NATIONAL GROUP PROTECTION

SEATTLE BASE VISIT

MAY 2-6, 2016

SUPPLEMENTAL BENEFITS – 2016 ENROLLMENT

From May 2^nd—6^th, National Group Protection (NGP) will be in the crew lounge in Seattle to communicate the AFA supplemental benefit plans. Please look for the NGP benefit counselors during the on-site enrollment to enroll or make changes to your existing coverage. Please make an effort to come to the crew lounge during this week.

• Accident Insurance
• Critical Illness Coverage
• Whole Life Insurance

There are some benefit enhancements/upgrades this year, so please take the time to sit down with a benefit counselor and review your options. This is also an excellent time to make sure you have filed for your annual health screening benefits, which are part of the accident and critical illness benefit plans.

Forget to File Wellness benefits—-NGP CAN RETRO FILE 2 YEARS OF WELLNESS BENEFITS!

• Supplemental – these plans supplement any existing coverage
• Voluntary – members choose to participate
• Limited Underwriting – no medical or physical exams required
• Family Coverage – available with all of the plans
• Portable – members can continue coverage if they leave the company
• Payroll Deduction – premiums are paid through payroll deduction

If you have any questions regarding the upcoming enrollment, please contact National Group Protection (NGP) at 800-344-9016.

PBS Update May 2016

May Bid Awards Q&A

Summer Update

The AFA PBS Committee and your Local AFA Council 19 leadership received a number of questions this month about bid awards. Hopefully this information will help to understand the current state of staffing and bid awards. Remember, the company has 2 PBS members on the committee in addition to the 2 AFA PBS committee members.

Why were lines so high this month?

Besides the normal ramping up in flight hours for the summer, the SEA base experienced 15 flight attendants leave employment with the company or go ‘inactive’ (medical leave, etc) just prior to bids opening. When you take into account that each person would have potentially flown a May schedule of approximately 82tfp, the goal for May was 82.5tfp, this means over 1200tfp is not covered and must be accounted for during the bid award.

There’s no way to add new people to the base at the last minute to cover a situation like this. Consequently, the existing active crew in the base is required to fly more to cover that time.

The company is hearing our concerns over staffing levels. As a result, they have added a fourth initial class this year. Hopefully we will see additional staffing in the SEA base to help control the increase in premium pay trips in Open Time. It is our hope that the lack of premium pay equates to flight attendants picking up trips from the one ways. Hiring close to 300 new FA’s this year will hopefully help reduce the use of premium open time to cover a lean staffing model.

What is the ‘threshold’?

Seniority            1234       Category SEA-ALL FA             JONES     098765
Minimum window <  76.5>   Threshold <  82.5>             Maximum window <  92.5>

The ‘threshold’ is shown on your ‘Reasons Report’ on the ‘Results’ tab in PBS. It is the goal set by program administrators (the PBS Committee) in order to achieve the correct staffing for that month.

There is a connection between the posted ‘base line average’ you see on the PBS Info Page each month and the threshold. The PBS Committee attempts to keep the threshold set as close as possible to the posted line average. Changing the threshold will alter the staffing for that month:

The higher the threshold, the more days people essentially have to work.

The lower the threshold, the less days people have to work.

During the summer schedule, the threshold is always higher because there is more flying to cover. This is true in all bases, not just SEA. Throughout the rest of the year, except for December, the threshold tends to be lower. Contractually, the threshold number has to fall between 78tfp and 85tfp. 

Why was the low/minimum for a line raised this month in SEA?

In the example above you can see the ‘Minimum Window’ and the ‘Maximum Window’ as well as the “Threshold.” Historically, the low window averages 10tfp below the posted base line average. The AFA PBS Committee was asked by the MEC this month to try to refrain from changing the threshold. The threshold is the goal for everyone’s line and ideally is the same as the posted base line average. In the past the PBS committee may have adjusted that threshold number up or down, a bit, in order to achieve the company’s staffing numbers for lineholders and reserves.

Many flight attendants bid with the idea that the posted ‘base line average’ is the goal to consider when adding up the tfp value of the pairings they request. When the threshold number is kept as close as possible to the line average number this provides some consistency to the bidding process. You’ll know in advance what tfp number you need to reach to have the program ‘stop’ after awarding you the trips you want.

A consequence of not changing the threshold is that the low window number or high window number may need to be moved to achieve the company’s required lineholder/reserve ratio. The PBS Committee does not know in advance if that would be necessary to move numbers until the first bid run.

