2.03.24 – APFA MIA Base Brief – March 2024 Staffing and Allocations

March 2024 MIA Staffing and Allocations

Saturday, February 3, 2024

All,

The contractual month of March 2024 begins on March 2nd and ends on March 31st. The March schedule change is March 5th. Daylight Savings change is March 10th.

The Reserve numbers and percentage is disappointing considering that MIA has a consistently low absence rate compared to the system.

Domestic and NIPD wide-body flying have been reduced again. There are CLT and JFK turns and two LAX trips, one 1-1 all-nighter and one 3-day 1-1-2. There is no NIPD wide-body flying.

On the IPD front, the 777-300 will operate LHR AND GRU. CDG, LHR, GIG and GRU will operate on the 777-200. The 787 will be utilized on MAD, BCN, EZE, and MVD. Seasonal MVD and CDG will be paused after March.

GRU will operate a daily 777-300 with a 16.10-hour layover, and a daily 777-200 with a 35.30-hour layover. CDG will operate a daily 777-200 through March 29th. Service will then be suspended through the summer and is scheduled to return daily on October 25th. MVD will operate on Wednesdays and Fridays with a 59.40-hour layover, and Sundays with an 83.40-hour layover. Service will then be suspended after March 29th and is scheduled to resume on October 27th.

LHR will continue to operate two daily departures on both the 777-300 and 777-200. MAD and BCN will operate daily on the 787-9 series. GIG will operate daily on the 777-200.  EZE will operate daily on the 787-9 series.

The block hours for March are MIA 197,134. Hours for ATL are 1910, FLL 6072, MCO 2584, and PBI 3982.

Turn-arounds

• CUN, MEX, HAV, SJU, BGI, PUJ, SJO, SDQ, UVF, STT, GND, SXM, SKB, SVD, PTP, POS, FDF, SJO, AUA, PAP, CUR, SAP, SAL, CTG, XPL, STT, GUA, MDE, POP, CZM, DCA, SLC, LAX, STL, RDU, PTY, DEN, ATL, EGE, YYZ, IND, and BNA.

ODANs

• TPA, MSY, BNA, MCO, and CHS.

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2024-2025 Vacation Bidding

The Primary Round of Vacation Bidding opened January 29 at 1200 pm (CT). The Primary Round of Vacation Bidding will close on Wednesday, February 28 at 1200 pm (CT). Primary Round awards will be posted no later than Tuesday, March 5 at 1200 pm (CT).

Please note: Your 2024-2025 Annual Vacation Primary and Secondary Vacation Awards/Assignments are based on your crew base of record as of January 1, 2024.

To bid for vacation, go to the Crew Portal. Once logged in, click on:

• Monthly Bids > Vacation > Annual > Bidding Ballots

Click Here for the APFA Vacation Bidding Basics

Vacation is accrued monthly in the calendar year: January 1 through December 31. For the 2024-2025 vacation bidding cycle, Flight Attendants will bid for vacation days accrued during the 2023 calendar year. The number of vacation days you accrue is contractual, based on your years of active service.

Vacation pay is a daily rate based on the number of vacation days in a block:

• ≤ 6 days are paid and credited 3.5 hours per day
• ≥ 7 consecutive days are paid and credited 4.0 hours per day

Vacation pay is also based on your longevity when your vacation is taken. You can maximize the value of your vacation days by bidding for a period after your annual pay rate increase.

Your annual accrual will show on the AVBA summary page via Crew Portal > Monthly Bids > Vacation > Annual > Summary. 

You may view your 2023 accrued sick hours and vacation days in Crew Portal by selecting “Last Year SK/VC Accrual – (HISK/L)” under the FOS Screens.

Check the “AAC SK/VC” Column in the HISK to verify if you have accrued sick and vacation for the month.

Read the Vacation Hotline for more information.

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Quarterly Training

The Company has assigned Quarterly Training for this quarter. Part of this training includes qualification for the 321s that we have acquired from Alaska Airlines, to be in service soon.

The deadline is March 11th.

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Fingerprinting Deadline

The deadline to have your fingerprints done is fewer than three weeks away; February 23rd. There is a fingerprinting office in operations, in addition to the one behind the ticket counter.

The hours for fingerprinting are:

• Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8:00 am – 4:15 pm (Closed for Lunch 12 pm – 1 pm)
• Tuesday and Thursday from 6:00 am – 2:15 pm (Closed for Lunch 10 am – 11 am)

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Direct Conflicts/FAR Illegal-Pay Protection
If you become illegal for a trip and have an FAR removal (FI), you are paid for the full value of both sequences. For a Direct Conflict (DC), meaning a sequence overlaps another, the pay for the first trip measures against the second trip.

For example, you have two 10-hour trips back-to-back. You arrive a day later than scheduled from your first trip which makes you FAR Illegal (FI) for the second trip, meaning you have less than 10 hours between trips, and there is no overlap. The first trip is now worth 15 hours. You are pay protected for the full value (10 hours) of the second trip since they did not overlap. The pay value for both trips in this scenario is 25 hours.

In the case of a Direct Conflict (DC), you get in the next day, causing a direct overlap with the second trip. The first trip is now worth 15 hours, the second trip was worth 10 hours. The original scheduled value of both trips added together was 20 hours. You would be owed the difference of five hours in this scenario because of the trips overlapping. So, you are pay protected the original value of both for a total of 20 hours.

*** We continue to receive feedback that pay protection is negated by Crew Comp. When you pick up flying over any pay protected time, it must be TTS or UBL.  Any ETB pick up or trade over the calendar days, not footprint will negate the pay protection. Even if you pick up an ETB by mistake and then drop, it will negate the pay protection. ***

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Luggage Theft 
Last week in Madrid we had a serious security issue of which you should be aware.  The crew of flight 69 MAD-MIA boarded the bus that transports them from the hotel to the airport. They all report to have waited to board until their bags were loaded. The driver walked away from the back of the bus briefly and when they arrived at MAD airport 4 flight attendant bags were gone.  Items stolen included wallets (credit cards, drivers licenses, etc.), passports, cell phones, iPads and other valuable items.

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time criminals target our crews. The company’s policy is to replace company issued items. They have always put up resistance when asked to replace personal items.

We are pursuing this issue for our crew and feel strongly that the transportation company’s negligence caused this to happen. American contracts with them so we hold them responsible for ensuring our flight attendants are made whole. It is a work in progress.

We want to remind you going forward, please wait to board the bus until you see your bags have been loaded. Also, PLEASE KEEP ALL VALUABLES in your possession when you board the bus. It is the only way to ensure their safe keeping.

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Flight Attendant Worldwide Day of ACTION 

The Worldwide Flight Attendant Day of Action is February 13, 2024, at Miami International Airport at 11 am. Please join your APFA Base Leaders and CAT (Contract ACTION Team) as we band together with Flight Attendants from other carriers who are also in contract negotiations. Together, 100,000 Flight Attendants are pushing our careers forward this year — battling corporate greed. For more information, read the latest hotline here. Come out and show your support. RSVP here!

In Solidarity,

Randy Trautman
APFA MIA Base President
[email protected]

Heidi Morgan
APFA MIA Base Vice President
[email protected]