Educational Leave of Absence Information

Dependant upon manning, Educational Leaves of Absence are offered twice per year (Fall and Spring). Fall ELOA’s are proffered in July and Spring ELOA’s are proffered in November. The Contractual language regarding ELOA’s can be found in Art.19.G. The length of the ELOA shall be for not less than one (1) school or course term, e.g. semester, quarter or trimester, whichever is applicable, but in no case shall the leave exceed a total continuous period of 270 calendar days. Fall ELOA’s will not start until after Labor Day weekend and will not extend beyond December 31. Spring ELOA’s will not extend beyond June 6 of a given year.

Flight Attendants are required to submit verification of enrollment at an accredited college or university, or registration in a Company approved course within seven days after registration. One class is the minimum necessary to meet verification requirements.

Per the Trip Book, no travel privileges are offered while on an ELOA.

During an ELOA, you do not accrue Classification (Pay) or Company Seniority. Proof of course completion must be submitted within 30 days after the expiration or termination of the ELOA in order to accrue Occupational (Bidding) Seniority during the ELOA

If your ELOA is scheduled to end after the first contractual day of the month, you will not be eligible to bid for that month. One must be active on the first day of the month in order to be awarded a bid. Therefore if your ELOA ends after the first day of the contractual month you will be given an Open Replacement schedule based on the number of days remaining in the month. You do have the option of requesting to end your leave early with 30 days written notice. To do so you should make the request in writing to the Flight Attendant Service Center. Your base planner must show that you will be active for the first day of the contractual month by the 15th of the prior month in order to receive a bid award. For example, if your ELOA was scheduled to end on December 12 you would be given an Open Replacement schedule for the balance of the month. However, you could request that the leave end on December 1 so that you would be active for the first contractual day of December which is the 2nd. In order to hold a bid for December, your HI10 must show that you will be active as of December 2 no later than November 15.