8.12.23 – APFA DFW Base Brief- September 2023 Staffing and Allocations

September 2023 Staffing and Allocations

Saturday, August 12, 2023

In this base brief:

• Strike authorization vote: Have you voted?
• Need help with password reset?
• I’m on probation. Am I allowed to vote?
• September 2023 Staffing and Allocations information

Have you voted in the strike authorization vote?

Need help with a password reset? Questions about voting?

After-hours password resets:

Email [email protected] with your employee ID and full name with a request to reset.

I’m on probation. Am I allowed to vote?

All APFA Members in good standing, including probationary Flight Attendants, may participate in the strike authorization vote. Your vote is completely confidential. Neither APFA nor the election vendor will be able to access how anyone voted. Management will not have access either.

You cannot be terminated for casting a vote, whether or not you are on probation.

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September 2023 Staffing and Allocations
Information is Preliminary and Subject to Change

Manning Information:

• Total Headcount: 7,037
• Available Headcount: 6,547
• Lineholders: 5,142
• Reserves: 1,405 (21.5%)
• System Reserve: 20.5%
• Initial Reserve Seniority: 15252 (02SEP13)
• Vacancy Transfers Reporting 01OCT: 83
• Expected Open Line Average: 79.6 hours
• Expected System Line Average: 80.2 hours

Important Timelines:

Schedule Highlights:

Key Dates

• Schedule Change: Wednesday, September 06
• Labor Day: Monday, September 04
• Contractual Month: Thursday, August 31 thru Saturday, September 30

Holidays/Special Events

• Burning Man Music Festival (RNO): Added capacity 31AUG-04SEP
• Labor Day Holiday Adjustments: 28AUG-09SEP
• Toronto International Film Festival (YYZ): Added capacity 06SEP-12SEP
• Bass Pro Shops Night Race (TRI): Added capacity 14SEP & 17SEP
• College Football Game Day Flying: Added capacity to accommodate increase in demand. A full list of game day cities/dates can be found in the September PBS cover sheet.
• Charter Flying opportunities will be available for September in PBS.

Bank Structure

• DFW will operate nine (9) banks in September with bank 9 cancellations on Tuesday and Saturdays and Bank 1 cancellations on Wednesday and Sundays.

Labor Day Bank Adjustments/Cancellations:

• Saturday, 09/02: B8, B9
• Sunday, 09/03: B1, B8, B9
• Monday, 09/04: B1
• Tuesday, 09/05: B9
• Wednesday, 09/06: B1, B9
• Thursday, 09/07: B1
• Saturday, 09/09: B9

Allocations Information:

September’s schedule change ushers in significant changes to our flying, with block hours pulled down over the Labor Day holiday period. Labor Day schedule adjustments are from August 31 until September 9, resulting in daily bank cancellations and frequency disruptions. The bad news is that after the schedule change on the 6th, some of our desirable summer flying is suspended for the season. IPD seasonal flying decreases with aircraft transitioning from summer to more profitable fall routes. We are not happy to have the loss of seasonal IPD bid jobs.

Some ongoing complaints we address monthly are duty days working 3 and 4 legs a day, multiple days in a row. These trips are exhausting, and boarding and deplaning ten-leg three-day trips or 12-leg four-day trips is tiresome, not to mention performing three and four beverage services in a short period of time. While statistically, four-leg days are at an all time low if you are flying one, it doesn’t matter that it’s less than 1% of all domestic and NIPD flying. It’s a fatigue-inducing pairing. We have asked the company to stop building these parings or, at the very least, schedule them with short-haul flights with no scheduled main cabin beverage service to lessen the workload for crew members.

We also addressed the continued loss of domestic/NIPD high-time turns, lengthy sit times before or after long-haul domestic flights, and unfavorable trip construction on the 3FA solution. We requested two-day pairings with a max TAFB scheduled for 26 to 27 hours. We realize that many flight attendants are utilizing our double-up contractual language to consolidate their flying into fewer days working. Trip construction that provides flexibility and productivity is our main concern to promote a quality work-life balance.

We have received many questions lately about what drive reserve numbers. This month, we are going to talk about some of the variables that affect those reserve numbers. While none of these items are absolute, there are a few heavier weighted issues that affect headcount on RSV. It is important to understand from the get-go that your union leadership meets regularly with these departments and advocates for DFW fighting for reductions of FAs on RSV. We discuss the company’s dependency on RSV and the high headcount and their reasoning. This isn’t something we see eye to eye on and the monthly fight for an acceptable solution continues.

We are well aware of poor trip construction and other quality of work life issues that impact your career. We are here to help.

Individual drivers of reserve usage change on a regular basis and they affect each base differently. The following key drivers are listed however they are not in any order of importance nor are they the only ones as others could influence a particular monthly solution. Historical data is used from month to month, year over year, and even further back depending on the driver being weighed.

DFW received 379,347 block hours for September, a decrease of 16,637 hours from August. STL satellite has 4,413 hours whereas AUS will have 1,641 hours for September.

3FA and 4FA Sequence Durations:

• 1-Day: 30.4%
• 2-Day: 35.9%
• 3-Day: 29.9%
• 4-Day: 4.2%

3FA and 4FA Overnight Rest Distribution:

• Overnight Rest 11-12 hrs: 4.0%
• Overnight Rest 12-14 hrs: 29.6%
• Overnight Rest 14-16 hrs: 25.4%
• Overnight Rest 16-24 hrs: 34.5%
• Overnight Rest 24-34 hrs: 6.4%

3FA & 4FA Productivity:

• Credit Hours per Calendar Day: 5:07 hrs.
• Schedule Block Hours per Calendar Day: 4:36 hrs.
• Credit Hours per Duty Period: 5.34 hrs.

3FA & 4FA Sit Times:

• 2 Hours: 19.6%
• 2.5 Hours: 10.2%
• 3 Hours: 2.3%

3FA & 4FA Leg Distribution:

• 1-Leg: 32.4%
• 2-Leg: 46.2%
• 3-Leg: 20.6%
• 4-Legs: 0.8%

3FA & 4FA Duty Distribution:
Duty length is calculated including sign-in and release time.

• 3 hours or less of duty: 1.6%
• 3 to 4 hours of duty: 7.7%
• 4 to 5 hours of duty: 15.7%
• 5 to 6 hours of duty: 7.3%
• 6 to 7 hours of duty: 4.1%
• 7 to 8 hours of duty: 8.9%
• 8 to 9 hours of duty: 14.9%
• 9 to 10 hours of duty: 13.1%
• 10 to 11 hours of duty: 12.3%
• 11 to 12 hours of duty: 12.9%
• Greater than 12 hours: 1.5%

3FA & 4FA Block Distribution:

• 3 hours or less: 15.0%
• 3 to 4 hours: 19.8%
• 4 to 5 hours: 11.9%
• 5 to 6 hours: 17.5%
• 6 to 7 hours: 18.8%
• 7 to 8 hours: 12.3%
• 8 to 9 hours: 4.2%
• 9 hours or greater: 0.2%

DFW Combined Operation Percentage of Sequences:
All equipment all positions.

• 1-Day: 25.7%
• 2-Day: 29.0%
• 3-Day: 38.7%
• 4-Day: 4.9%
• 5-Day: 1.5%
• 6-Day: 0.1%

Designated email for Allocations and Manning questions and concerns:
[email protected]

Amber De Roxtra
APFA DFW Base President
[email protected]
(682) 422-7179

Amy Green
APFA DFW Base Vice President
[email protected]
(972) 696-9766