The APFA National Health Department is a great resource should you have any questions regarding Medical Leaves.

Here is the link to the APFA Health Department page:
https://www.apfa.org/departments/health-department/

Email Address:
[email protected]

Online Contact Form:
https://www.apfa.org/departments/health-department/health-department-contact-form/

Phone Number:
817-540-0108, ext. 1, 3

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Mandatory Equipment Training on the Boeing 777 and 787

Beginning early next year, anyone that is not trained on the 777 or 787 will be drafted into training. If you would like to go on a day of your choice, we strongly suggest you bid for those classes in the next couple of months. The October bid is currently open until the 6th of September at Noon (CT).

To access the ballot for , follow this path: Flight Service Website > Training > Under Ballots & Assignments > OCT 2022 RBEST Training Ballot

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Welcome home our priority of returns that we will be flying with us again in October and November! 24 Flight Attendants will be coming home in October and 42 in November. While this leaves only 36 Priority of Returns (PORs) left on our vacancy list, there are still many displaced Flight Attendants on the transfer list that did not get their POR into the Company for a variety of reasons. The PHX Pending Transfer List currently has 204 Flight Attendants listed. 40 of them list PHX as their 2nd or 3rd choice. If we clear the 36 PORs before the end of the year, that will leave 168. Removing those that list PHX as an alternative choice, there will be 128 Flight Attendants waiting to get into PHX. To date, including those returning in October and November, we have secured the return of over 161 displaced Flight Attendants. Quite a difference from the “no one will be returned to PHX” we heard in 2021 when the displacements occurred. For this, we thank those in Senior Management that listened and advocated along with us for the displaced Flight Attendants to be returned.

It was communicated to Planning that we are confident that those PORs left have written to Santa Claus, and their number one request is to come home for the holidays. As have the majority waiting for over 2 years to get to PHX. Hopefully, we will continue to see movement over the next few months, so that we will eventually be able to see some new hires among our ranks. We can assure you that along with Sharitta Allen, PHX Base Manager, we will continue to lobby for the return of our Flight Attendants, and continued growth in our base.

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Late Reports and Your Reserve Month