[See “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties [VX] and “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 2 [VX] for more info.]

Q:     When will our L-VX family fall under the full L-AS contractual rules–with or without this TA passing?

A:     If the TA passes, the L-VX Flight Attendants will be under the full L-AS (JCBA) work rules at Full Implementation, which is currently targeted for March 2019.  If Full Implementation is delayed past March, management must build all of the L-VX pairings using the JCBA work rules. The specifics of implementation for all JCBA contract provisions can be found in the L-VX JCBA Implementation Timetable LOA TA.

If the TA does not pass, L-VX FAs will remain on the current Work Rules v.5 and pay rates as modified by the various AFA VX Letters of Agreement.

Q:     What is the reasoning the L-VX FAs not integrating with AS immediately upon a ratification of the TA?  If the answer is the Crew Access system (i.e. JCTE), explain how and why anyone in their heart believes that Crew Access can ever combine two groups together in the JCTE system given the track record of all the limitations and software issues that are involved with JCTE?

A:     In an airline merger, the groups are never combined right after the transaction.  It often takes several years to combine the groups because it is a very complex process. For some background info, United-Continental and American-US Airways are still not combined on the Flight Attendant side. One of the main reasons integration will take some time is because cross-training on the other aircraft type (Boeing <-> Airbus) must occur first. Cross training is currently estimated to take place summer through late fall 2018.

AFA advocated for L-AS work rules to be implemented at L-VX immediately following ratification, but management is insistent that the L-VX partition currently does not have the staffing to make that happen. L-VX is staffing up in order to accomplish aircraft cross training, but management is adamant that is all the Company can handle until cross training is complete. Additionally, JCTE system is not currently programmed to function for both Boeing and Airbus, and once again management says that the various L-VX systems cannot realistically be programmed with the L-AS contractual provisions in the desired timeframe.

The JNC feels your pain about JCTE. We pushed for securing monetary incentives to ensure management meets the implementation time frames, but management would not agree to such incentives. The JNC has insisted on receiving programing status reports on JCTE fixes and developments and all other software systems that will touch the integration. The JNC has also secured a place on the team to address the JCTE fixes. Improving the situation is not going to be easy or fast; however, we must partner with management in order to have influence in making the best of a terrible situation and to continue representing our members’ interests.

The pilots will be integrated in JCTE before FAs because the pilots are a smaller group.  Their Full Implementation target date is October 2018. AFA will strongly advocate for moving up our integration timeline to as soon as possible. As stated above, if Full Implementation is delayed past March 2019, management must build all of the L-VX pairings using the JCBA work rules.

Q1:     I’ve been reading through the TA and something I’m curious about is the creation of the AS sick bank for L-VX FAs. It’s my understanding that they will go back and look at our full sick call history. I do not have access to this information anymore and don’t trust the company to calculate it accurately. Is there a place where we can find this Information so we can see before we vote where we would sit? I’ve also exhausted my CAT (catastrophic) sick when I was on workers comp. Also, if we do end up being at a negative number, how will this affect us should we need to call out sick?

Q2:     Is there a limit to how many years there will be a look back when calculating sick time? L-VX had an honor system in the very beginning and it was a “free for all” with no repercussions. Will those first few years be held against us now?

Q3:     As a VX FA I feel the sick bank look back is really problematic.   Why will we be judged over our entire career according to a policy we never had?  Is it possible after the calculations are done to have a negative number?  Will there be situations where you are “in debt” or will your bank just be at zero?  How will we ensure the accuracy of sick call records going back 10yrs?  Why not base our bank on this year? Or have a qualification year going forward from ratification?

A:     Creating a sick bank for the L-VX Flight Attendants was a challenge for the JNC because the two systems (L-VX vs L-AS) are so different.  On the L-VX side, there is no SL accrual in the traditional sense. A L-VX FA calls in sick and is paid for the first 6 days and then transitions to California State Disability with the option of using annual accrued and banked “catastrophic days” for longer medical absences. L-AS Flight Attendants accrue sick leave into their sick bank based on 10% of paid TFP (except sick leave and Stranded Pay) monthly.

We analyzed different look-back periods and determined that a career lookback is most advantageous for the greatest number of L-VX FAs. Regardless of sick leave usage, no L-VX FAs will end up with a negative sick leave balance because it is ‘capped’ at zero if the FA’s career lookback results in a negative number.

Because of the L-VX 70 hour monthly minimum (50 hours if traded to another L-VX FA), L-VX FAs should accrue a sufficient amount of sick leave by the time they are fully transitioned to the Alaska sick leave system pursuant to the L-VX FA Transition Agreement and L-VX FA JCBA Implementation Timetable.

All of the L-VX records are maintained in Crewtrack. During negotiations, the JNC ran trials with the Crewtrack records and the results were accurate. The calculations will be done in advance and monitored by AFA. L-VX FAs will also have a sufficient opportunity to review their records and dispute if appropriate. AFA is currently working with management to finalize the specific details of the review, but management and AFA agree that such a review process should occur. The JNC believes this method for creating a sick leave bank provides for a fair and equitable transition and no L-VX FA will end up with a negative sick leave balance at the time of transition.

Q:     Former JFK L-VX FAs were covered under a city law for 40 hours of paid sick a year. How will this, if at all, affect their future sick bank accrual?

A:     The New York City’s Earned Sick Time Act (Paid Sick Leave Law) will have no effect on the creation of a sick leave bank for L-VX Flight Attendants.

Q:     If this TA passes, will the current VX Commuter Policy remain in place (covering non-AAG flights) for pmVX FA and will pmAS have a different Commuter Policy?

A:     Yes. pmVX FAs and pmAS FAs will be on separate commuting policies until Full Implementation (estimated March 2019). After that, pmVX FAs will fully transition to the AS Commuter Policy.

Q:     Can a L-VX FA be forced out of a L-VX base by L-AS FAs?  

A:     No. Neither can L-VX FAs be forced out of a L-VX base by L-AS FAs, nor can L-AS FAs be forced out of a L-AS base by L-VX FAs as a direct consequence of the merger.

A Flight Attendant may not be forced out of her/his base by another Flight Attendant except in very specific circumstances such as a domicile closure. Even then, a “master re-bid” (i.e. “base-re-bid” or “bump and flush” bid) is done in Occupational Seniority order according to contractual rules. There will be no such master re-bid as a direct consequence of the merger. The L-VX and L-AS Flight Attendants must stay within their respective partition until after Full Implementation, at which point they may voluntarily swap or transfer domiciles pursuant to contractual requirements. Vacancies will be awarded in Occupational Seniority order from the Integrated Seniority List (ISL).

[See also Healthcare Insurance: Coverage [JCBA] and Healthcare Insurance: Coverage 2 [JCBA]]

Q:     If this TA is voted in, would our “me too” clause with the pilots be null and void because we froze our rates? Meaning we somehow are not attached to the “me too” clause because we froze rates and the pilots rates are not frozen?

A:     No. The “me-too” with the pilots’ CBA is for the actual provisions of the medical insurance (e.g. deductible amounts, out-of-pocket maximums, prescription drug co-pays, service allowances, etc.). The contractual language in §23.A [Insurance Benefits: FA Insurance Plans] clearly indicates that the Flight Attendant insurance plan must be comparable to the pilots’ plan for everything except the premiums (i.e. the rates). If the Merger TA is ratified, the “me too” clause would continue in full force and effect for everything except the rates.