• APRIL 15th RECALL
• MAY TRANSFER AWARDS
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APRIL 15th RECALL & MAY TRANSFER AWARDS

Let me begin this Eline by first explaining the mechanics of the recall process and then discuss why the Company believes the recall is necessary.

The process-

The Company has begun the process of recalling 180 Flight Attendants for April 15, 2008. The recalled Flight Attendants will go online May 1, 2008. There are currently 456 Flight Attendants on the involuntary furlough list and the Company began sending out the recall letters yesterday.

If you are on involuntary furlough it is imperative that you respond to the letter whether you wish to be recalled or not. Failure to respond to the recall notice will result in your being administratively separated from the Company and removed from the Flight Attendant Seniority list.

The last recall of 216 Flight Attendants was undersubscribed and that resulted in a recall assignment mode, meaning that Flight Attendants were assigned recall in inverse seniority order. Those not accepting recall were deemed to have resigned. During the inverse seniority recall assignment the most junior Flight Attendant was given the first choice of base assignment.

As with any other recall a Flight Attendant is allowed to either accept recall or pass if there is a more junior Flight Attendant on the involuntary furlough list. It is likely that this recall will result in another inverse seniority assignment so; if you pass you may run the risk of not getting a choice of base assignment.

In other words, if you pass a recall opportunity to the base of your choice, you may not get that same opportunity if assigned a recall.

If the recall number is not met and the involuntary furlough list is exhausted the Company will begin recalling Flight Attendants from the Voluntary Furlough/Extended Leave list.

Why Recall?

The Union has taken the position that with the majority of Reserves not breaking guarantee, a recall is not necessary. Several meetings were held with the Company prior to the recall decision and the bottom line is due to the increased Seasonal Flying, particularly transatlantic flying out of PHL, the increased block hours has caused the need to recall. Discussions were also held with the Crew Planning department to determine what kind of staffing model is used to determine the number of Flight Attendants needed to properly staff the airline.

Below is a summary of those discussions beginning with a letter from the Managing Director of Crew Resources, Mike Finn.

Dear US Airways Flight Attendant:

Very soon you will be hearing about yet another recall of Flight Attendants.
I recognize that this may cause concern for some of you as many feel that you
are not able to make your time as a reserve; so I would like to explain why
we are making this announcement.

Our original business plan called for a recall of 125 Flight Attendants in
order to offset the increase in block hours for 2008. This amount increased
to 165 when additional block hours were added to the schedule in June.

Further, when the PIT base closed, we offered Voluntary Separations for up to
314 Flight Attendants. Based on the fact that we were already planning
recalls to cover the summer flying, we knew that we would need to replace each
Flight Attendant that accepted the separation package. We had 134 Flight
Attendants sign up for this program. This equates to a need for 299 Flight
Attendants (134 SEPs + 165 for block).

We announced recalls in February for 216 Flight Attendants, but in reality,
we only had 84 Flight Attendants who actually attended requalification
training. We then announced a second recall and had 101 Flight Attendants
accept. That number has now dwindled to only 35. We have only successfully
recalled 119 Flight Attendants out of the 299 required. We have been sending
letters to many more Flight Attendants than required in order to compensate
for the declines, but the "no-shows after accepting" are hurting us for the
worst (we're finding that many of these who don't show have been on furlough
or leave for years, accept the recall and then have second thoughts). So, we
are continuing to announce recalls to get ourselves back on plan for the
summer flying. Clearly, the busy summer travel season is not where we want to
be short on crews.

The question that is still being asked is, "If I am not making my time now,
why do we need these recalls?" The answer is summer flying. There is
approximately a 19,000-hour swing in Flight Attendant block hours (A/C block
multiplied by crew complement) from Feb-Mar to Jun-July. Without the recalls,
we will be short by over 160 Flight Attendants system wide for the month of
June. With the recalls, we will be staffed properly through August, but then
quickly go back to an excess that we need to try and mitigate through
different avenues, including VPLOAs.

I hope this helps to explain the upcoming announcement.

Best Regards,
Mike Finn
Managing Director, Crew Resources

Crew Planners discussion-

The Crew Planning Department provided the following information regarding system wide block hours for the remainder of 2008. Block hours are arrived at by multiplying aircraft block hours by the crew compliment for each aircraft.

The department also provided an explanation for how they determine the necessary number of Flight Attendants required to staff the airline. Vacation hours for each month, historical sick hours for each month are added to the block hours for each month and then divided by a factor of between 82 and 86 hours depending on each base. Rather than use the actual numbers I have provided the following example for the purpose of simplification:

Assume a base had 80,000 hours of block hours, vacation and historical sick hours for the month of August and we simplified the divisor to 80 hours that would mean that 1000 Flight Attendants would be required to staff the base.

80,000 = 1000
80

The Union has questioned the fact that if Reserves are not flying 80 hours why is the decision made to use a divisor of 82-86. The answer is simple mathematics.

Let's assume the same base and same month and the average hours flown by Flight Attendants is 40 hours.

80,000 = 2000
40


The future-

Mr. Finn outlined the fact that without the recall the summer flying could not be sustained. The simple fact is the numbers do not lie. The problem is the airline continues to staff the airline for the peak season and correctly points out that system wide there will be an excess number of Flight Attendants once the seasonal flying is pulled down. During the summer season the airline utilizes as many aircraft as possible with as few aircraft as possible held out of service for maintenance, spares or painting.

It does not escape anyone that once the seasonal flying ends, the block hours dramatically reduce each month from a high in July of approximately 278,000 hours, to a low in December of 244,000 hours- a difference of approximately 34,000 hours.

What are the solutions? In the 1970s and 1980s several other airlines, most notably TWA, would simply furlough Flight Attendants and Pilots at the end of their seasonal flying. No one at the Union or in management believes that is a viable solution for US Airways.

Mr. Finn writes, "With the recalls, we will be staffed properly through August, but then quickly go back to an excess that we need to try and mitigate through different avenues, including VPLOAs".

The Union believes that a three-pronged approach to the problem is necessary to fix the problem:

1. The Marketing Department should consider year round flying to the seasonal transatlantic destinations. Perhaps the frequency would need to be decreased in some markets to remain profitable but year round service is provided by most other airlines. We provided a very poor transatlantic product last year and the argument could be made that bookings are down this year and therefore year round service would not be profitable. By improving our product we will increase the demand for that product.

Marketing should also look at additional Caribbean, Central and South American markets that could be flown in the winter months as well as former domestic markets that we used to serve, such as Orange County, California which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the nation.

2. The Company should offer a Separation Package every fall. Hey, I might not be the smartest guy in the world but, I believe the cost of a buyout could easily be offset by the under guarantee pay that is generated when the Company has hundreds of Reserves not flying for six months out of the year. The Company of course will say, "Mike, we will be back in the same boat next summer-short staffed." With the furlough list close to exhaustion the answer for a short staffed airline would then be to hire new hire Flight Attendants- a cost savings.

3. Liberal offering of VPLOAs.

The Union does not have any contractual control regarding staffing or recalls. The Union has stated our position that the peaks and valleys of seasonal flying create hardships for many of our members. The Company has agreed with the Union's position and has vowed to seek consensual solutions.

May Transfer Results

The Results of the May Transfer are as follows:

BOS 1
CLT 31
DCA 22
PHL 13
LGA 4

Thank You,

Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
AFA-CWA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AFA USAirways Website

www.afausairways.org

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AFA Local Numbers

Council 40 PIT 412-245-1214
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

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