• RESERVE 24/7 UPDATE #2
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Dear Members,

RESERVE 24/7 UPDATE #2

The Company and the Union met on Friday, September 25th to begin discussions on the implementation and impact of the FAA's interpretation of the 24-consecutive-hour rest period within 7 consecutive calendar days as applied to Reserves. The Friday meeting focused on the immediate impact the interpretation will have. 

The Union's overall position remains that contractual provisions pertaining to the Reserve Section and the ETB in general are no longer viable in light of the new requirements. Our goal will be to address those concerns as soon as practical. We will be meeting again with the Company in October to discuss various solutions to the problems generated by the new requirements. While the new requirements are aimed directly at Reserves, the fallout will be more widespread. The solutions will require analysis and debate by the MEC, the Company and our Reserve representatives. We certainly realize the immediate financial impact the FAR enforcement will have on our Reserve members who have used the ETB to increase their earnings. We are committed to finding solutions for all of our members. The Union will look at all options and not rush headlong into solutions that may have unintended consequences. 

The Company released the following CBS message this morning summarizing the immediate steps that will be taken to comply with the FAR:

Subject: RSV 24/7 Update
From Michael Finn, Dir. of Crew Scheduling:

As you may know, The FAA recently instructed the company that it was not in compliance with FAR 121.467(b)(13) - 24 hour rest in a seven day period. Specifically, the FAA has instructed the company that there is no distinction between being "on call" as a reserve and being "on duty". Simply put, days that a reserve flight attendant is available to scheduling but not assigned a trip or OPR will now count as duty days. A reserve flight attendant may not be scheduled for 7 consecutive days without a 24 hour rest break, even if no flying is performed. This is a change from how we have operated in the past, and the intent of this note is to clarify some of the issues that may arise.

What follows is a short summary of some of the changes that will be going into effect commencing with the October reserve line awards. It is certain that as we move forward, more issues will arise, and we want to make every effort to keep you informed.

Reserve line construction: Reserve lines will now be constructed with a maximum of 6 consecutive days on duty.

Month to month transition: Reserves who are on duty for more than 6 consecutive days from one month to the next will be awarded a "NFL" rest period (Not FAR Legal) IF the reserve is not given an assignment with an identified 24 hour period free from duty. This NFL period is 24 hours free of duty, awarded to resolve the month to month legality situation. This will include lineholding flight attendants that transition into the new month as as well as a reserve. The flight attendant will be notified of the "NFL" period and the
required return to duty time prior to the assigned "NFL" period. ETB trips awarded prior to the reserve lines being awarded for the following month that create a transition conflict will result in scheduling adding a "NFL" period to ensure the 24 hours free of duty is assigned. As it is current procedure, "OFF" days will be moved to cover any ETB duty periods within the new month and the "NFL" duty break will be only used to resolve the 24/7 conflict if applicable. After the reserve lines are awarded for the following month (which is normally around the 24th or 25th of the current month) any ETB trips that create a 24/7 transition conflict will be denied.

Reserves and the ETB: Reserves will still be able to pick up trips from the ETB on their OFF/INV days; however, in so doing may not schedule themselves for more than 6 consecutive days on duty, including reserve available days.

Moving of Reserve OFF/INV days: Scheduling will no longer be permitted to move an OFF/INV day for a reserve if such a move would create any duty stretch of more than 6 consecutive days.

Swapping of OFF/INV days: Reserves will no longer be permitted to swap OFF/INV days with another reserve if such a swap would create a duty stretch of more than 6 consecutive days for either flight attendant.

Last leg swap: A reserve will no longer be permitted to fly the last live leg for another flight attendant if such flying would result in a duty stretch of more than 6 consecutive days

Rescheduling of Reserves: A reserve who is flying on his or her 6th consecutive day on duty may be rescheduled to deadhead only on the 7th day. Such a reserve must then receive 24 hours free of duty before he or she is legal to fly again.

These are just a few of the issues that are sure to come up as we move through
this process. We thank you for your patience as we work through these issues,
together with your AFA representatives. As always, we know we can count
on your professionalism and dedication.

In order to fully understand this CBS message we need to define some of the terms it contains:

-On Call

This is the time a Reserve is AVL but has not been assigned a trip or OPR.

-On Duty

This is the time that a Reserve is either on call or has been assigned a trip. If the Reserve is on call and not assigned a trip the FAR Flight and Duty Time Limitations (i.e., 14 hours on duty) do not apply. The FAA has taken the position that on-call and on duty are the same for purposes of determining rest with respect to the 24/7 rules. 

-Duty Period

This is the period of time contained in an actual trip that is governed by the FAR Flight and Duty Time Limitations.

-Rest Break

In the old world the Company considered on-call days (days with no flying activity or OPR) as a day of rest, thus satisfying the FAR. That is the critical distinction and the previous practice will no longer be allowed. Each 7 consecutive calendar days of on-call or combination of on-call with flying or OPR activity must contain a 24-hour rest break within the 7-day period. 

For the purposes of the new world order the term "rest break" refers to the 24-consecutive-hour period free from all duty and "restraint" by the Company within a seven calendar day period. The FAA has instructed US Airways the 24-hour break does not have to be a calendar day but can be any 24-consecutive-hour period where the Flight Attendant is free from all duty and "restraint". The 24-hour period can be from check-out to check-in either in domicile or on a RON. In domestic operations the "rest break" would mean a 25+15 period block-to-block and a 26-hour period block-to-block for international operations. In the old world the Company considered on call days (with no flying activity or OPR) as a day of rest thus satisfying the FAR. That is the critical distinction and will no longer be allowed. 

