5.04.23 – APFA MIA Base Brief – June 2023 Staffing and Allocations

June 2023 MIA Staffing and Allocations

Thursday, May 4, 2023

June block hours are 205,998, which represents a 3% increase from last month. 21% of those hours are dedicated to wide-body flying. 82,282 hours are allocated to NIPD narrow-body, 80,218 to DOM narrow-body, 40,902 to INT wide-body, and 2,586 to DOM wide-body.

We continue to receive new hire Flight Attendants weekly. For May, we will receive 78 new hires for a total of 346 year to date. This will continue to favorably impact the seniority of the Reserve list. We want to remind you once again that toggling onto Reserve when you have more than three days of vacation will not fulfill the reserve obligation.

The projected Reserve percentages for June have drifted higher up 1.3% from May, but are still lower than the system average. Absenteeism is down, so we should see a downward trend rather than the projected increase. The historical data used was a combination of weather anticipated weather events in June and Reserve utilization in June of 2022. We will continue to push for lower line averages to reduce the Reserve headcount moving forward.

Reserves bidding for days off in PBS must do so in the Reserve tab. If you bid for days off on the Lineholder calendar and fail to do so in the Reserve tab, the bid will not be recognized. This is a common mistake that happens all too often.

IPD Flying

LHR will operate two daily flights on both the 777-300 and the 777-200. GRU will operate a daily Rocket on the 777-200, and a daily 38 hour layover on the 777-300. MAD, EZE, GIG, and BCN will operate daily on the 787-8 series.

Domestic Wide-Body Flying

Wide-body flying other than IPD will be limited to one daily 2-day 787 to PHL with a 30-hour layover and a 2-day 777-200 with an 18-hour JFK layover with a SJU turn on the front end. Given the short connect time, I asked allocations to split off the turn, but they said it was the same equipment going through to JFK, and would not make the change due to the increase in synthetic hours.

Despite our continued efforts to eliminate 4-leg turns, we continue to see them in the allocations packet. We have demonstrated how these turns end up in open time and contribute to lost time. We have asked the Company once again to split them into 2-leg turns, and they are in the process of reviewing that request.

Narrow-Body Turns

• SDQ, POS, GND, UVF, LIR, SKB, AUA, SXM, CUR, STT, MDE, SCU, CMW, BON, SVD, PAP, PTY, DFW, DCA, LAX, BOS, SAT, CLT, LAS, DEN, AUS, ATL, YYZ, RDU, CVG, CHS

ODANs

• MCO, RDU, ATL, MEM, JAX, BNA

June Block Hours 

• MIA: 192,408
• ATL: 1,976
• FLL: 6,092
• MCO: 2,434
• PBI: 3,088
• Total Hours: 205,998

Direct Conflicts/FAR Illegal-Pay Protection

If you have a FAR removal (FI), you are paid for the full value of both sequences. For a Direct Conflict (DC), meaning a sequence overlaps another, the pay for the first trip measures against the second trip.

For example, you have two 10-hour trips back to back. You arrive a day later from your first trip which make you FAR Illegal (FI) for the second trip. Meaning you have less than 10 hours between trips, and there is no overlap. The first trip is now worth 15 hours. You are pay protected for the full value (10 hours) of the second trip since they did not overlap. The pay value for both trips in this scenario is 25 hours.

In the case of a Direct Conflict (DC), you get in the next day causing a direct overlap with the second trip. The first trip becomes worth 15 hours, the second trip was worth 10 hours. The original scheduled value of both trips added together was 20 hours. You would be owed the difference of five hours in this scenario as a result of the trips overlapping. So you are pay protected the original value of both for a total of 20 hours.

Call Out Pay

If you are notified of a cancellation three hours or less before your report time and you have already left your residence, notify Crew Schedule that you are in route to the airport and have them add the three hours call out pay to your schedule. If the Scheduler does not add the time, ask to speak to the Senior on Duty. Crew Compensation will process the claim. It must be done by the Scheduler.

When a sequence delays overnight and you are scheduled to layover at home base and remain on the sequence, you are entitled to both a hotel and three hours call out pay. Make sure Crew Schedule adds the call out pay.

In addition, you are also entitled to mid-sequence call out pay if you report to the airport then return to the hotel. You will need to send a message to Crew Compensation via DirectConnect advising them you reported to the airport in mid-sequence and then returned to the hotel. FOS will not populate mid-sequence call out pay unless the plane pushes off the gate. It will need to be manually added by Crew Compensation. Remember that call out pay will measure against any generated RIG (pay and credit) time.

If you reported to the airport for a specific sequence that either cancels or you become illegal, you will get the greater of the call out pay, or pay protection for the sequence. If the pay protection is greater, Crew Comp will remove the call out pay if it was added when they audit the pay protection.

Performance Issues

The Company has taken a hard-line approach in documenting events and issuing performance advisories for failing to adhere to updates and meeting deadlines. In addition to syncing your tablet, ensure you have the latest versions of iOS and Comply365. To update Comply, you need to reinstall it in the Self Service App. Once installed, navigate to Comply and click on settings in the left corner to ensure the current version is 7.14, and it appears in green. If the version appears in red, then the tablet is not up to date. The second quarter (Q2) inflight web-based quarterly training (WBT) was launched last month, and the deadline to complete the training is June 21, at 2359.

In Solidarity,

Randy Trautman
APFA MIA Base President
[email protected]

Heidi Morgan
APFA MIA Base Vice President
[email protected]