10.09.23 – Holiday Pay

Holiday Pay

Monday, October 9, 2023

Last year, your APFA National and Base Leadership secured a Letter of Agreement (LOA) that included permanent contractual improvements to the holiday pay provisions in our JCBA. Just like last year, 2023 Holiday Pay will be paid to all Flight Attendants, both Lineholder and Reserves, working on a designated holiday, regardless of how you obtained the trip.

The holiday pay consists of a premium of 100% in addition to your base hourly rate and is based on the greater of scheduled or actual hours flown (including reschedules) on a designated holiday. The holiday premium will be paid above guarantee for Reserves. The holiday premium will be pay no credit for Lineholders and will not raise or lower your TTS max.

The following nine (9) days are the designated holidays:

• Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day (November 22, 2023)
• Thanksgiving Day (November 23, 2023)
• Sunday following Thanksgiving (November 26, 2023)
• Monday following Thanksgiving (November 27, 2023)
• December 24th
• December 25th
• December 26th
• December 31st
• January 1st

In this hotline, we will share some additional details, holiday pay examples, and a Q&A.

Additional Details

• Contractual holiday pay has no perfect attendance component; you just need to fly on the applicable holiday
• “Flown” hours are block hours. Eligible hours are those scheduled within a leg or segment that touches the holiday. Deadheads are credited block hours and, as such, are eligible for holiday pay.
• It is important to note that paid and credited hours as a result of duty, trip or minimum day rigs are not eligible for the holiday premium.
• If the departure or arrival (local station time) touches the holiday, you will be paid the holiday pay.
• Holiday pay is based on scheduled or actual. This means you will be paid the holiday premium on the greater of scheduled or actual flying time.
• If you were not originally scheduled to fly on the holiday, but as a result of a reschedule or an early or late departure/arrival the leg(s) flown touch the holiday, you will now be eligible for the holiday premium.
• Since holiday pay is based on hours “flown”, flights or trips that cancel will not be paid the holiday premium. This includes hours that are pay protected by other provisions in the JCBA.
• Flight Attendants serving airport standby will be eligible for holiday pay. Standby hours within a shift that touch the holiday will be eligible. This means that if your standby crosses over midnight of the holiday, you are eligible for holiday pay for the standby hours on that shift.
• Flight Attendants who have a report/no fly event on a holiday will be eligible for the holiday premium on any applicable call out pay.
• ODAN Exception: Hours flown as a scheduled On-Duty All Night (ODAN) sequence in a single duty period that touches a holiday will be eligible for the holiday pay. This means that if you are on an ODAN that touches a holiday, you will be eligible for the holiday premium for the block hours flown on both legs of the sequence.
• Holiday pay will not apply to JCBA premiums such as Lead, Galley, International, Speaker, etc.
• The company has communicated that holiday pay will be paid in the pay cycle it is earned. For example, eligible holiday pay hours earned in November will pay out on the December 15th paycheck.

Holiday Pay Examples
click on all sequence information to enlarge

As you prepare to bid in PBS for your November schedule, we want to provide some examples so you have a clear understanding of how holiday pay works.

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Q: I have a flight departing on a holiday, but it arrives on a non-holiday. Do I get the Holiday Pay for the entire flight leg or just the hours that are on the holiday? – or – I have a flight departing on a non-holiday, but it arrives on a holiday. Do I get the Holiday Pay for the entire flight leg or just the hours that are on the holiday?
A: You will get Holiday Pay for the entire flight segment that touches a holiday. To be eligible for Holiday Pay, either the departure of the segment (based on local station time) or the arrival of the segment (based on local station time) must touch the holiday.

Q: I am scheduled to deadhead on a holiday. Will I get Holiday Pay for the deadhead leg?
A: Yes. Holiday Pay is paid on all flown hours on a leg touching a holiday, including deadheads.

Q: I want to “no-show” for my deadhead on a holiday, will I get the Holiday Pay if I no-show?
A: Yes. You are eligible for Holiday Pay for a “no-show” deadhead. JCBA 16 states that you will be paid for a scheduled deadhead as if you had flown the deadhead.

Q: I have a Red Flag trip that touches a holiday. Will I get both Red Flag and Holiday Pay?
A: Yes. You will get the applicable Holiday Pay in addition to the Red Flag pay.

Q: Do I have to have perfect attendance throughout the holiday periods to qualify for Holiday Pay?
A: No. Holiday Pay has no ‘perfect attendance’ components; you just need to fly on the designated holiday(s).

Q: Why are the paid holidays different than the attendance critical periods?
A: Paid holidays are completely separate from management’s Attendance Policy. This new Holiday Pay incentive is provided for in the JCBA. Critical periods associated with attendance and banked points are Company policy. Management has not communicated a change to the attendance policy.

Q: I am a reserve on a RAP and don’t end up being awarded/assigned a trip or standby during my RAP. Am I eligible for holiday pay for my RAP?
A. No. You are not eligible for holiday pay for a RAP if you do no flying or do not serve a standby on the holiday.

Q: When will I be paid the Holiday Pay?
A: The company has advised APFA that the process for calculating holiday pay has been automated. This means it should be paid out in the same pay cycle it is earned.

In Solidarity,

Jeff Petersen
APFA National Contract Chair
[email protected]

Marti McMillan
APFA National Scheduling Chair
[email protected]