A Reserve Flight Attendant will have to have a 24-consecutive-hour "rest break" following six (6) consecutive days of being on-call or actual flying or any combination of the two. Any combinations of on-call or flying that exceeds 6 consecutive days will have to be followed by a 24-consecutive-hour break. Such a "rest break" must be known in advance and that requirement is satisfied at the time a Flight Attendant picks up a trip containing a satisfying RON or is assigned and notified by the Company a rest period (NFL) has been awarded.

Moving on through the CBS message some of the points are clear and some need further explanation. 

Reserve Line Construction;

The Company will not be able to build Reserve lines that contain more than six (6) consecutive AVL days.

Month-to-Month Transition:

The Company will award a Not FAR Legal (NFL) 24-consecutive-hour rest period in order to satisfy legality requirements for the following three month-to-month transition scenarios. 

• Reserves who have AVL days at the end of one month and AVL days at beginning of the following month that exceed 6 consecutive days. The Company will award the
• NFL" day somewhere within that 6 day period at their discretion based on coverage. 
  
• Lineholders who transition from Reserve to Lineholder or vice versa will be awarded an "NFL" day if a 7-day period at transition does not contain a 24-hour break. 
• Flight Attendants with ETB transition trips that are awarded prior to the reserve line awards will continue to have days off moved in order to be able to fly the awarded ETB trips. In no case will an ETB transition trip awarded prior to the reserve line award be removed from a Flight Attendants line. If moving off days creates a further 24/7 conflict, an "NFL" day will be awarded to resolve that conflict. The Company will have to notify the Flight Attendant when the 24-hour break begins and ends prior to the beginning of the break. While overall this is a good thing, there is an issue of disparate treatment with some Reserves getting a 12th day off and other not. 

Reserves and the ETB

Obviously this is the biggest conflict between the old world and the new. In the past no one, Reserves or Lineholders, could fly more than 6 consecutive days without a 24-hour break. The difference now is that AVL days with no flying or OPR activity are not considered as a day that would satisfy the 24/7 rest requirement. This fact will restrict the Reserve use of the ETB. This will have a financial impact on Reserves. It will also shallow the pool of people Lineholders were able to drops to. The ETB was created as a replacement system for the options as well as a mechanism for improving Reserve-earning power. These two concerns are the crux of the Union's position that our contract contains provisions that are now unworkable as a result of the new requirements. Reserves will still be able to use the ETB, but trip pick-ups will be constrained by the 24/7 rule. Advance use of the ETB will be much more restrictive as Flight Attendants will not be allowed to create trip and AVL assignment combination that would violate the 24/7 rule. 

ETB processing will be slowed down as this is implemented. In the past, ETB processing did not require as much scrutiny as it will now that AVL days with no flight or OPR assignments are not considered "rest". Catcrew will have to be programmed to perform various new legality checks. In the meantime the ETB schedulers will be required to look back 7 days and forward 7 days to verify that a 24-hour rest break was contained in each of the 7-day periods. For example assume the following schedule:


Day 1    AVL
Day 2    AVL
Day 3    AVL
Day 4    Red-eye Pairing 1234 CLT-SFO
Day 5    27 Hour RON 
Day 6    Red-eye Pairing 1234 SFO-CLT
Day 7    OFF
Day 8    OFF
Day 9    OFF
Day 10   AVL
Day 11   AVL 
Day 12   AVL
Day 13   AVL 
Day 14   AVL
Day 15   OFF

Looking backward, a Reserve could pick up a 2-day ETB trip on Days 7 and 8 as Days 1 through 8 are "broken" by a 24-hour break on Day 5 (the RON). Conversely, looking forward in this example, the Reserve could not pick up a two day ETB trip on the Days 8 and 9 (unless it contained a 24-break) as the combination of the 2-day ETB trip and the 5 scheduled AVL days would exceed 6 consecutive days without a 24-hour break. Again, looking forward in this example the Reserve could pick up a 1-day ETB trip on the Day 9. All ETB trip pick-ups would be subject to existing ETB parameters. 

This is only one example. We are developing a further list of examples and a Question and Answer document for distribution.

Moving of Reserve OFF/INV Days, Swapping of Reserve OFF/INV Days and Last Live Leg Swaps

Crew scheduling will no longer be able to move or swap OFF/INV days if the transaction creates a schedule resulting in more than 6 consecutive AVL days. The same restriction will apply to the last live leg swaps.

Rescheduling of Reserves

The intent of this is to permit a Flight Attendant, Lineholder or Reserve, the ability to deadhead back to base as a result of an irregular operation such as a weather event or a mechanical. The Company has agreed they can't simply change a trip, for their convenience, that would require an additional RON on the 6th day and be allowed to deadhead the Flight Attendant back to base. This is to prevent a Flight Attendant who is "stuck out" due weather or a mechanical from having to remain down line for a 24-hour period before being allowed to return to base. The Company will be issuing a clarification.

Other Comments

Clearly this is not the end of the discussion. As mentioned earlier the Union has scheduled meetings with the Company to further address the issue. There are valid concerns from all members and all of your concerns will be addressed. We will come up with solutions. We will not allow the Company to simply fall back on the position that places the blame solely on the FAA or one that places the consequences on the backs of the members. 


Thank you,

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

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