10.07.23 – APFA DCA Base Brief – November 2023 Staffing and Allocations

November 2023 DCA Staffing and Allocations

Saturday, October 7, 2023

When PBS processing begins, if additional Lineholders are needed, those with Reserve status will be changed to Lineholder status in the following order:

1. Tentative Flight Attendants whose preference was Lineholder in the LRD process.
2. Reserve Flight Attendants who toggled to Pref LH in the LRD who were unable to hold Lineholder status in LRD.
3. Most junior Reserve Flight Attendants involuntarily moved to Lineholder status after all the above have been utilized.

Important: If you are in one of these 3 categories above, you will want to bid 7 layers of Reserve and 7 layers of Lineholder in PBS.

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• DCA: 38,623
• IAD: 2,568
• BWI: 2,925

44,116 Total flying hours (DCA, IAD, BWI) (-498)

• November will not be a flex month. The contractual targeted credit range default is 70-90, with about the same projected reserves and more line holders it can be assumed that due to the decrease in block hours month over month that the PBS constraints will not go as senior as it has. October’s second constraint was at system seniority 14,423 but bid accordingly.
• No monthly Vacation buyback offered for November.
• DCA November Reserve seniority begins at System Seniority 24,131/ October 13, 2022.
• DCA is not projected to receive new hires in November. The monthly base transfer -in numbers have satisfied the head count needed.
• Schedule changes November 5th and 16th
• Block hours decrease on Thanksgiving Day but spike over the weekend following.

November Holidays or Events:

• Daylight Saving Time Ends: November 5
• National Election Day: November 7
• Thanksgiving Day: November 23

Allocations notes for November:

• 498 block hours over October 2023
• 788 sequences slightly up from October
• ODAN trips reduced by 40% (BDL, BOS, LGA, PWM)
• LAX 2-day one leg out and one leg back operates 31 days with 20+ hour layover.
• LAX 2-day one leg out and one leg back operates 7 days with 15+ hour layover.
• PHX ‘pink eye’ operating 26 days.
• BWI one day DFW turns operate 27 days.
• Charter/Honor flights 4 sequences 13145, 13155, 13171, 13172
• 3+ hours sit times (78 sequences)
• 84 Pure MAX sequences
• 5 speaker sequences requiring Spanish speakers.
• 44 NIPD trips out of DCA with 11 RON’s (BDA, BGI, CUN, GEO, MTY, QRO,)
• 3 NIPD trips out of IAD with 2 RON’s in CUN
• 12 NIPD trips out of BWI with 12 RON’s (CUR, MBJ, STT,)

Sequences that we flagged and sent to the company for review: 2617, 13459, 13466, 13207. These trips have multiple sit times, long duty days, high credit with short layovers.

Scheduled Duty Days:

• < 8 hours 47.2%
• 8-10 hours 27.4%
• 10-12 hours 23.2%
• >12 hours 2.2%

Scheduled Legs in Duty Day:

• 1-leg 32.2%
• 2-legs 50.1%
• 3-legs 16.2%
• 4-legs 1.5%

Scheduled Layover Rest:

• < 11 hours 0.2%
• 11-12 hours 5.6%
• 12-14 hours 27.2%
• 16-18 hours 18.1%
• >24 hours 9.9%

Scheduled Sit Times:

• 2-2.5 hours 10.9%
• 2.5-3 hours 9.7%
• >3 hours 3.3%

November 2023 Bidding Timelines

November 2023

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Upcoming Dates to Remember:

• 2024 Annual Enrollment will take place from October 12 to November 3. Starting Thursday, October 12, go to my.aa.com, where you will click the Enroll Now link at the top of the page to enroll in your 2024 benefits.
• Inflight 4th quarter Web-Based Training (WBT) is due by 2359 on November 6, 2023.

Incentive Credit and Holiday Pay

Remember that the Critical Period for Attendance is separate from the Holiday Pay Incentive.

• FOR ATTENDANCE ONLY, the Critical Period in November is November 22nd through November 26th. This captures the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving through the Sunday following. Any absences during this period will accrue an additional point under the company’s Attendance and Performance Program. Likewise, operating all sequences, RAPs, or Standby Shifts during this period will earn an incentive credit (banked point) that can be used later to reduce a point-generating absence.
• FOR HOLIDAY PAY INCENTIVE, any flying performed on November 22nd, 23rd, 26th, and 27th will be paid 200% for any leg touching the day. ODANs will receive holiday pay for both legs if at least one leg touches these dates. Please note that these dates are different than the Critical Period and do not cover the Friday or Saturday following Thanksgiving. There is no attendance requirement to earn this incentive pay.

Mandatory Widebody Training

Last year the company announced that all Flight Attendants must be qualified on all aircraft type within the fleet. The aircraft that we don’t fly out of DCA co terminal is the Boeing 777 and 787. The company had announced that it would be drafting Flight Attendants that were not qualified throughout the system and that DCA would be part of phase 2 with mandatory training in the last QTR of 2023. (OCT-DEC)

Many DCA Flight Attendants volunteered throughout the year to get qualified on these airplanes. As of September 29, 2023, the headcount for unqualified DCA flight attendants are :

• 286 not qualified on the 787
• 222 not qualified on the  777

We were informed that due to the training center still having outstanding Fight Attendants from phase one to complete widebody training and with new hire classes and normal CQT that DCA phase 2 drafting will not start until December 2023 with the first mandatory training classes in the first quarter of 2024.

Look for a communication from the company by mid-October.

Final Notes for DCA:

As many of you know that our Negotiation Team is in mediated talks with the company and are still far apart on many of the contract improvements we are seeking. The show of support that you have given is incredible. Our strike vote was overwhelmingly decisive showing that you have had enough, and you want an improved contract NOW. This is not concessionary mediation, and we will NOT concede to a contract that doesn’t meet the needs of our members.

We will be planning another nationwide picketing event for Thursday, November 16, 2023. Our Contract ACTION Team and Ambassadors will bring more details shortly.

We need more than ever to see you all on the picket line. We need every one of you! If you have not attended one of the events, please plan on doing so when bidding your November schedule.

We are STRONGER TOGETHER!

In Solidarity,

John Pennel
APFA DCA Base President
[email protected]

Dianne Britton
APFA DCA Base Vice President
[email protected]

Lisa Barnes
APFA DCA Base Council Representative – Allocations
[email protected]