After doing the first bid run in SEA for May the PBS committee knew there was problem. Using the full 20tfp between windows (minimum window/maximum window) and the threshold at 82.5tfp (the same as the line average), the program was only was creating 247 reserves. The company necessity for May is 278 reserves.

Raising the low window to 76.5tfp (from 72.5), those FA’s with who may have received a very low line are now probably flying one more trip or receiving higher time trips. Adhering to the company’s request of 278 reserves, the higher minimum for a line equates to additional flying pushed onto lines. The result is fewer pairings/tfp left over and affects if someone may hold a line or is bumped to reserve. Moving the low window to 76.5tfp achieved the company’s desired number of 278 reserves.

Why was my line built all the way to 92tfp while others only 77tfp?

There will always be flight attendants with lower lines and flight attendants with higher lines due to the broad bidding window (20 tfp difference). The threshold, or goal, is an “average” and flight attendants will end up with lower total tfp or higher total tfp as a result. The line average is pulled down by bids that, for contractual reasons/Denial Mode/legalities, etc are unable to be awarded more pairings to reach the threshold.

The majority of lines are likely higher than the threshold because the program is designed to stop when you’ve reached or exceeded the threshold. Few if any stop at exactly 82.5tfp. For May, a majority of flight attendants exceed that number.

If your line hasn’t reached that ‘threshold’ or goal for the month then the program will attempt to give you one more pairing if legally possible. The total tfp for the month you end up with has a lot to do with the type of trips you bid and what your tfp total is when it tries to give you one more pairing.

If you bid turns and you are just short of the threshold, you end up with a line total just barely over the threshold because you were given one more turn.  If you bid for multiday trips, and have not reached the threshold, you might end up on the high end of the bidding window.  This is because that additional needed pairing is worth a lot more than a turn.

Some airlines restrict the window~ meaning a narrow tfp difference. Let’s say we have a 10tfp-bidding window like our fellow flight attendants at Envoy (formerly American Eagle). That bid awards take longer because it’s harder to find a solution that gets everyone into a small window. The Envoy FA’s also end up flying more pairings that they didn’t ask for. This is because the pairings they ask for don’t necessarily fit inside that small window when it gets to that last pairing to be awarded. They need a pairing worth less or worth more because that’s the only pairing that will ‘fit’ into that small window.

So in other words, the larger the window the better because it enables you bid accordingly and fit in the trips you asked instead of trips forced on your line that you didn’t want. But with the bigger the window, the more you’ll see a bigger spread between those with a lower line and those with a higher line, creating dissatisfaction among some bidders.

FYI, most Navtech customers have a bidding window from 15-20 flight hours (tfp-equivalent).

This is a lot of information and we realize that you will have questions. It is our desire to be as transparent as possible, even if that mean overwhelming you with information. We are here to help break it down, so don’t hesitate to contact us.

Seattle Officers, AFA PBS Committee, and Seattle Scheduling Committee.

 

 

AFA-CWA Council 19 Base Meeting **Updated**

When: Tuesday, May 17th, 2016

Where: Meeting location will be at the BEIJING ROOM on the mezzanine level (south end) of SEA-TAC Airport at the Sea-Tac Conference Center

Time: 1pm-4pm

(Parking will be validated on any floor except floor 4 in terminal)

Your AFA Officers are preparing for the annual AFA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting and we need to discuss the agenda items for the BOD and seek your input. We will be posting the agenda items for review and look forward to discussing them with you at the May 17th meeting.

Please bring all your Open Time trading questions for our scheduling experts; we will be having a Q&A regarding Open Time trading. If you can’t attend our base meeting send us your trading questions to sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org.

We will be discussing Alaska’s acquisition of Virgin America, and share any information we have about merging together.

Agenda

I. Call meeting to order

A. Call for late agenda items

B. Late agenda items

C. Announcements

II. AFA BOD agenda items

III. LEC Update

A. Officer Update

B. LEC President Report

C. LEC VP Report

4. LEC Sec and Membership Report

5. Committee Report

6 . Budget Review

IV. Open Time Trading Q&A

V. Virgin America Q&A

If you would like to add an agenda item please contact LEC Secretary Linda Christou at lschristou@comcast.net by May 8th.

