• NEW EUROPEAN FLYING AND ADDITIONAL B757 AIRCRAFT ADDED TO THE FLEET
• EMBRAER 190 AIRCRAFT ORDER
• PILOT RECALLS
• Accessing The Hub
• AFA Local Numbers

On Thursday the Company announced US Airways will start service this spring to Milan, Italy; Stockholm Sweden and Lisbon, Portugal and also announced a confirmed order for 25 Embraer 190 aircraft. On Friday the Company issued a press release announcing a pilot recall. 

NEW EUROPEAN FLYING AND ADDITIONAL B757 AIRCRAFT ADDED TO THE FLEET

PHL-MXP (Milan) will commence on May 31, 2006 and be operated using B767 aircraft. Although it is anticipated this service will be seasonal there was no announced end date for the service. PHL- ARN (Stockholm) is scheduled June 3, 2006 through October 8, 2006 and will be operated with B767 aircraft. PHL-LIS (Lisbon) is scheduled June 7, 2006 through October 28, 2006. PHL-LIS will be operated with B757 aircraft. The company has signed a deal to acquire three additional B757-200 aircraft through Boeing. These aircraft were returned to Boeing from ATA. 

• The three newly acquired B757 aircraft will be placed under the US Airways operating certificate and flown by US Airways "East" pilots and flight attendants.
• One B757 has been dedicated to PHL-LIS. With the addition of MXP and ARN B767 service it is presumed the remaining two aircraft will replace the seasonal service usually flown by B767 aircraft to SNN, DUB or GLA. Current timetables on US Airways.com do not reflect this change but it would seem to be the logical result. 
• The aircraft will be configured with 8 "Premium" seats and 180 coach seats.
• There will be no Envoy class or service on these aircraft. The "Premium" seat product will be just that…a bigger seat with no additional service. I have been told this decision is driven by competition but we will be questioning the decision to offer two different European products. 
• The service product and procedures have not been discussed with the Company. The Union expects to be consulted regarding both the product and the procedures.
• Staffing will be five (5) flight attendants. LOD/O staffing has not been discussed to date. If LOD/Os are used the staffing would be four flight attendants and an additional LOD/O flight attendant. If no LOD/O is staffed there will still be five flight attendant positions.
• Three reclining and curtained crew rest seats will be provided.
• Additional safety training for these aircraft is unlikely as the aircraft are similar to the current B757 aircraft flown by US Airways.

The Union was not given notification prior to the announcement of the new flying or aircraft therefore these are all the details available. The Union notified the Company of the required contractual provisions necessary when new aircraft are acquired or new international routes are awarded.

EMBRAER 190 AIRCRAFT ORDER 

The Company announced an order to acquire 25 EMB 190 aircraft beginning in November of 2006. This order was an adjustment to the previous US Airways order for up to 57 EMB 170 aircraft. The remaining 32 aircraft will be converted to an EMB 190 order subject to confirmation by US Airways. According to an EMBRAER press release, US Airways has an option for up to 50 additional aircraft. The EMB 190 has a range of between 1500 and 2150 nm depending on load and other factors. 

• The EMB 190 will be operated under the US Airways operating certificate and flown by mainline US Airways "East" pilots and flight attendants.
• Initial deliveries will begin in November (two aircraft) and December (one aircraft). Revenue service will begin in early January. The future delivery schedule is not known. 
• The aircraft will be configured with 11 First Class/88 Coach. Seems odd this airplane will have First Class service and some European flying will not.
• The Transition Agreement between AFA and the Company locked in mainline rates of pay for the EMB 190. The Union will have further discussion regarding service requirements and staffing decisions. 
• The Company has not indicated where the aircraft will be based or what routes the aircraft will fly. 
• Training will have to take place on the EMB 190.

The Union was not given prior notification to this announcement and discussions with the Company will be scheduled regarding the EMB 190 flying. 

PILOT RECALLS AND PILOT MAY-JUNE PERMANENT BID 

Separately the Company announced they will be recalling 55 US Airways pilots to the "East" operation. This recall is a result of the additional European Flying. Currently there are no recalls of flight attendants scheduled. The decision of whether to recall flight attendants will come later this year as a result of the VFLR participation, possible displacements and attrition. The Union is aware of the need to realign the staffing levels in the bases and has made the Company aware of the concerns. The Company has stated there may be displacements in PIT later this year but has also indicated the flying in the base will be maintained at close to current levels. 

The Company posted the MAY-JUNE Pilot Permanent Bid on Friday. The main drivers of this bid are the new European flying and additional B 757 aircraft. The complete bid is posted on theHub at: http://thehub.usairways.com/divisions/operations/flight/Lines/PermanentBid/bid0602.pdf

The Bid itself is the indicator of how many lines of time will be allocated in each base. A summary is included below. 

Lines of Flying Summary for JUNE 2006 (in comparison to February 2006)

BOS A319 NO CHANGE

PHL A330 INCREASE 3
B76I INCREASE 10
B75D INCREASE 7
B733 DECREASE 2
A319 INCREASE 13
(NET INCREASE 31 LINES)

PIT B733 DECREASE 2
A319 NO CHANGE

CLT A330 NO CHANGE
B76I DECREASE 7 
B75D INCREASE 5
B733 DECREASE 1
A319 INCREASE 6
(NET INCREASE 5 LINES)

DCA B733 DECREASE 2
A319 NO CHANGE

LGA A319 NO CHANGE

We will keep you informed as to any new developments regarding the new flying and aircraft as they occur.

Thank you,

The Master Executive Council

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 703-212-8090
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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