4.23.21 – APFA LGA Base Brief- April 23, 2021

Friday, April 23, 2021

Employee Parking Lot P10 LGA Airport

We returned to the employee parking lot on April 21st. I received feedback from Flight Attendants about the amount of time it takes to get to terminal B after leaving the employee lot. Here is where we are: We have two dedicated buses to Terminal B with no other stops. These two buses are smaller buses like the typical hotel-size buses. The other two buses also go to Terminal B and stop at Terminals C & D. All the buses must circle past Terminal C & D because the roadway that loops around straight into terminal B is closed due to construction. As of mid-May, we will have four buses that go straight to Terminal B. If you want to ride to the terminal in less time without stopping, you can take the smaller bus that runs every 15 minutes and should not take longer than 15-20 minutes to get to the terminal. I discussed this with the Company today in detail, and I am monitoring the addition of the two extra buses giving us four buses. The construction at the airport is what everyone must deal with, including the traveling public. I advised the Company that the additional two buses cannot be delayed past mid-May due to hot weather conditions. If you have any issues or concerns moving forward on the employee shuttle bus, please email or call me directly. Posting your issue on social media will not resolve it faster. First, report it to me, please.

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PBS Misawards

Once you even suspect you may have a misaward with PBS, you should fill out a PBS Award Challenge Report on Crew Portal > Links > Support Tab. This must be done by tomorrow, Saturday, April 24th, at noon CT. You don’t need to be entirely sure; if you even suspect it, fill out the form.

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New York Flying

Today, I had the opportunity to sit with management and be a part of a meaningful briefing about our new routes, including Tel Aviv. I need to have these opportunities to better understand and provide feedback to the Company about details in their plans and provide feedback that allows us to have as many tools as possible to do our jobs on board. Mike Mackanna and Sr. Base Manager Shelly-Ann Smith were very receptive and are well on their way to ensure the success of these routes. I expressed my commitment to participate whenever necessary to provide information and feedback directly from the Flight Attendants. In May, we begin non-stop service to three cities in Colombia: Medellin, Bogota, and Cali. On May 6th, we begin our inaugural flight from New York to Tel Aviv, followed by Athens, Greece in June, and Delhi, India, in October. These new routes present an opportunity for our base to grow permanently. With these new routes come some challenges simply by handling each market with individuality. Security, customer needs, and cultural diversity were all discussed.

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Tablets Generating Meetings

The tablets the Company provided us when moving from paper manuals to paperless have presented us with challenges. This comes with many challenges, including battery levels, lagging uploads, and many more. The Company, however, does not hesitate to call us in and expects us to come in to discuss what I consider issues that can be handled more efficiently, given the state of these tablets. If you get a call from your manager to discuss anything related to your tablet, please understand that we do not elect representatives for you, nor do we initiate the scheduling of meetings. You reserve the right to have Union representation whenever you feel you need it, and we encourage always using it. Email is the best way to send us this request to begin communication with the Company remotely if necessary. I want to be clear- once we have initiated contact with the Company, we work collaboratively with our schedules. Before you respond to your FSM about a meeting, always check with your Union rep to ensure you protect your contractual rights.

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Early Boarding

I continue to get reports of agents trying to board early. Agents are colleagues of ours, and we are here to all work as a team. We have a contract that has taken our Union history to keep and get to this point. Boarding early or doing an agent a favor of boarding early creates a more significant issue when that courtesy violates our JCBA. Use your discretion but remember that we currently have an early boarding arbitration. It is a safety issue when agents line up customers on the jet bridge to expedite boarding. These bridges are not meant to withstand weight during high winds or storms. Each Flight Attendant should report all infractions via email: [email protected].

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Pending Cancellations

I keep hearing from many of you that the Company cancels a route or segment due to COVID in reservations, a letter of agreement pay protects you and allows you to double-dip, but some of the pairings are not removed, leaving you out of continuous TTS runs, the only way to double-dip. I am working with our JCBA specialist to address this. Keep in mind that the most important thing to remember is NOT to pick up any double-dip time from anywhere other than TTS during the entire footprint of the protected pairing. An ETB transaction will forfeit pay protection for COVID cancellations.

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APFA Website

Our Union is putting a great deal of effort into improving the website. Everything we need is on the website. If you are not familiar with the website, please log on, make sure you have a password, and familiarize yourself with all the resources it offers. It actually may be the only place to get an answer when things get crazy and all the reps are busy. I understand the age of instant gratification we live in, but once you get familiar with the website, you may get that same return. www.apfa.org

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I intended on sending a long base brief, as I have so much more to share. However, I will slowly roll these out with more information.

Penelope and I are working very closely and diligently to bring this base to the top. We cannot do this without your communication, support, and even critique when we fall short somewhere. I get social media, understand the ease and comfort it brings, but when your contract is at stake, a quick email, text, or voice message can truly put a return to your Union dollar.

I am grateful and proud to have the opportunity to serve New York-LGA.

Please Fly & Stay Safe.

Christian M. Santana
APFA LGA Base President 
[email protected]
(347) 546-0703

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