In Solidarity,

Your Council 19 Officers

 

Helpful Hints for Trading

Please refer to Section 12 F for more information and clarification of the codes 

Questions on Open Time and TSN Counts

1. Is actual opening/closing of days in OT automatic or must it be done manually for each day of the month?

Automatic open/close.  Currently closing at 9:59:59 for reserve self-assignment. This should time should be 1:59:59 but due to programming technicalities Flight Attendants can call and request, on a first come first serve basis, until full implementation this fall.

2. TSN counts: If it’s manual is it a one time manual fix when OT opens or must it be manually entered daily throughout the month? Are TSN counts only done by managers of CS?  

TSN counts are entered manually into the system.  Crew Planning sends the numbers to Crew Scheduling management to adjust prior to start of Open Time. Flight Attendants may see an increase in TSN counts throughout the month, which allows more trading flexibility. Cannot be reduced below the contractual number.

3. Can this become automated with new system?  Will new programming software have this ability? 

No, it will always require someone to enter the numbers either maintaining, increasing or decreasing the TSN is required because base sizes may change.

4. Is there a system to check accuracy of TSN counts throughout the month? Is anyone in CS ensuring TSN counts regarding opening/closing of OT days are correct?

No, there is not a system to check. It is up to Crew Scheduling management to check.  They can alter specific days as well versus the whole month. If an error is located then it is our responsibility to report it and get it corrected.  We rely on them to uphold the contractual requirements but sometimes there is human error.  No one is monitoring the TSN opening and closing of days except for when they pull the trips for the next day operation at 1:59:59 to assign reserves, which in the future will be 9:59:59.

5. Since coding of trips are automatic TO TX DD CP, is there accountability to ensure its coding counts (assignments) are done correctly?

Yes. All transactions leave a history and are logged by every user in the system.  If a scheduler makes an adjustment the Arctic appears. If it is the FA there is an audit report.  We can track everything. Even if scheduling pulls trips out of OT and returns the trips, they keep the same designation that they left with. You only see the trade codes, but there is a lot of coding in the back end system access you don’t see as a flight attendant.

6. March 30th discrepancies: TSN count in upper date corner showing 11 but trips listing in OT had a count of 10 TO coding, yet day was showing closed. When TSN count of TO trips went to 9 day was open. Why was this day different than other days in March? Manual entering/programming oversight why?  

Yes, someone entered the information incorrectly causing the issue.  If issues are discovered also requires manual fix

QUICK TUTORIAL ON TRADING

TO is a trade with Open Time that counts towards the threshold sequence number (TSN) for opening/closing a day.

TX is a trip that went into Open Time as non coded, then was subsequently traded when the day was closed and does not count towards the TSN.

CP is a Coupon Drop that counts towards the TSN for opening/closing the day.

DD is a Direct Drop into OT that counts towards the TSN for opening/closing the day.

Non coded is a sick call, illegality, personal drop, Union/Company Business drop, medical leave, jury duty and much more that does not count towards the TSN.

TO/CP/DD may be traded down, equal or more days when the day is closed and the trip on your line shares the same day of check in as the trip in OT (provided you have not exceeded your net 40 tfp trading down with Open Time).

TX/non coded may be traded equal or more days (no down trading of days, provided you have not exceeded your net 40 tfp trading down with Open Time can reduce your tfp of the trip) as long as the trip in Open Time checks in on the same day as the trip on your line or earlier and covers the same days.

TX, or non-coded, trips can become coded as TO when traded with an open day.

DD need same start date as the trip you are giving away if all the days are closed.

Examples

You can trade a 4 day on the 12th for a turn, 2, 3 or different 4 day on the 12th as long as as the trip is coded TO or DD

TX and no codes

Have to cover the same days as your original trip but can be different start dates

Examples

A 2 day on the 5th and a 2 day on the 7th can be traded for a 4 day on the 5th as long as that 4 day trip is coded TX or had no code.. doesn’t matter if days are open or closed.

A 2 day on the 10th can be traded for a 3 day on the 9th or a 4 day on the 8th as long as the trip your picking up is TX or NO CODE

Additionally,

A 2 day on the 10th could be traded for a 4 day TX trip on the 8th.

Then you trade that new 4-day for a turn that’s coded TO or DD on the 8^th.

Now your 2-day is in open time, the 4 day is back in open time and you have a turn on the 8th.

OTHER EXAMPLES: ß 

When the days are closed your trading abilities are limited.

