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2002 Archived - E-Lines

• Secondary Augmentation
• FA's Hold Summit on Job Fatigue
• Accessing The Hub
• AFA Local Numbers

Dear Members,

Below went out on CBS message.

Teddy

Subject: CBS Message - Secondary Augmentation

The following CBS message
Date: Friday, 8 April 2005 12:38 ET

The following information is a slight modification to information that was sent to you via CBS on March 18, 2005, as well a slight modification to the contractual language that addresses the Secondary Lineholder Augmentation.

Provisions that are negotiated often times have hurdles to overcome because computer systems cannot always be programmed to process things a certain way, or in some cases, one provision conflicts with another.  Such is the case between the following items:

1) The Secondary Lineholder can augment his/her lines until the last day of the contract month at 12:00.  And,

2) Contract language which states: "The monthly obligation for a flight attendant shall be his/her primary line value, post SAP line value, secondary line value or augmented secondary line value, whichever is greater."

In order to implement the aforementioned monthly obligation procedure, the Company must take snapshots on two particular occasions that show how a lineholder obtained his/her flying for an applicable bid month. 

For example: Tim is a primary lineholder for May who is awarded a line of flying worth Pay and Credit of 75+00 hours.  After the award, the Company takes a snapshot of Tim's line.  Then SAP opens and closes for May.  Later another snapshot is taken of the post SAP line value, in this example, Tim's post SAP line value is 90+00 hours. Finally, the Company enters 90:00 hours as Tim's flying obligation for May because it is the greater of the two awards.

Conflict: The procedure delineated above needs to be followed for the Secondary lineholders just as it is for the primary lineholders.  However, there is a conflict because previous information communicated and the new Agreement states that augmentation is until the last day of the contract month at 1200 which in this case is April 30th.  Unfortunately, this can not be done because the ETB opens on April 23rd and CATs cannot tell the difference between flight time picked up from the ETB and/or Company open time. Therefore, taking a snapshot at the end of the month would not be a true reflection of the secondary lineholder's obligation.

New Augmentation Period Solution:  Secondary lines are awarded on or about the 13th of the preceding month.  After the award, the Company will take a snapshot of the Pay and Credit value of each Secondary line of flying. Augmentation will open at 0700 the following day and at that time, the secondary lineholders can drop for over-projections and/or start augmenting up to the monthly maximum with Company open time.  Additionally, any flight attendant that could have held a primary or secondary line, but due to his/her unavailable status (at the time of primary or secondary line bid closing) and was NOT awarded a primary or secondary line may also augment. The NEW Augmentation Period will remain open until 1800 the day prior to the opening of ETB. At that time, the Company will take a snapshot of the augmented line value.  Finally, the Company will enter the greater of the two awards as the line obligation for this process.  In other words, the Augmentation Period will have an opening and closing date. Opening will be at 0700 on or about the 13th of the preceding month.  Closing will be just before the day before the ETB opens.  Both dates and exact times will be written on the Secondary lines of flying and entered into the applicable Inflight Monthly Calendar.

May Timeline:

May Secondary Lines Opens:             Thursday, April 7 @ 1800
May Secondary Lines Closes:            Tuesday, April 12 @ 1800
May Sec.Overprojection Drops Opens:    Thursday, April 14 @ 0700
May Sec.Overprojection Drops Closes:   Saturday, April 30 @ 1800
May Sec. Augmentation Process Opens:   Thursday, April 14 @ 0700
May Sec. Augmentation Process Closes:  Friday, April 22 @ 1800
May Reserve Lines Opens:               Saturday, April 16 @ 1800
May Reserve Line Closes:               Friday, April 22 @ 1800
May ETB Opens:                         Saturday, April 23 @ 1800

-----------------

Dear Members,

Please read the following from AFA International regarding a recent Summit that was held.

Local 40 Council Representative and Safety Rep, Donna Sunderman attended on behalf of the flight attendants at USAirways.

Flight Attendants Hold Summit on Job Fatigue, Hours

More than 30 officers and members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA met with their colleagues from two other unions to address the growing problem of flight attendant fatigue.

Further information ...

Teddy
MEC President, AFA-CWA

See Also: March 30, 2005 Washington Times Article, "Unions Rail Against Flight Attendant Fatigue"

The "Fatigue Summit" was co-hosted by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, representing flight attendants at American Airlines, and Transport Workers Union Local 556, representing flight attendants at Southwest Airlines. The meeting was held at APFA headquarters outside Dallas.

With airlines slashing aircrews to compensate for economic losses, flight attendants are required to work shifts as long as 18 hours, raising serious safety concerns.

"This is a major safety issue for flight attendants nationwide," said AFA-CWA President Patricia Friend. "Flight attendants end up with only five or six hours to sleep, and oftentimes less. Airlines are cutting every corner to keep flight attendants on duty, and that's affecting our health and raising concerns over our ability to properly safeguard our passengers."

In 1996, the Federal Aviation Administration implemented the Flight Attendant Duty and Rest rules that require 8- and 9-hour rest periods. But those "rest periods" include all transportation to and from the airports, plus the meals and preparation for bed at night.

Attending from AFA-CWA were flight attendants from 11 airlines: United, US Airways, America West, Hawaiian, Alaska Air, AirTran, Mesa, Independence Air, Atlantic Southeast, PSA and American Eagle.

AFA-CWA will continue to work with other flight attendant groups to address this serious issue.

Accessing The Hub: http://thehub.usairways.com 
Logging in the first time your user name is u0(zero) and your five digit employee number. Your initial password is the first five digits of your social security number. Questions about the Hub? Please contact the EDS Help Desk at 336-744-6000 for assistance. More information can also be found HERE.

AFA Local Numbers
Council 40 PIT 724-695-3329
Council 41 DCA 703-690-6859
Council 69 BOS 781-289-8454
Council 70 PHL 215-492-0840
Council 82 LGA 315-736-3483
Council 89 CLT 704-527-0325

New Hotline Number Toll Free: 866-USA-AFA2

US AIRWAYS Benefits Information: 800-872-4780

Reply to Inflight: askinflight@usairways.com

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