12.29.20 – APFA LGA Base Brief – Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Return of Furloughed Flight Attendants

We are still glowing with the news of the recall of all furloughed Flight Attendants. For those of you anticipating a recall notice, be sure your contact information is current. The Company has created guides and other documents with important information for those returning. These resources are available on Jetnet. Since the reinstatement is retroactive to December 1st, health care and other benefits will be reactivated, and there will be a window within which to make elections. Stay on top of enrollment deadlines so you can take advantage of all of your benefits.

Reserve
Reserve continues to be a hot topic. The numbers have cut deeper into our seniority list than ever before. Crew Manning requirements, as well as PBS award logic, conspired in such a way that many of you had Coverage Needed (CN) days at the beginning of the month. The first few days of any month are always tricky for reserve coverage, but add to the mix the New Year’s holiday, and it becomes a perfect storm for coverage issues.

The best way to handle Reserve is to arm yourself with knowledge. The guides and videos on Crew Change continue to be a great resource, as well as the ROTA (future processing) and ROTD (daily processing) guides on APFA.org. Please review them. While the ROTA system offers transparency and the ability to bid for desired trips and RAPS, at the end of the day, Reserve is still Reserve. When the phone rings, we must pick it up.

We have been in contact with LGA Flight Service Management regarding reserve classes at the base. Once we have a timeline for February bidding, we anticipate scheduling reserve classes during January. We are encouraging management to schedule the classes toward the beginning of the PBS bidding window. This will allow those in need of assistance for February bidding to have ample time to attend class and input bids.

Reserve reminders:

1. Reserve numbers are high partially because the Company anticipates a lot of sick calls. While we have sick time to use when we need it, avoiding inconvenient or undesirable trips are not acceptable reasons to call in sick. Calling in sick on Reserve drives the list up even higher next month, which increases how much longer you will be on Reserve. When you call in sick last minute because you received an undesirable Reserve assignment, you aren’t sticking it to the Company, you are shifting responsibility to a fellow Flight Attendant.
2. VEX and Reserve days off: If you have vacation and will be serving Reserve, be mindful of how VEX days impact your PBS award. VEX days are days off that are automatically factored into the legal patterns available to you as your days off are awarded. As you input your bids, take time to ensure that what you are bidding creates a legal pattern.
3. Standby clicks: when you are assigned a standby assignment, whether in ROTA Future or ROTA Daily processing, you accumulate a click. Once you have two standby clicks, ROTA cannot assign you a third standby unless and until all other legal and available Flight Attendants have at least two clicks. Remember that having no clicks or one click is considered equal.
4. ROTA Future Processing: for the purposes of assigning trips and awarding Remain on Call (ROC), the system only considers the number of trips in Open Time when deciding whether to award ROC. After awarding ROC, the system will then look to see how many open Standby shifts remain and then assign those in reverse seniority order. At this step, it will not go back and read any backup Standby bids you may have input after your ROC bid.
5. Acknowledging Reserve Assignments: you can electronically acknowledge a reserve assignment via CCI or Crew Portal. Be aware that by clicking “Next” on the notification in mobileCCI, you are acknowledging your assignment. In Crew Portal, you do so by clicking on the “Acknowledge” button. It’s never a bad idea to take a screenshot of a reserve assignment before acknowledging it.
6. RAP: while you are required to check for any assignment at the start of your RAP (with the exception of RAP A), you don’t have to acknowledge an assignment until then. LGA is a co-terminal base, and the minimum call out time is three hours. Crew Schedule can assign you a trip or standby anytime within your RAP. By not acknowledging your assignment until the start of your RAP, you are ensuring you won’t have a report time until at least three hours after the start of your RAP.

 

Courtesy Transportation
We encourage you to continue to use the Courtesy Transportation provided by the Company. We have a commitment from management to provide transportation through March. Please keep up the pressure to extend the service beyond the current commitment. Send your emails to Base Manager Shelly Ann Smith-Benjamin and Regional Director Sam Maher.

Transportation Expenses
JCBA 6.C.4 states: At a crew base, a Flight Attendant will be allowed actual transportation charges substantiated by receipts if the flight on which she/he is assigned terminates between 2300 and 0600 as a result of late operation.

If you arrive late (by even one minute) and it’s after 2300, but before 0600, you can submit expense reimbursement for your travel home, be it Uber, taxi, or otherwise.

Positive Space Commuting
American will be providing round-trip, positive space travel from your commuter city to your base now through January 3rd, 2021, on a case-by-case basis. During regular hours, please contact the LGA base Crew Service Center at 718-476-4320 for booking. You must call at least 24 hours before departure of the flight on which you would like to travel. Please review the APFA hotline dated December 25th, 2020, for more information.

COVID-19 Exposure & Pandemic Leave
When the Company becomes aware of positive exposure on a flight, Daily Ops will contact the affected crew by phone. The Company addresses these on a case-by-case basis regarding offering leave. If you feel you need time off to get tested, don’t hesitate to ask for it. Be aware that we have received reports of Daily Ops contacting Flight Attendants mid-sequence and not allowing deadhead travel back to base until the end of a quarantine period.

The COVID-19 Process Checklist was communicated via APFA Hotline on December 21st, 2020. Please review the information in that hotline in the event you have COVID-19 symptoms or if you have been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19.

Newark Parking
We know the process for obtaining a hang tag for parking at EWR is onerous. We are looking at how we can convince Port Authority to streamline and make this process easier. Please document your experiences with the Newark parking office in an email to us. We also encourage you to share these experiences with your FSM and base management.

Social Media
Facebook is a valuable tool for giving and receiving information. We cannot, however, actively monitor social media. If you need assistance, please reach out to your local APFA representatives via official channels, either by phone or email for the quickest response. If you think you have been misawarded or the Company has done something to violate the contract, fill out the appropriate forms under the Support Tab on Crew Portal. If you are unsatisfied with the response from the admins of the system in question, please use the misaward forms at APFA.org so the appropriate department can investigate. The various department chairs get those reports, research them, and follow up. You always have the right to call crew schedule to challenge an action taken by them.

Unity
We are all APFA. Our strength is in our unity and in the activism of each of our members. The two of us alone can’t effect change. Management responds when we collectively raise our voices and when they know that you have our backs.

As we pause and reflect on one of the darkest years in our Company’s history, we are optimistic as we head into 2021. We are hopeful that we will soon be turning the page on this devastating pandemic.

We are fortunate to work for a Company and be members of a Union where diversity and inclusion are celebrated. In that spirit, to those celebrating Kwanzaa, we want to wish you light, happiness and peace in the coming year.

Happy New Year!!

In Solidarity,

Robert Norvell
APFA LGA Base President
[email protected]
(718) 350-6023

Penelope King
APFA LGA Base Vice President
[email protected]
(718) 350-7043