• Salute to Flightcrew of 1549

• EAP/ Safety Support

• Claims Administration Move

• Bed Bugs

• Local Council Meeting Notice

Dear fellow Council 82 Flight Attendants,

Council 82 LGA FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SALUTE THE CREW OF FLIGHT 1549

Chesley " Sully" Sullenberger
Jeffrey Skiles
Donna Dent
Sheila Dail
Doreen Welsh

We are forever grateful to each of you, the heroic crew of Flight 1549 who touched so many lives in so many ways. We are deeply thankful for your safe return to your families and homes. We take our hats off to Sully and Jeff who miraculously managed to safely land the aircraft keeping it intact and assisting the cabin crew in the evacuation. The five member flight crew demonstrated those skills that are practiced each year in our annual recurrent training resulting in no loss of life or limb. Donna Dent, Sheila Dail and Doreen Welsh were responsible for conducting a less than chaotic evacuation of 150 passengers before securing their own safety. You have certainly made us all so very proud and wish you and your families much comfort and peace in the days ahead.

A special thanks go out to all of those wonderful First Responders of New York who assisted in bringing safety to our Crew and passengers. We are forever grateful for your great work!!!

Thank you Sully, Jeff, Donna, Sheila and Doreen from Council 82 Association of Flight Attendants

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE SUPPORT GROUP IN NEW YORK

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Association of Flight Attendants EAP Committee, Safety Committee and the Council 82 Staff and membership for all of their assistance in providing comfort and compassion to the Flight Attendants of Flight 1549. It made me proud to witness the collective effort of flight attendants both from US Airways as well as other AFA carriers. Working under the direction of the AFA International EAP and the US Airways MEC EAP Chair, there were AFA EAP committee members representing US Airways from the LGA, DCA and PHX Councils on hand to work with our brothers and sisters of EAP committees from United Airlines, Air Wisconsin, and American Eagle. The overwhelming response from our brothers and sisters of other airlines was an indication of the Solidarity within the Association of Flight Attendants. The LEC President for Northwest in LGA contacted me only minutes after the incident occurred pledging the full support of their Council if needed.

The Safety committee on hand included the AFA International ASHS, US Airways MEC Safety Chair along with the local Safety Committees from LGA and PHL. Thank you all for working in a concerted effort to provide support to the crew of Flight 1549 as well as assisting flight attendants across our system in dealing with this incident. Please forgive me if I have unintentionally omitted anyone who participated in the support effort.

CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION MOVES TO PHX

On January 1, 2009 the claims administration department completed their transition to Corporate Headquarters in Tempe, AZ from PIT. Only time will prove whether this move will be beneficial since I believe Claims should be close in proximity to Crew Scheduling. I just want everyone to be aware of the fact this move left behind a great deal of Claims administrators in PIT who had an abundance of knowledge of our Collective Bargaining Agreement and many years of experience in processing claims. Most of those individuals have made the decision to remain in PIT in various positions in Crew Scheduling. It is important that you check your CATS screens to be certain your pay claims are correctly processed. Since there will no doubt be a learning curve during this transition please be aware that the processing of claims is taking much longer than they have in the past. It may be beneficial to submit your claims as soon as possible to avoid further delays in the processing of your claim/s.

CREW ACCOMMODATIONS CHAIRPERSON APPOINTED IN LGA

I ask you to join with me in welcoming Flight Attendant Terry Marshall (TMarshall@afausairways.org) the newest member of the AFA Crew Accommodations Committee. Terry will be representing the LGA flight attendants and working with Jody Compton, MEC Crew Accommodations Chair. Terry has completed her initial training experience in January and will now be assisting Jody with future hotel property site inspections. This DOES NOT change anything in the reporting of Hotel/Transportation irregularities. I urge you to continue to file the OF-310 Hotel/Transportation Reports as these reports are received by both Company and Union personnel. Crew Accommodations is extremely important since it directly affects every pilot and flight attendant on the property.

BED BUGS

We continue to experience a rash of bed bug incidents in some of our properties. This is a growing concern and AFA is committed to ensure that US Airways is working with these properties to provide a safe environment for our crewmembers. To date the company has yet to implement a standardized procedure in reporting these bed bug incidents. In the absence of a standardized procedure AFA Crew Accommodations has published the following E-Line addressing the bed bug problem.

