1.05.23 – APFA CLT Base Brief – February 2023 Staffing and Allocations

Thursday, January 5, 2023

February 2023 Staffing and Allocations

Good day,We had the monthly call to discuss trips for February this week. February is almost a carbon copy of January. We saw more time being added to our schedule, whereas historically, we would see a drastic drop in flying in February. This has added almost 3,000 manhours over the trips we had in January. This shows that Charlotte remains a strong hub for the company, with solid bookings and operational performance. This is good news, as many trips that would normally be cut (such as ODANs and one days) will not have a major reduction this year. It also means that with our current headcount and the higher Reserve usage we have seen in the past few months, the line average will remain higher, and we expect to see very few lower lines awarded in PBS. The double constraints at 70 and 78 hours are expected to continue with the February bid.

The bad news is we wanted the Company to provide some relief to the problems we have seen for months. A low month of flying would have allowed them to try different programming that could have given some relief to our concerns. With the current manhours and staffing that we have, there were no real significant changes, only small incremental changes as they continue to tweak the system with minor improvements. With the current model for trip construction and the staffing model, it looks like the Company is staying with the model of doing more with fewer people to maximize their view of productivity. This means the continued model of fragile trips that break easily and the need for more reserves to cover the system.

The numbers for Charlotte in February:

• Manhours- 157,572 (Not quite as high as the December spike at 160,000, but higher than January at 154, 864)
• Active Headcount- 2,719 (8 more than January)
• Lineholders – 2,161 ( January has 1,974- December had 2,032)
• Reserves – 557 (20.5%) (December had 681 (25%) January has 737 (27%))
• Line Average – 81.2 (January had 80.3 and December had 81.5)

The cut-off for Reserve will be March 24th, 2014. We are still disappointed with the high Reserve percentage at 20%. In years past, we have seen the Reserve percentage drop to 15-17% in February. We would also see a considerable reduction in the amount of flying we have in February, but this year we are seeing an increase in flying. More flying means more trips to cover, hence the need for more Reserves. Our hours are up year over year by almost 13%, but our headcount is only up by 8%. We would have liked to see the line average lowered, more Lineholders created, and fewer Reserves. With the Reserve usage being higher in the last few months, they are setting the reserve percentage higher than historic numbers would warrant.

The largest complaint we have is the continuing breakdown of company systems. On New Year’s Eve, the ROTA system did not run correctly, resulting in multiple mis-awards for our reserves. While we are held accountable with multiple layers of discipline for the smallest infractions (many beyond our control), the Company continues to ask for a “pass” when these systems fail. Accountability only flows in one direction while they continue to make promises of improvements. These breakdowns must stop. The Company must take ownership and improve these systems once and for all. No one should be subjected to missing pay opportunities or trips they bid to fly over a holiday.

Our trips break down as:

• 1-days will make up 22% of our trips (slightly down)
• 2-days will make up 32% of our trips (slightly up)
• 3-days will make up 20% of our trips (same)
• 4-days will make up 4 % of our trips (same)
• 2/3-days will make up 7.9 % of our trips (same)
• 3/4-days will make up 2% of our trips (same)
• ODANs will make up 6.9% of our trips (slightly down overall)
• Red eyes will make up 4% of our trips (same)
• Pink eyes and Bullets remain where they have been for the last several months.

Historically, we saw a considerable drop in ODANs in February. This is linked to significant cuts in time during this month. Charlotte remains strong with our schedule this year, and the ODANs reflect that. We have slightly fewer ODANs month over month, but not nearly the drop we tend to see this time of year. Remember the waiver in PBS and be mindful of the required home base rest needed to do multiple pairings for ODANs when bidding in PBS.

The 1-days still have four (4) legs. It is not possible to separate the 4-leg 1-days from the other trips, so many of these trips continue to have high sit time in between the turns.

The sit times were reduced in the programming from a maximum of 3+45 to 3+15. This has resulted in less 3-hour sits. However, we continue to see many trips with over 2+30 sit time. We hoped the constraint could be lowered and one day returns to a max of 2 hours. They have yet to make any immediate plans to reduce the sit times.

The 2-days remain popular, and the numbers remain strong. When bidding for back-to-back 2-days, keep in mind the minimum home base rest. Many of the December and January bid complaints were due to the new rest requirements. Leave plenty of time between trips.

We were glad to see that the Red Eyes remained consistent with a good mix of them. The Pink Eyes and Bullets have the same cities with no changes.

There are still a healthy amount of 30-hour layovers in the 2/3-days and 3/4 days. The percentage of these trips has not gotten out of control and comes in at about 10% of the total trips. These trips remain popular and are generally more commutable than the traditional 3 and 4 days. The 4-days have the usual stinkers and stars, with the commutability remaining a problem for the commuters.

There are a few schedule changes in February. The most likely culprit for CN days is the 31st and the weekends. The Super Bowl is on February 12th, and there will be added flying out of PHX. Charlotte will not see an uptick in flying over that weekend. Historically, the Company wants to protect the flying over the Super Bowl as if it were a holiday. Much like other holidays, bid strategically around this weekend.

IPD trips remain the same, and RDU welcomes back an entire month of LHR. NIPD has a seasonal low, but these flights have remained a money maker for the Company and don’t appear as if there will be any drastic changes to the ones we have had for the past few months.

As you can see, the biggest surprise for February is we are not seeing the major winter pulldown. The trips remain the same as they have been for months now. This is good news for our base, a viable and profitable hub. However, this stagnates any necessary changes until our staffing is increased with new hires.