12.04.22 – APFA MIA Base Brief – January 2023 Staffing and Allocations

Sunday, December 4, 2022

ACTION ITEM:
Send a letter to Kipp Stoneman, Managing Director of Crew Workforce & Schedule Planning; Chip Mayer, Director of Crew Schedule Planning; and Anne Moroni, Vice President of Operations Planning and Performance, and tell them we are sick and tired of being ignored!

CLICK HERE to send the letter below to Kipp Stoneman, Managing Director of Crew Workforce & Schedule Planning; Chip Mayer, Director of Crew Schedule Planning; and Anne Moroni, Vice President of Operations Planning and Performance

Reserve numbers are out for January, and it is clear that the company is intent on punishing Flight Attendants for management’s inability to properly staff and run the airline. When management shared with APFA a preview of the January staffing plan, we provided data demonstrating the reserve numbers are unnecessarily high.

As has been the case every month for the last year and a half, management was uninterested in considering any of our constructive criticism or ideas and chose not to engage in a respectful discussion. The Managing Director of Crew Workforce & Schedule Planning called Flight Attendant concerns “nonsensical” and threatened to add 300 reserves to the plan as an implicit punishment for APFA having the audacity to raise concerns.

Until recently, management has blamed the high reserve numbers on you for calling in sick. Now that absenteeism is demonstrably lower, they have chosen to find something or someone else to blame and have conjured other reasons for the numbers.

Today, they point to operational issues and have taken aim at our contractual work rules. They blame an inability to reschedule Lineholders at management’s whim as a justification for the high reserve numbers.

What does that mean for you? The network schedule the company has put together, coupled with poor sequence construction, has conspired to make it less and less likely the trips for which you bid will operate as scheduled.

Many of you are being forced to minimums of 70 or 78 hours in your PBS awards. More time crammed into your schedules has eaten away at the flexibility provided in the JCBA.

Lastly, improved Holiday Pay has changed bidding behavior. Flight Attendants are bidding to work the holidays, but management is not giving us credit for our contribution to the operation. When formulating the staffing plan for January, they only accounted for a fraction of the positive impact we made in November.

APFA’s position is consistent: Flight Attendants want lower reserve numbers, humane trip construction, and the flexibility that our scheduling tools afforded us pre-pandemic.

This is a call to action! It’s time to send the message below to Kipp Stoneman, Managing Director of Crew Workforce & Schedule Planning; Chip Mayer, Director of Crew Schedule Planning; and Anne Moroni, Vice President of Operations Planning and Performance. It’s time to let them know we are sick and tired of being ignored.

Management needs to hear directly from you.

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CLICK HERE TO SEND THE FOLLOWING LETTER:

Ms. Moroni, Mr. Mayer, and Mr. Stoneman,

Reserve numbers are out for January, and your intent to punish Flight Attendants for management’s inability to properly staff and run the airline is evident. When APFA Leadership received this information, you were provided with data that demonstrated that reserve numbers were unnecessarily high.

Instead of engaging with the Union in a respectful discussion of our objections, the Managing Director of Crew Workforce & Schedule Planning called our concerns “nonsensical” and threatened to add 300 reserves to the plan as an implicit punishment for APFA having the audacity to raise concerns. 

Up until recently, you have blamed Flight Attendants calling in sick for the high reserve numbers. Now that absenteeism is demonstrably lower, you have changed your claims. Now, you point to operational issues and are blaming our contractually negotiated work rules. 

But that’s not all. The continued subpar sequence construction, coupled with the cramming of 70-78 hours on bid awards has removed much of our pre-pandemic flexibility, and creates an overabundance of broken sequences that must be rebuilt and recrewed.

Your actions continue to take away flexibility and force high-time flying onto schedules, which makes it impossible to adjust sequences in TTS. Your answer is higher reserve numbers, and you continue to ignore suggestions and input from our Union Leadership.

We are sick and tired of being ignored. Stop turning your backs on constructive dialogue with our Union and improve the work/life balance for your Flight Attendants.

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January 2023 Staffing and Allocations

All,

There will be a major schedule change January 10th which will impact frequency and the start up date for many of the pairings. The system block hours YOY are up 8.3%. This along with attrition is generating hiring which is planned throughout next year. The plan is to hire 800 new Flight Attendants by April, and to continue hiring through the remainder of 2023.

The Reserve percentage in January will be 25% with 783 required heads. The January Reserve plan was built using a combination of January 2022 usage, and trends through October of this year. New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday and based on historical trends, Reserve coverage will be increased substantially over the first week. Since November, 201 new hire Flight attendants will be sent to Miami out of training and are scheduled to serve Reserve in January. We can expect Reserve to be more junior than it would typically be for the month of January following the busy holiday season. If January is your scheduled rotation and your bid status is Lineholder, you will need to toggle onto Reserve in order to keep that rotation. Keep in mind if you have more than three days vacation and toggle onto Reserve, that will NOT count toward your Reserve obligation and if your seniority warrants, you will be on Reserve the following month.

All Deep South layovers will have at least a 24 hour layover with the exception of one daily departure to GRU on the 777-300 which will be built with with a 16 hour layover, and can be reduced two hours down to 14 in actual operations. Rockets were not able to be constructed due to not enough buffers associated with the departure and arrival times. GRU will operate an addition daily departure on the 777-200, and a third daily through the first week on the 787-8. EZE will operate daily on the 777-200, and GIG will operate daily on the 787-9. MVD will operate daily the first week with a 36 hour layover, then three weekly departures with Wednesday and Friday having a 60 hour layover, and Sunday with an 84 hour layover. MAD, BCN, TLV and CDG will all operate daily on the 787-8. LHR will operate two daily departures on the 777-200.

