|
Dear fellow Council 82
Flight
Attendants,
RELOCATION REQUEST FORM DEADLINE REMINDER
With the Thanksgiving Holiday upon us I just want to remind everyone
of the
November 27, 2009 deadline to submit requests for your new domicile
due to the base closure. Please DO NOT FORGET the Friday after
Thanksgiving is the deadline. The form specifically notes the close
of business on Nov. 27. I requested clarification and was advised by
Rick Carpenter that he would consider the close of business MST
which will allow a couple extra hours. Please be reminded if
Inflight Administration does not receive a request by the deadline
you will be assigned to a domicile by the Company.
The FAX number is as follows: 480-693-1975
***********************************************************
AFA/NYS RAPID RESPONSE MEETING SLATED FOR DEC. 3, 2009
Location: LGA Airport Group Room (Between Gates 3-4) USAirways
Express Terminal
*** Tentative Location (waiting confirmation on the room)
Date/Time: December 3, 2009 9:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Morning session 10:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m.
Afternoon session 2:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Representatives will be on hand throughout the day to answer
specific questions as well. If you cannot stay for an entire one
hour presentation we urge you to come and ask questions at any point
throughout the day.
As many of you may have heard through me or your colleagues, I have
arranged a meeting with the NYS Department of Labor. The meeting
will provide everyone with additional information regarding all of
your options resulting in the recent announcement of the LGA base
closure. This meeting comes to us after weeks of planning. My
contact with the NYS Department of Labor has been extremely gracious
in all of our discussions and was sympathetic to our situation. She
has coordinated the efforts of many different departments within NY
State who will be on hand to deliver a presentation through morning
and afternoon sessions. The group of presenters will be on hand
throughout the entire day to answer any specific questions you may
have. I have briefed the team on various questions that may arise
during this meeting so they would be better prepared to tailor their
meeting accordingly. Representatives in attendance will be able to
address subjects such as Unemployment Insurance, Health Care options
inclusive of COBRA and HCTC, PBGC Pension, Work Force Retraining
programs etc. Also on hand will be our AFA Benefits Chairperson to
assist.
All flight attendants, pilots, other airline employees based out of
LGA (Piedmont, Colgan Air etc.) who face elimination or displacement
of their positions are welcome to attend. Please spread the word. It
is always a little easier when we face these situations together in
UNITY.
*********************************************************
LGA PARKING FOR COMMUTING FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
I have been in discussions with John O'Brien regarding future
parking arrangements in the LGA Airport. John has advised me that
the fee would be $ 85.00 per month. I believe this was very
unreasonable and would create a tremendous burden on each and every
flight attendant who is forced to commute.
Working together with the USAPA LGA Chairman we have now negotiated
parking at the rate of $ 600.00 annually. The only downside to this
negotiated rate would be the annual lump sum payment arrangement.
Every flight attendant would be required to make these arrangements
directly with the Port Authority Parking office located in the
Central Terminal on the 3rd Floor, Room 3575. You will be required
to show your Airline ID as this is a special rate for flight
attendants and pilots. You will be allowed to
register (two) different vehicles on each permit however you will
only be allowed to park one vehicle in the lot at any given time.
I further investigated into a scenario where a flight attendant may
find themselves on an occupational injury, medical leave etc which
would continue for a period of time. I have been advised that you
may submit a special request that would potentially extend your
parking privileges however, each case would be handled on a case by
case basis. This would not apply to short term leaves, vacations or
other similar situations.
Just as a reminder if you choose to make your arrangements through
US Airways and your Inflight Department you will charged at the rate
of $ 85.00 per month on a monthly basis thus increasing the annual
fees by $ 420.00 totaling $ 1020.00. The decision is totally up to
each flight attendant as to how they wish to secure this benefit.
If you have any questions please contact me at the numbers listed
below.
*****************************************************
DISTRIBUTION OF TIME
I have continuously requested more definitive information in order
to provide every LGA flight attendant with the necessary tools to
make their decisions on their future domicile. With the completion
of the 2010 marketing plan the information below is representative
of a general optimization plan which is the most accurate
information available to us at this point in time. Although a final
schedule optimization is run prior to the bids each month that may
have some effect on the allocation of time, for the purpose of
planning ahead the numbers below should provide a somewhat accurate
assessment of the distribution of time. Previously I was advised
through the company and the MEC Office that it would be a fair
assessment to assume the distribution of time was directly
correlated with the 153 openings in PHL, 40 openings in DCA and 1
opening in CLT. As I had advised many of you who contacted me with
these questions, I was simply not in agreement with that assumption.
I believe it is quite evident that assumption was vastly inaccurate.
LGA Base: Current flight hours will be distributed as follows:
- 8% to DCA
- 92% to CLT
BOS Base: Current flight hours will be distributed as follows:
- 21% to PHL
- 18% to DCA
- 61% to CLT
As you can clearly see the CLT base is the recipient of the lion's
share of the time that will be leaving LGA and BOS. It is important
to keep in mind this is only the LGA/BOS time and does not in any
way reflect the percentage of time as well as staffing levels
currently in the other bases. This simply reflects the time that
will be market driven from the two Northeast bases that will be
closing. It would be apparent when the company opened 1 slot in CLT
with the majority of the time going to CLT there may be a current
excess of staffing in that base.
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
|
|
