Q: Please explain why it was decided that a separate monthly bidding process for the A position be implemented. Instead, why aren’t positions added as a preference or after trips are awarded, FAs pick their desired position based on seniority on day one of each trip?
A: The JNC pushed to move away from the ITL program and align with the L-AS way of bidding. The main issue we could not overcome was that Sabre was not willing to program changes to move from the current two tier (i.e. ITL vs ITM) bidding system to a one tier (mixed A, B, C and D) bidding system; additionally, it was not possible to have no awards for ITL and extra ITM positions. The ‘compromise’ in the TA was the closest we could come to the L-AS way of bidding while ensuring that awards were based on seniority and working within the IT limitations. The good news is, if the TA is ratified, the multi-step “A” Position bid process will be short term. In addition to opening the “A” Position pool to everyone on a month-by-month basis, the restrictions on open time swap/trades have been eliminated (i.e. any FA can p/u any trip once open time is released) under the TA.