Most of the wide-body flying is dedicated to the IPD markets. JFK will operate a daily two-day trip on the 777-200 beginning on the 10th with an HAV turn on the front end. Also beginning on the 10th, JFK will operate a daily turn on the 777-300, and LAX will operate a day turn on the 787-9. LAX will operate a daily two-day trip on the 787-8 which also begins on the 10th. There are additional wide-body turns to PHX and DFW that will only operate through the first week.

Narrow-body turns:

• HAV, STT, PAP, GND, POS, SKB, BON, SJO, LIR, SXM, MEX, AUA, STX, SDQ, SJU, SCU, PTY, BOG, DCA, TPA, SLC, LGA, PHX, DEN, LAS, ATL, YYZ

ODANs:

• ATL, RDU, MCO, TPA, BNA, MSY

Total Block hours for January 183,599:

• MIA: 170,773
• ATL: 1,984
• FLL: 5,333
• PBI: 3,015
• MCO: 2,494

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Call out pay and hotel for flights delayed overnight:

If your flight delays overnight and you have reported to the airport or left your residence, you are entitled to three hours call out pay and the Company must provide you with a hotel. In order to receive the three hour call out pay, you must call Crew Schedule not Tracking and advise them that you reported to the airport, or left your residence. If the Company notified you of the delay more than three hours prior to the scheduled departure time, you would not be entitled to the hotel or the call out pay.

New FAR 10-hour rest requirement:

The new FAR 10-hour rest requirement went into effect December 2nd. This will have an immediate impact on pay protection, and will ensure adequate rest in actual operations. Prior to the implementation of the new rest requirements, the Company was constructing the allocations package to reflect this change, but did not program it in actual operations until yesterday.

10-Hour Rest & Domestic Home Base Rest for Lineholders
What is the default scheduled home base rest for Lineholders following a domestic sequence?

Lineholder scheduled domestic home base rest is 11:45 from release (first sequence) to report (second sequence). That includes contractual 11:00 domestic home base rest (JCBA 11.I.), plus a 45-minute buffer (JCBA 10.D.14.a.).

What is a buffer?

A buffer is the portion of scheduled home base rest above contractual and/or FAR rest. The required scheduling buffer is in place to allow for a cushion of time between trips. In theory, this buffer or cushion makes it less likely you will go illegal in actual operations.

What is a waiver?

A waiver is a contractual provision that allows a Flight Attendant to voluntarily forgo default scheduled home base rest (JCBA 10.D.14.a.).

How do I waive home base rest?

1. In PBS, you would select the “Waive Minimum Domicile Rest” property. The system can only award/assign you with less than domestic default scheduled home base rest (11:45) if you use this waiver.
2. In TTS, a yellow X next to the sequence indicates that a waiver will automatically be applied if you ballot for and are awarded that sequence.
3. In ETB, if you pick up a trip with less than default scheduled rest, the waiver is automatically applied. There is no indication within the ETB system that you are waiving rest. By picking up the trip, the system assumes you are aware of and are agreeing to the waiver.

What does waiving default domestic home base rest mean for me as a Lineholder?

If you waive your default scheduled home base rest, you are allowing the company to award you a trip that takes you down to FAR minimum rest, plus a 1:30 buffer, following a Lineholder domestic sequence.

What happens if, in actual operations, I end up going below contractual home base rest?

1. If you fall below FAR 10-hour minimum rest, you are removed and are eligible for pay protections per JCBA 10.K.
2. If you don’t waive home base rest in PBS or no waiver is applied  when you pick up a sequence in TTS/UBL/ETB, but you subsequently fall below 11:00 hours contractual domestic rest, while still being above FAR 10-hour minimum rest, you have the option to be removed from the trip without pay.
3. If you waive home base rest in PBS or a waiver is applied when you  pick up a sequence in TTS/UBL/ETB, and you subsequently fall below 11:00 hours contractual domestic rest, while still being above FAR 10-hour minimum rest, you do not have the option to be removed from the trip.

The following chart contains domestic home base rest rules:

Lineholders picking up time in TTS/UBL/ETB for originations DECEMBER 2nd and onward: 

Q: I have a domestic trip at the end of December that is scheduled to block in at 2233, with a scheduled release of 2248.  If I want to pick up a trip the next day, what’s the earliest I would be able to report?
A: You will need a trip that has a report time of 1033 or later. That would give you 11:00 contractual home base rest plus the 45-minute buffer.

Q: Using the above scenario, is there any way I can have an earlier report time?  
A: You could apply the home base rest waiver and would be able report up to 15 minutes earlier (1018). Just know that by using the waiver you would not be able to come off the trip if, in actual operations, you go below 11:00 hours contractual rest. You would only be able to come off the trip if you go below FAR 10-hour minimum rest.

Q: I have an ODAN that is scheduled to block in at 0750, with a release time of 0805. I picked up another trip that reports later that same night at 1950. What happens if I am late arriving back to base on the ODAN trip?
A: Since no waiver was needed to pick up this trip, if you end up with less than 11:00 hours contractual home base rest, you have the option to be removed without pay protection.

Q: I finished my domestic trip this morning and blocked in at 0900, with a release time of 0915. What is the earliest I could go out this evening after I have legal rest?
A: In this scenario, you would be able to pick up a trip with a report time of 1915 or later. Once you have already been released from a trip, you are able to pick up a trip with no buffers that gives you FAR 10-hour minimum rest from release to report.

In Solidarity,

Randy Trautman
APFA MIA Base President
[email protected]

Heidi Morgan
APFA MIA Base Vice President
[email protected]