LEC MEETING:
We will have a local council meeting on Wednesday, March 4th at 10:00a at the Ramada PHL Airport. The hotel is located just off I-95 at 76 Industrial Highway, Essington, PA 19029. Complimentary van service to/from PHL Airport is provided. Go to Zone 4, outside of baggage claim, to be picked up. We will send out a Meeting Agenda as soon as the agenda is confirmed. Topics of discussion at this meeting will be:

• Negotiations update
• Scheduling issues
• Local PHL issues
• recent changes in FMLA
• AFA Board of Directors Agenda Items
• New and Old Business

INTERNATIONAL CANCELLATIONS:
Over the past month, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of international flight cancellations. When a flight attendant is notified of their flight cancellation, they may receive different information regarding a possible claim, depending on the scheduler they talk to. Keep in mind that schedulers do not work in claims, so let’s try and clear this up:

If you are called by scheduling and notified that your flight to an international destination is cancelled, you are pay-protected for the value of that trip because you can’t split back on and there is always a crew in Europe that will now have to work your originally scheduled flight back. Wait until the trip is completed and file a claim. If you are a reserve and the international trip was an ETB trip, you are pay protected for the value of your trip above your guarantee. If the trip is not an ETB trip, you are pay protected up to the point that scheduling utilizes you, if they do. If you are a blockholder, don’t go back on the bid sheet or you will reduce, or possibly eliminate, your claim. There is no ‘double-dipping.’ If you are a blockholder and you are in Europe, if the cancellation causes you to miss your next trip or trips, you are pay protected for the ‘originally scheduled value’ of that trip or trips. If you are in Europe and you don’t have a trip for the next day but you are on the bid sheet and you have been processed (awarded a trip), you will be pay protected for that trip. If you have not been processed (not awarded a trip), there is no pay protection because you have no trip and the company is not going to award you a trip they know you can’t originate.

For those that have trips back-to-back, let’s look at the most common occurrence:

A flight attendant is scheduled to work MUC back-to-back on Mon/Tue/Wed and again on Thu/Fri/Sat. This trip pays 17+40 therefore; both trips combined will pay 35+20. On Wednesday, the crew is notified that their flight back to PHL has cancelled and they will return on Thursday, which means they will be illegal for their Thu/Fri/Sat trip. When the crew return to PHL, the 1/3.5 claim (Option 23 in CATCREW) will show, as an example, that this trip has now paid 20+00. Therefore, the claim for the trip missed will be 15+20, NOT 17+40. 20+00 plus 15+20 = 35+20 (the originally scheduled value). You are guaranteed what you were ‘originally scheduled’ to receive.

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT CONTRACT:
If you do not have a copy of your current contract, we ask, again, that you please go to the Crew Service Center Desk in either crewroom and pick up a copy of YOUR contract and do two things:
1) Read it
2) Carry it with you on your trips

It is imperative that you know at least the basics of your working agreement. When you are on a trip, you should not rely on schedulers, pilots or the union to calculate for you your duty time limitations. You need to calculate this yourself. If you can’t, you need to learn how. I can tell you for a fact that wrong information has been given in the past. One person in systems once tried to tell me that the duty time for NTI (Non-Transoceanic International) pairings “depends on what city they are flying to.” Hardly!

Once you know that Domestic and NTI pairings have a duty time limitation of up to 15 hours and International pairings have a duty time limitation of up to 16 hours, the next step is to accurately calculate that 15 or 16 hour duty time period.

For a domestic pairing, your duty day begins one hour before scheduled departure and for NTI and International pairings, it is 1+30 prior to scheduled departure.

Examples:
Your DOMESTIC trip checks in at 0600 for a 0700 departure. Therefore, your 15 hour duty day will end at 2100 and since there is a +15 minute debriefing period, you must be at the gate (block in) by 2045.

Your NTI trip checks in at 0730 for a 0900 departure to SXM. Therefore, your 15 hour duty day will end at 2230 and since there is a +30 minute debriefing period, you must be at the gate (block in) by 2200.

Your INTERNATIONAL trip checks in at 1945 for a 2115 departure to DUB. Therefore, your 16 hour duty day will end at 1145 the next morning (all times Eastern) and since there is a +30 minute debriefing period, you must be at the gate (block in) in DUB by 1115. Now, if the block time is 6+40, then go back 6+40 from 1115 and this takes you to: 0435, the time you MUST be pushing back from the gate in PHL and if you are not, you are ILLEGAL to continue on this trip.

