11.02.20 – APFA PHL Base Brief – Fall Board of Directors Meeting Recap

Monday, November 2, 2020

APFA Fall Board of Directors Meeting Recap

Tracey and I spent last week in DFW at the annual Fall Board of Director’s meeting. Section Four of the APFA Policy Manual outlines all of the requirements for Board of Directors (BOD) and Executive Committee (EC) meetings, including information on the Fall BOD meeting, which includes a required training day. The meeting was held with adherence to all Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 guidelines and was open to members per policy.

We started with our required training day. The training this year was designed to provide education and information on all the tools we need to assist our Flight Attendants with day-to-day issues and questions. We attended one hour presentations on PBS, TTS, ROTA and ROTA-D, System Board of Adjustment (SBA), Health and IOD, Retirement, and Bankruptcy.

The meeting was called to order on Tuesday, and we moved through the agenda quite quickly. Below are some department report highlights that I would like to share before the release of the official meeting minutes:

Safety and Security Department:

• Training center canceling all non-essential training through November 3rd due to several instructors testing positive for COVID-19. This caused considerable disruption to hundreds of Flight Attendants who had training, whether CQ or required equipment qualification training. We were advised that the Training Department reached out to all the affected Flight Attendants to reschedule.
• ASAP reports- there is no longer a time limit on when you can file an ASAP.
• The 737 MAX is scheduled to return by the end of the year.
• Mask compliance is still a big issue; please continue to file CERS reports.

 

Health and Injury on Duty Departments:

• The ARC is currently two weeks behind in processing FMLA applications and about one week behind processing Pandemic Leave applications.
• COVID-19 cases are starting to increase. If you receive a notification of positive exposure and are required to quarantine, please file for an IOD as well. We also request you fill out the COVID-19 Report Form on the APFA website; this is the only way APFA can track cases, as the company is not providing us any data.
• Pandemic leave codes: 13 is the code used when exposed by a passenger or crew member; a DR code is used upon application for the pandemic leave for exposure outside of work or a positive COVID-19 test.

 

Hotel Department:

• Hotel site inspections slowed down during the early months of the pandemic but have now started to play catch up, and many layover cities are currently under review.
• Please continue to fill out the Hotel and Transportation Feedback Form for hotel and transportation issues.
• For a complete list of cities under review, you may visit the hotel page on the APFA website.

 

Employee Assistance Program (EAP):

• This continues to be a very stressful time, and EAP calls are at an all-time high.
• Base reps are volunteering their time to assist our Flight Attendants.
• FAIR (Flight Attendants in Recovery) Program launched in eight crew bases this year. This started with in-person meetings at the bases, and has now moved to a virtual platform.

 

Government Affairs:

• An extension of the Payroll Support Program (PSP) has been the focus over the last several months. APFA has partnered with other Flight Attendant Unions to take on this battle to extend the PSP.
• The PSP was proposed as an attachment to the COVID-19 stimulus package and a standalone bill, both of which were blocked.
• APFA will continue to advocate with other Unions to get the PSP passed and our furloughed Flight Attendants back on the property as quickly as possible.