3.21.23 – PBS Misaward: Rest Between Trips

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

PBS Misaward: Rest Between Trips

Yesterday, management informed APFA of an issue with the new 10-hour FAR rest implemented in December 2022. A review of the April bid awards showed that the new rest requirements were not incorporated into the PBS run.

Flight Attendants who applied a waiver to allow rest between trips to the FAR minimum plus the applicable buffer were affected. This only affects certain Flight Attendants who applied the ‘Waive Minimum Domicile Rest’ waiver for April 2023 PBS bidding.

Further research revealed that:

• Certain Flight Attendant sequences systemwide were awarded in PBS with less than FAR home base rest prior to sequence report.
• Certain Flight Attendant sequences systemwide were awarded in PBS with less than FAR home base rest plus the applicable buffer prior to sequence report.

Following notification of this error by management, APFA began discussions on how to remedy the situation for the affected Flight Attendants. APFA has signed a Letter of Agreement (LOA) as a result of this company error. The LOA is as follows:

1. The Flight Attendants who were awarded sequences in PBS with less than FAR home base rest between sequences for April 2023 will be removed from the sequence(s) with the illegality and pay protected for the original published value of the sequence(s), including all premiums.

• Pay protected hours will be added to the Flight Attendant’s schedule as pay and credit no later than March 21, 2023.
• If you want to double dip, you may do so using TTS/UBL. Any sequence(s) picked up via ETB on a pay protected calendar day will negate pay protection from the removed sequence.

2. The Flight Attendants who were awarded sequence(s) in PBS with less than FAR home base rest plus the applicable buffer between sequences for April 2023 will have the following options:

• Fly the sequence as assigned and be paid for the sequence as scheduled or flown, whichever is greater. Provided the Flight Attendant originates, or, if illegal to originate, follows the provisions of Section 10.K, the Flight Attendant will be paid an additional 200% pay-no-credit for the originally scheduled value of the sequence, excluding premiums. The Flight Attendant must remain on the PBS awarded sequence, in the same position, and must not trade or seat swap.

or

• Send a request by signing on to CrewPortal under Links > SupportTab no later than 1200pm CDT on March 29, 2023, and the Flight Attendant will be removed from the sequence(s) and pay protected for the original published value of the sequence(s), including all premiums. If you want to double dip, you may do so using TTS/UBL. Any sequence(s) picked up via ETB on a pay protected calendar day will negate pay protection from the removed sequence. Any sequences dropped after the March 29th deadline will not be eligible for pay protection. 

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Q1: I have less than FAR minimum rest between sequences. What do I need to do to be removed from the second sequence?

Nothing. You will be removed from the sequence(s) and pay protected for the original published value of the sequence(s), including all premiums. If you want to double dip, you may do so using TTS/UBL. Any sequence(s) picked up via ETB on a pay protected calendar day will negate pay protection from the removed sequence.

Q2: I received a sequence(s) misaward, but I have more than FAR minimum rest between sequences. I want to receive pay protection for the sequence and the 200% pay-no-credit for the originally scheduled value of the sequence, excluding premiums. What do I need to do?

Nothing. Fly the sequence as assigned and be paid for the sequence as scheduled or flown, whichever is greater. Provided the Flight Attendant originates, or, if illegal to originate, follows the provisions of Section 10.K, the Flight Attendant will be paid an additional 200% pay-no-credit for the originally scheduled value of the sequence, excluding premiums. You must remain on the PBS awarded sequence, in the same position, and must not trade or seat swap.

Q3: I am one of the Flight Attendants who received a sequence(s) misaward, but I have more than FAR minimum rest between sequences. I do not want to fly the sequence, and would like to be removed and pay protected for the original published value of the sequence. What do I need to do?

If you would like to be removed from your trip, log in to Crew Portal, select Links, and select SupportTab from the drop down menu:

Once you are in the Support Tab, select ‘PBS’ from the ‘System’ drop down menu, and then select any of the selections under ‘Form Type’:

In the summary box, please indicate the sequence from which you would like to be removed, and click ‘Submit’.

Q4: Why is APFA agreeing to this? What would happen if APFA did not agree to this Letter of Agreement?

We continue to see human errors impacting our scheduling systems. An error such as this should never have made it past the Crew Planning Department and should have been caught during the base expansion process on March 19th. Crew Planning did not catch the error, and we must deal with the aftermath.

In addition to securing 100% pay protection with no obligation for Flight Attendants who are FAR illegal, and a 200% premium for Flight Attendants who are not FAR illegal and choose to fly their misawarded sequence(s), APFA was concerned about what would happen if we did nothing and all of these sequences dumped into open time. Adding all these sequences into open time would negatively impact Flight Attendants systemwide.

We also hear from Crew Planning each month about the need for more reserves. If all of these trips are dumped into open time, that could negatively impact those serving Reserve for April. Any increase in Reserve utilization for April 2023 should be considered a direct consequence of Crew Planning’s error.

Flight Attendants are always held accountable. In order for accountability to be fair and equitable, Crew Planning and other departments must be held to the same standards as Flight Attendants.

In Solidarity,

Julie Hedrick
APFA National President

Marti McMillan
APFA National Scheduling Chair

Jeff Petersen
APFA National Contract Chair