11.04.21 – APFA MIA Base Brief – December 2021 Allocations

Thursday, November 4, 2021

December 2021 Staffing and Allocations

All,

I want to start by welcoming back the last group of displaced Flight Attendants who will report back to Miami on January 1, 2022. As we continue to add flights, we are hopeful this will pave the way for the new hire classes to be assigned to Miami in the upcoming months.

December will look a lot different than previous years. Traditionally, the second half of the month is bottom-heavy. This December,  the variance will only be about 1%. Flying will increase starting on December 17. It will then taper off after December 23. We can expect a reduced schedule over Christmas before picking back up after December 27 and reducing again on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Commuters can expect a limited number of flights on Christmas day, so you will need to plan if you plan to commute that day.

The Reserve percentage for December will be 26.3%, with a requirement of 719 Reserve Flight Attendants. This is an 11.7% increase from November and a 6% increase from December of 2019. After the fallout over the Halloween weekend, the Company is overcompensating to avoid a repeat over the Christmas holiday. Christmas Eve falls on a Friday, which further compounds the staffing concerns leading up to that weekend.

December will have 153,208 total block hours. This is a 4.1% decrease from last month and a 28.7% decrease from pre-COVID levels in December 2019. We can expect our headcount and block hours to increase as we approach the summer months. The Company is experiencing strong demand in bookings for South America, particularly in Brazil. They are committed to growing the Deep South markets. Florida continues to see strong demand in the leisure markets. This demand is good news for our base.

The overall duty day has been shortened system-wide up to two hours, pending on the length of the trip. This adjustment for Miami has resulted in:

• 1-Days: 5% decrease
• 2-Days: 4% decrease
• 3-Days: 9% increase

 

We will continue to monitor these reductions and how they impact our flying.

• MVD will resume service on December 17 and operates on a 787 twice weekly with a 13.59-hour layover.
• GIG will operate a daily 787 service with a 40-hour layover.
• EZE will operate a daily 787 service with layovers ranging from 35-38 hours.
• GRU will operate two daily flights split between the 787 and 777-300. The layover will vary from 17-38 hours.
• BCN, CDG, and MAD will operate daily service on the 777-200.
• LHR will operate daily on the 777-300.
• TLV will continue to have a similar operational pattern.
• UIO, GYE, and HAV will operate daily turns on the 787.
• LAX, DFW, JFK, and BOS will operate daily turns on both the 787, 777-200, and 777-300.

 

The critical period for November will begin on Wednesday, November 24 and will end on Sunday, November 28. In December, the critical period starts on December 22 and ends on January 3. You will be eligible to earn a banked attendance point for any trip flown that touches the critical period, provided you have no planned absences during that period. Additionally, you will not be able to apply a banked point to any chargeable absence incurred during the critical periods.

Here are the staffing numbers and trip composition numbers:

Total block hours for December 2021: 153,208

• MIA: 140,698
• FLL: 5,556
• PBI:  2,665
• MCO: 2,499
• ATL: 1,790

 

In Solidarity,

Randy Trautman
APFA MIA Base President
[email protected]

Heidi Morgan
APFA MIA Base Vice President
[email protected]