Q: Am I reading it correctly that under the new plan unpaid vacation and PTO would be included for the purpose of earning bonuses or am I missing something?
A: Yes! Paid vacation (included Longevity PTO) and unpaid vacation will count towards achieving the PPP at 4.0 TFP per day.
Q: As the quarterly productivity premium is now paid quarterly, how will the new program be paid?
A: It will be paid on the 20th paycheck following the appropriate PPP incentive period. This is an improvement from the QPP, which is paid on the 5th paycheck two months following the quarter.
QPP:
- Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar) – $500 paid 05/05,
- Q2 (Apr, May, Jun) – $500 paid 08/05,
- Q3 (Jul, Aug, Sep) – $1000 paid 11/05, and
- Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec) – $500 paid 02/05
PPP:
- June – $350 paid 07/20,
- July – $350 paid 08/20,
- Aug – $350 paid 09/20,
- “Block of 8” (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov) – $1100 paid 12/20, and
- December – $350 paid 01/20.
Q: Will you do a comparison of the QPP and the PPP and the significant differences?
A: Sure!
QPP: Based on a calendar quarter application (Q1: Jan, Feb, Mar; Q2: Apr, May, Jun; Q3: Jul, Aug, Sep; Q4: Oct, Nov, Dec) and requires your Worked TFP to be at least 0.1 TFP more than your combined monthly PBS bid award equivalent across that calendar quarter. Sick leave and vacation are excluded from achieving the QPP. Payout is $500 for Q1, Q3 and Q4; $1000 for Q3.
PPP: Based on the defined period (Combined block of 8 months: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov; 4 individual months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Dec) and requires your Worked TFP to be at least 40.0 TFP more than your combined monthly PBS bid award equivalent across that block of 8 months (average 5.0 TFP per month) or at least 5.0 TFP more than your monthly bid award equivalent in June, July, August and December. Vacation is now included in achieving the PPP (and sick leave is still excluded). Payout is $1100 for the block of 8 months is $350 for each month of June, July, August and December.
Q: Why is the PPP based on the base line average instead of the individual line average?
A: The PPP is based on an individual Flight Attendant’s bid award–the same criteria as the current QPP program. One can make arguments either way for the benefits of an individual line average versus the domicile line average. AFA and management did not change that aspect of the incentive criteria.
Q: I am seeking understanding why the QPP was changed from quarterly to create the PPP with 4 single high impact months and an 8-month block. Vacation counting towards PPP is better than how it is currently with QPP. However, one now has to fly 5.0 TFP more (60 TFP total for the year) for the PPP instead of 0.1 TFP more in each quarter for the QPP. Why have we lost the flexibility of being able to do our extra flying over a quarter and have now in essence made it harder in single months?
A: AFA sought to change the QPP so that vacation counted towards achieving the payout. Management agreed but sought to increase the threshold from 0.1 TFP to 5.0 TFP for each month, inclusive of vacation.
Considering even the most junior FA has at least 14 days of vacation at 4.0 TFP per day, that equals 56.0 TFP of vacation credit for the year that now counts towards achieving the PPP. That leaves a difference of only 4.0 TFP to make up for the entire year–and that is before you count in any other pick-up, Sit Pay, ADPG, ground delay, block delay, Stranded Pay, etc. This doesn’t seem like an unreasonable trade-off when one considers that all FAs with 5 years or more of Occupational Seniority have at least 21 days of vacation that equals at least 84.0 TFP more of vacation credit that will now count towards achieving the PPP.
It may be more challenging for some to achieve PPP in the single months, but it will be much easier for others. It really depends on where your vacation days are located within the year.