Using the above DUB example, with an illegal time of 0435, let me share with you two very important issues you need to be aware of:

1) If you push back at 0434 (one minute before going illegal) and sit on the ramp, the de-icing pad or the taxi-way for an hour, or two, you are STILL LEGAL to complete this trip. While the captain has sole discretion to return to the gate if he/she feels the crew is too fatigued to continue a safe operation, it is NOT required that he/she do this.
2) If scheduling/systems calls you and tells you that they are going to call out another crew, you may be required to remain at the airport until the replacement crew arrives. Keep in mind that just because you are illegal to continue the trip, you are still available for up to 16 hours. Using the example above, if you are still at the gate at 0435, you will be illegal to work this flight, but you are not illegal to wait for the replacement crew.

CRM and YOUR CONTRACT:
We all know about Crew Resource Management and its importance and I believe we all want to work a trip in which the pilots and flight attendants work well together to make each trip safe and enjoyable.

However, there have been some recent incidents that I found disturbing and I had no choice but to make the company take corrective action. So, let me be very clear on these issues:

1) There was a situation that escalated over, of all things, crew meals. On the return leg home, the captain informed the A and D flight attendants that they could not work those positions and that they would have to work in the back. You have a contractual right to work a position based on your PRI bid award or seniority. NOBODY has the authority to take that away from you. If this situation happens again, inform the person telling you that you WILL work your position.
2) Another situation had the crew arriving to their airplane only to discover that there would be a lengthy mechanical delay of several hours. When it became apparent that this delay would possibly go beyond the time the flight attendants went illegal, the captain asked all six flight attendants if they would be willing to go beyond their 16-hour duty day. Five said no and one said yes. Okay, just a quick note here: if you are willing to violate the contractual terms of your duty day, please don’t call us and ask us to uphold another section of the contract. You’re on your own kid. The bottom line in this situation is that, here again, you need to know when you go illegal and you can’t rely on someone else to tell you, especially someone who doesn’t care or know YOUR contract.

LOD/Os and 21M positions - file your claim:
If you are a LOD/O, please make sure to file your own claim if you are on a NTI pairing because your pairing number is different than that of the other flight attendants. Don’t reply on someone else to file your claim. Also, if you are flying the extra position on the A321, again, file your claim and don’t rely on someone else.

A330-200s:
To date, the A330-200s are still on schedule for delivery over the next three years. We will receive our first A330-200 in May and the second in June. Both of these aircraft will be dedicated to the Tel Aviv (TLV) service. After those two, we will receive three more this year, in September, November and December. In 2010, we will receive seven and in 2011, the final three.

Some of you have called regarding training for this aircraft. As of now, training will be done via home study workbook.

DUES/CHANGE OF ADDRESS:
If you take the VPLOA, you can make your AFA dues payment online. If you need to update your address, you can do this online as well. Just go to: www.afanet.org and click on the appropriate link in the left-hand column.

Keep in mind that if you are on either the 3- or 8-month leave, you are responsible for the first three months of dues.

WHO TO CALL? 215-492-0840
If you need to contact one of us in the AFA office, PLEASE make sure that you call the office number first, not our cell phones. While I appreciate the fact that many of you want me to handle your issue and/or concern, one person cannot do this on behalf of 2,000. That’s why you elect more than one person every three years and we have a staff in the office to assist you. If you are calling Monday-Friday, 9a-5p, call 215-492-0840. If you have an emergency after hours or on the weekend, by all means, call one of us on our cell phone.

Our information can be found at: http://www.afausairways.org/phl.htm 

We also have a team of dedicated flight attendants that serve on various committees and they are happy to assist you as well. If you have a safety concern or issue, call a member of the safety committee. If you have a uniform concern or issue, call a member of the uniform committee. These flight attendants dedicate their time to their committees for little or, in most cases, no compensation. If you see them on the line or in the crew room, take a moment to thank them for their service to Council 70.
Their information can be found at: http://www.afausairways.org/PHL/phlcom.html

NEW OFFICE ADDRESS:
We are adjacent to the employee parking lot and recently moved down the hall to the space formally occupied by the US Airways/Clearview Federal Credit Union. Our phone and fax numbers are the same, only our office suite number has changed. If you have a moment, stop by and say hello. We are open Monday - Friday, 9a - 5p.

Association of Flight Attendants - CWA
Suite 104
3751 Island Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19153
Phone: 215-492-0840
Fax: 215-492-0842
Email: Council70@afausairways.org

In Regards,