• READY TO RECEIVE PASSENGERS
• TIMELINE REMINDERS

• Accessing The Hub

• AFA Local Numbers

READY TO RECEIVE PASSENGERS

As the "virtual merger" continues there appears to be some confusion in the customer service directives/manuals and with Customer Service Agents with respect to the required time East Flight Attendants are to be on board the aircraft ready to receive passengers. The confusion may stem from the fact West agents are working West flights operated by East metal and East crews.

The agents were incorrectly informed East Flight Attendants had to be on board and ready to receive passengers thirty (:30) minutes prior to the scheduled departure for ALL aircraft types.

In order to avoids any further confusion or "debates" with Customer Service Agents please review the contract language and examples below. In addition, the Company has been notified and the errors in the Customer Service manual will be corrected. 

The only possible explanation for this error was that someone did not read or understand the East Agreement because as you will see the language is virtually identical to the West Flight Attendant Agreement.

The US Airways East Flight Attendant Agreement contains the following language (Section 10.I located on page 10-9):

On-Board Requirements

A flight attendant will be required to be on board the aircraft ready to receive passengers thirty (:30) minutes prior to scheduled departure, with the following exceptions:

1. On a domestic departure on an aircraft of one hundred sixty-five (165) or more passenger seats, a flight attendant will be required to be on board the aircraft ready to receive passengers thirty-five (:35) minutes prior to scheduled departure.

2. On an international departure a flight attendant will be required to be on board the aircraft ready to receive passengers forty-five (:45) minutes prior to scheduled departure.

The West contract language is essentially the same. The only difference being the thirty-five (:35) minutes prior requirement is for aircraft with 150 or more seats- not 165 seats.

Currently the two East aircraft used in domestic service that require Flight Attendants to be on board and ready to receive passengers thirty five (:35) minutes prior to departure are the B757 and the A321. All other aircraft fall under the "thirty minute rule".

Example:

SEGMENT                AIRCRAFT TYPE              ON BOARD REQUIREMENT
PHX- SAN                A319 or A320                Thirty (:30) minutes
LAS-LAX                  A321 or B757              Thirty five (:35) minutes

TIMELINE REMINDERS

• VACATION

Please be advised that Round Two of the 2008 Vacation Bid closes on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 1800 EDT. Any days not bid and awarded (other than filler days) will be assigned.

• BENEFITS ENROLLMENT

The annual Benefits Enrollment period opened October 15 and runs through October 29th. Any changes you wish to make to your current benefits or beneficiary designations must be made during the open enrollment period. If you don’t make any changes your benefits will remain the same for 2008.  If you wish to make changes and don’t do so during the open enrollment period the only changes you will be allowed to make after the open enrollment period closes will only be allowed due to a life changing event (birth, adoption, divorce, marriage, etc).

If you do plan to make changes you must do so by the October 29 deadline. As you know, East employees will have a choice of health care providers for 2008- Blue Cross/Blue Shield or United Heath Care. East employees will not automatically revert back to Blue Cross/Blue Shield. You must make that choice by selecting the desired provider during the open enrollment process.

Even if you don’t plan to make any changes to your 2008 benefits or beneficiary designations it is highly recommended you visit the benefits enrollment website to verify and print your existing coverage and beneficiary designations.

The Benefits Enrollment website is:

www.ebenefitsus.com

• ONLINE SURVEY

The Online survey from the Joint Negotiations Committee (JNC) regarding the merged contract is on the web at:

https://www.ballotpoint.com/AfaSurvey/

Your member ID is 120 followed by your original US Airways East ID #.

Your PIN # is the four digit year of birth.

You will be prompted to change your PIN # for security reasons. After changing your PIN #, click on, "Take Survey".

The survey will remain open until 12 noon EDT October 29th. The JNC wants to hear from you. During the first few days of the survey opening there were some reported technical problems with the website and login process. To our knowledge, those problems have now been corrected. If you are still experiencing difficulty you may call the AFA International Membership department at 1- 800 424-2401 Ext. 564.

• NEW UNIFORM FITTING AND ORDERING

Fittings continue in CLT, PHL, PHX, LAS and PIT through November 2, 2008. The new uniform must be ordered by November 3, 2008. You can register online for fittings at:

http://www.appointmentquest.com/provider/2050141023

You may also call the Twin Hill Customer Service Department at 1-866-929-1026 from 0700-1900 CDT.

Ordering must be completed by November 3, 2008. You may order your new uniform pieces on the following website:

http://usairways.twinhill.com/

This site is accessible from crew room computers. Please visit the US Airways AFA website at www.afausairways.org for additional uniform information.

Thank you,

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

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

AFA USAirways Website

www.afausairways.org

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 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

Reply to Inflight: askinflight@usairways.com

Got Questions? Get Answers

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Your MEC Officers
Association of Flight Attendants
Hotline & *E-Line* - US Airways