Dear Members,
- ALPA SENIORITY ARBITRATION OPINION AND “AWARD”
- GATE DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL PROCEDURES
- 9:15 MINIMUM REST AND YOU
- RECALL AWARD AND RECALL LIST
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AFA Local Numbers
ALPA SENIORITY ARBITRATION OPINION AND “AWARD”
Unable to reach an internal agreement regarding a combined seniority list, ALPA
entered into the arbitration process to determine a combined seniority list.
The Arbitration Board’s Opinion and Award was released last week.
The Board, chaired by Arbitrator George Nicolau, crafted a combined seniority
list that has unbelievably placed all US Airways East Pilots who were on
furlough on May 19, 2005 (the date the merger was announced) below the most
junior America West Pilot. Incredibly that Pilot, hired a mere two months prior
to the merger announcement, will be senior to over 1700 furloughed East Pilots.
By deciding to integrate the seniority list with only “working Pilots” the
Board’s decision ignores the years of service, dedication and sacrifice by the
furloughed East Pilots. The most senior furloughed East Pilot was hired in 1988
and was furloughed in 2003. 305 America West Pilots were hired after the most
junior East Pilot and been furloughed and will now be senior to all East
furloughed Pilots.
To be sure ALPA and AFA seniority integration policies are vastly different. The
AFA policy of Date of Hire, in place since the mid 1980’s, protects against the
inequities the ALPA Opinion and Award creates. The ALPA merger policy allows for
different methodologies to be used in combining seniority lists but operates
under the premise that, among other factors, considers career expectations and
the avoidance of a windfall for one group over the other.
The Opinion and Award appears to disadvantage many other East Pilots and will be
addressed by the US Airways ALPA MEC. That said, as a Union member and leader I
am appalled at an award that in my opinion is blatantly unfair and naïve. To
place over 1700 hundred Pilots at the bottom of the list simply because they
were on furlough at the time the merger was announced is beyond egregious and
certainly more than a windfall for the America West Pilots.There have been many rumors in the last few days regarding the ALPA Opinion and
Award and I am sure those will continue for some time. I can’t speak for ALPA on
how the award will be dealt with. The US Airways ALPA MEC will run their
business and the US Airways AFA MEC will run ours.
One thing is crystal clear however, the ALPA Opinion and Award in no way affects
the AFA Date of Hire Policy and the integration of the America West and US
Airways Flight Attendant seniority lists. At the 2005 AFA Board of Directors
meeting, the members of the Board reaffirmed Date of Hire as the governing
mechanism for determining combined seniority lists among merging carriers. Date
of Hire was used to merge the US Airways and America West seniority list. The
merged list that resulted from that process will be given to the Company only
after a merged contract is negotiated and ratified by the members.
GATE DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL PROCEDURES
As part of the new procedures that took effect on May 1, 2007 the procedure and
call out for arming of the doors for departure and arrival have changed. The new
procedure requires the “A” Flight Attendant on all aircraft to inform the
flightdeck crew “Cabin Secure” and ask, “Okay to close?”
On all aircraft the Flight Attendant at the ‘BOARDING DOOR” then makes the
following announcement:
“Flight Attendants, arm doors and crosscheck. Standby for all call.”The “flip chart” that came in association with the new InFlight Emergency Manual
(IEM) contains an inaccuracy with respect to the departure procedure on the B757
and A330. In most cases, boarding and deplaning on those two aircraft types
occur at the 2L door.
If boarding and deplaning occur at the 2L Door on the B757 or the A330 the
Flight Attendant at the “BOARDING DOOR” (B757 – “D” FA, A330 – “E” FA) would
make the “Flight Attendants, arm doors and crosscheck. Standby for all call.”A correction to the ‘flip chart” to accurately reflect the correct departure
procedure for the B757 and the A330 will be issued shortly. In the meantime,
please refer to the IEM for the correct procedures.
In addition the East Boeing equipment interphone systems are “party lines”. In
other words the Pilots are also able to hear the interphone “verified” call
outs. The “party line” is therefore causing some confusion. The Company will be
meeting with the Union this week to determine what can be done about the
problem.
9:15 MINIMUM REST AND YOU
We have all been in the situation where, in order to obtain the contractual
minimum RON rest of 9:15, the scheduled departure of the first flight following
the rest has had to be delayed. We have also been in situations when either the
agents or the Captain want to close the door and start the clock before the 9:15
rest period has been satisfied. The fact that the Captain may elect to do this
does not mean that we have “elected” to go along with the decision. We have the
following contractual provisions in place to support a claim for the violation
of the 9:15 minimum RON rest, and at our option, be removed from the trip.
The following contractual provision addresses the situation when a Flight
Attendant does not receive his/her minimum rest:
SECTION 10. (HOURS OF SERVICE) E.7:
7. When a flight attendant does not receive his/her
minimum overnight rest period (9:15, block-to-block), he/she shall be
considered on duty with all duty rigs and premiums applicable to continue on
the pairing. A flight attendant who feels he/she cannot continue on the
pairing shall be relieved at the earliest possible time without causing a
delay and may claim sick time for the remainder of his/her pairing. It is
also understood that a flight attendant who elects to be relieved in
accordance with the above will not have that sick call recorded in his/her
sick time totals.
The following contractual provision addresses the duty rigs associated with such
a claim:SECTION 10.J.2.:
A flight
attendant shall receive a minimum of one (1:00) hour of flight pay and flight
time credit for every two and one quarter (2 ¼) hours of actual on-duty
time between the hours of 0600 and 2159 and one (1:00) hour of flight pay and
flight time credit for each two (2:00) hours prorated on a
minute-by-minute basis of actual on-duty time between the hours of 2200 and
0559.
We have
recently received several documented instances where this situation has occurred
and the claim has been denied. The Company position is that the Flight Attendant
has “elected” to leave early. The position of the Union is since the Flight
Attendant does not control the movement of the aircraft nor is the claims
administrator present when such an “election” is supposedly made by the Flight
Attendants a claim is due. The Union will attempt to settle these violations
with the Company this week. Absent a settlement the Union will file a grievance.
Please continue to file a claim if this situation happens to you and document
and send any denials to your Local Executive Council.
RECALL
AWARDS AND RECALL LIST
Ninety (90)
involuntarily furloughed Flight Attendants have been recalled effective June 1,
2007. Recall packets have been sent out to those Flight Attendants awarded a
recall.
A list
containing the following information regarding those Flight Attendants recalled
will be posted on the AFA website –
www.afausairways.org/Furlough/recal05_07.htm:
Recalled Flight Attendants are
eligible for Moving Expenses under the following Contractual Provision:
Section 5.A.3:
A flight
attendant recalled to a domicile other than the domicile from which he/she was
furloughed shall be paid moving expenses if he/she accepts the first recall to
which he/she is eligible
Training for recalled Flight Attendants will begin June.
If you have any questions please contact Mark Stelzer, Inflight Administration,
at 480-693-5827.
Thank you,Mike Flores, President
The US Airways Master Executive Council
AFA-CWA
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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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