In this Issue...
-
COUNCIL 70 ELECTIONS
- TRANSATLANTIC
SEASON TO START EARLIER
- SPEAKING OF
INTERNATIONAL
- WEIGHT RESTRICTION
FOR WEST JUMPSEATS TO BE ELIMINATED
- EQUIPMENT
SUBSTITUTION
- WHERE'S DOUG?
- LOCAL COUNCIL
CONTACT NUMBERS
COUNCIL 70
ELECTIONS:
Election nomination ballots were mailed to
all Council 70 members on Jan. 28th. The
nomination ballots will need to be returned
to the AFA national office and postmarked no
later than Feb. 19th. If you did not receive
a nomination ballot, you can call the local
office at 215-300-4742. The count date will
be on Feb. 29th.
The election ballots will be mailed to all
Council 70 members on March 27th. You will
be able to vote either by internet or
telephone beginning on April 3rd. Polls will
close on April 24th and results will be
announced that day.
As a reminder, you must be in good standing
with your dues in order for your vote to
count. For further information, go to:
http://www.afanet.org/elections/
TRANSATLANTIC
SEASON TO START EARLIER:
This year, US Airways will start our
seasonal service earlier than in past years.
Rather than wait until May/June, the company
will start the seasonal service in
April/May. As I mentioned in a previous
E-Line, our new service to London's Heathrow
airport will start on March 29th and this
will be year-round service.
Here are the destinations and start dates
from PHL for seasonal service:
LHR - March 29th
BCN - April 08th
VCE - April 09th
ATH - May 04th
FRA - May 04th (late FRA on the B767)
SNN - May 13th
LIS - May 14th
GLA - May 15th
ARN - May 17th
SPEAKING OF INTERNATIONAL:
I have continued to make the company aware
of unacceptable wait times for crew members
arriving from LGW and MAN, based on your
calls to the local office. The company has
made the necessary changes and bags are now
arriving, on average, 12 minutes after block
in. However, if you continue to experience
long wait times, please notify the local
office and the Crew Service Center at
A-West. 610-362-1700
Also, if you have to wait longer than 30
minutes, call crew scheduling to have your
off-duty time adjusted. For example, you
arrive on time from MAN at 1405. You off
duty time will be 1435 (30-minute debrief).
However, if you have to wait until 1455 for
your bags, call crew scheduling to have your
off-duty time adjusted to 1455.
WEIGHT RESTRICTION FOR WEST JUMPSEATS TO
BE ELIMINATED:
Finally! Effective March 1st, 2008, US
Airways will eliminate the jumpseat
weight-restriction policy currently in force
for west-metal flights to match the east
policy, where we have no weight-restriction
on our jumpseats. A CBS message will be sent
to your crew mail. PLEASE PRINT THIS CBS
MESSAGE and carry it with you. All other
jumpseat procedures will remain in force.
For policies and procedures of East and West
jumpseats, continue to refer to:
http://www.afausairways.org/Eline/feb28_06.htm
EQUIPMENT
SUBSTITUTION:
We continue to receive calls at the local
office regarding crews being downsized to
the E-190. Please review the following
information, originally published in our
November 30th E-Line. Recently, we had a PHL
crew that downsized from the A319 to the
E190. The senior f/a was told by scheduling
that she would still have to work even
though we all know the E190 is staffed by
two flight attendants. Why did she have to
go? According to 9-25 of our contract, the
flight attendant compliment will depend on
the number of jumpseats available. In this
situation, the E190 has three jumpseats
therefore, she had to work. If you are on
the A330 to SJU and it downsizes to the
A319, then five flight attendants will have
to work because there are five jumpseats.
Refer to your contract: Section 9-25.
WHERE'S DOUG?
In December, I extended an invitation to
Doug Parker to come to PHL to have a flight
attendant only 'crew news' session here. To
date, I'm told that the company wants to
continue to hold the crew news sessions in
CLT and PHX, as they currently do. We've got
the biggest base on the East, with over
2,000 flight attendants, 21 international
destinations this summer; etc., so there are
numerous issues/problems associated with
PHL, as we all know. If you see Doug, tell
him to take me up on my invitation. |