CREW ACCOMMODATIONS SPECIAL BULLETIN

As many of you are aware (some, painfully so), bedbugs have become quite a problem in this country over the past few years. Recently, we encountered an issue with a hotel where a crewmember was bitten by bedbugs. This crewmember did all the right things, she called down to the front desk, had someone come up and witness the bugs, got the name of both the front desk person and the witness. She wrote the incident up on the HUB, filled out an SER and followed up with her supervisor. This is exactly what we all should do when confronted with this issue. Unfortunately, the hotel claimed an exterminator came in and found no bedbug activity so they put the room back in service. 4 days later, another flight attendant was given the same room and severely attacked by bedbugs! This second flight attendant got amazing photos of the bugs, sheets, etc. and put some of the bugs in a plastic bag to send away for analyzing. We are still following up to find out exactly where the breakdown occurred but it is certainly a reminder that we must be vigilant.

Contrary to popular belief, the rate and/or cleanliness of a hotel has little effect on it's propensity for bed bugs. Just as we have no control over who purchases tickets on our airline, hotels have little control over who sleeps in their beds. Some of our least favorite, most complained about hotels have never had a confirmed report of bedbugs and our most beloved domestic hotel has. Additionally, pest-control practices have changed since we are trying to take better care of our planet and some of our newer insecticides are not as effective.

In cases of severe infestation, bedbugs may crawl onto and be carried by clothing although, this is not typical behavior for them and, in cases this severe, one can almost certainly see the bedbugs. They are light tan in color but turn dark-reddish brown once they have fed on blood. Before feeding the adult bed bug is about inch long and flattened. Once engorged with blood, it swells in size. Bed bugs usually feed at night and spend the day hidden. Their flattened shape lets them squeeze into narrow places in bed frames, headboards, bedside furniture, behind pictures and switch plates, behind baseboards, etc. Speckles of dried blood excrement can be found on bedding or places where bed bugs hide. They generally cannot move quickly enough to escape the notice of an attentive observer.

Since I have suffered from bedbug bites I have become quite an attentive observer. One of the best ways to look for bedbugs is with a flashlight since they frequently hide in darker areas so I once again carry my little flashlight in my tote bag and completely inspect my room on every overnight. I was one of the more unlucky victims in that I experienced a skin infection and some scarring from scratching the bites. I also could have been an unwitting carrier since I didn't notice the bites until day 3 of a 4 day trip. Because of this, I was also not completely certain of which hotel had the infestation. No one could believe that I did not wake up with the amount of bites on my arms and legs but bedbugs inject an anticoagulant to keep blood flowing as they suck, along with an anesthetic agent to keep you from feeling them while they are at work.

Although bedbugs are gross and disgusting, their victims generally only suffer from the itchy skin welts caused by these feeding bloodsuckers. In rare cases, anaphylactic shock may occur as an allergic reaction to the substances the bedbugs inject while feeding.

There is lots more information about bedbugs on the web and I encourage you all to find out as much as you can stand. I want to let you all know that there is a system in place for those of us unfortunate enough to be bitten by bedbugs. First and foremost, notify the hotel you are staying in! I have had f/a's put the bedbugs in a ziploc bag and take them to the front desk! This seems excessive but, in retrospect, there was no way the hotel could deny their existence. Do not, under any circumstance, stay in a room where you have found bedbugs! Get yourself and your things out immediately! Get a room as far away from the room as possible since bedbugs can be found in the rooms adjacent to, above and below an infested room. If you have already been bitten, notify your supervisor as you will be seen by the Company Doctor. After that, please file an OF-310, Hotel Form which can be found on the Hub so that Crew Accommodations can follow up with the hotel to insure proper extermination procedures were followed. Also, please file a Safety Event Report (SER).

Jody Compton
Crew Accommodations Chair
jcompton@afausairways.org  724-719-0936

LOCAL COUNCIL MEETING/ MEC MEETING/AFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

There is a Local Council Meeting scheduled for March 17, 2009 from 11am-2pm. Included in the agenda will be discussion of the Agenda Items to be considered at the AFA Board of Director's Meeting in Milwaukee on March 31, 2009-April 2, 2009. There will also be an MEC Meeting being held in conjunction with the Board of Directors Meeting in Milwaukee on March 29-30, 2009 and April 3, 2009. As always any member in good standing are invited to attend the Local and MEC Meetings. There will be an additional reminder for the Local Council meeting as the date is closer.

In Solidarity,

Rob Wessinger
LEC President
Council 82 / LGA
315-736-3483 OFFICE
315-404-5257 CELL
315-736-7577 FAX
rwessinger@afausairways.org
 

Rob Wessinger
LEC President
Council 82-LGA
Association of Flight Attendants - AFL-CIO