Closed day trip in OT coded TO/CP/DD then must trade for example the 15th for the 15th, can trade up, down or equal.

Closed days trip non-coded or TX can trade equal to or greater, cannot trade down. Example:

15, 16 – 2 day on your line. Can trade into a 2 day 15/16, or 3 day 14,15,16 or 15,16,17 or 4 day 13,14,15,16 or 14,15,16,17 or 15,16,17,18. Trips must cover the same days and start on the same day of report or earlier.

You cannot trade down a TX even if you are covering the same days.  Example: 2 day on your line 15/16.  2 turns in OT on 15th, 16th non-coded.  The liability you are putting into OT is larger than what you are taking out.

TRADES WITH OPEN TIME 

You can trade 2 turns on your line for a 2 day TX/non coded in Open Time when the days are closed and you are covering the same days.

You are not able to trade a 2-day on your line for 2 turns.

If you are trading a 2 day TO/CP/DD for two turns in OT then you must first down-trade the 2 day to the turn that shares the same day of check in as the trip on your line, then pick up the turn on the subsequent day. TX/non coded trips may be traded equal or up, no down trading is allowed with TX.  TO/CP/DD allows trading up, down and equal.

Trade:  1 day on the 15th, 1 day on the 16th for 2-day TX in OT on the 15/16 – Approved

Trade:  2 day on the 15/16 for two one day TX in OT on the 15th and 16th – Denied

Trade: 2 day on the 15th for 1 day TO on the 15th – approved, then pick up one-day turn on 16^th– approved

TRADING INFORMATION:

A turn on the 24th may only be traded for another turn on the 24th if the day is closed and you have another sequence beginning on the 25th.

If all you had was a turn on the 24th and the days were closed you could trade into a turn, 2, 3 or 4 day on the 24th.

Turns are not as flexible when accompanied by additional turns or multi-days as they were in the previous contract.

Once you set up a configuration of consecutive sequences you are locked in that configuration unless you are able to drop a trip into OT or another FA picks up one of the sequences.

Depending on what you prefer to fly and trade you may want to avoid turns and ask for 3 or 4 day trips and then trade those trips with other 3 and 4 day sequences.  Even multiple 2 day trips back to back, such as the 24/25, 26/27 could not be traded for a 4 day trip coded TO/DD/CP on the 24th if the days were closed.  The multi-trade function is only operational when all days are open that share the report date of the sequences involved for dropping into OT.

WHAT IS FADO? 

FADO is Flight Attendant Drop to Open Time.

This is the net 40-tfp provision, or dropping of 40 tfp into Open Time.  If you show FADO of 30, you can drop 10 more TFP to open to get to 40 tfp net.  If you are -30, you can drop 70 tfp to open (Negative 30 plus your 40 positive.)

This calculates dropping to open days, up trading, down trading and pick-ups from OT.

In regards to the TO/CP/DD those will be combined into one code in JCTE in October. You can only down-trade TO/CP/DD coded trips with same date of departure when days are closed.

No code means the trip is a result of a sick call, jury duty, medical leave, or CB/UB.

If the trip went in to Open Time and then was traded with another trip in Open Time, trip left in Open Time would be coded TX.

Sincerely,

Martin Vance

Rita Tillou

SEA LEC Scheduling CO-Chairs

 

AFA-CWA Council 19 Base Meeting

When: Tuesday, May 17th, 2016

Where: Meeting location will be at the BEIJING ROOM on the mezzanine level (south end) of SEA-TAC Airport at the Sea-Tac Conference Center

Time: 1pm-4pm

(Parking will be validated on any floor except floor 4 in terminal)

Your AFA Officers are preparing for the annual AFA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting and we need to discuss the agenda items for the BOD and seek your input. We will be posting the agenda items for review and look forward to discussing them with you at the May 17th meeting.

Please bring all your Open Time trading questions for our scheduling experts; we will be having a Q&A regarding Open Time trading. If you can’t attend our base meeting send us your trading questions to sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org.

Agenda

1. Call meeting to order

a. Call for late agenda items

b. Late agenda items

c. Announcements

2. AFA BOD agenda items

3.  LEC Update

a. Officer Update

i. LEC President Report

ii. LEC VP Report

iii. LEC Sec and Membership Report

b. Committee Report

4. Open Time Trading Q&A

5. Budget Review

If you would like to add an agenda item please email LEC Secretary Linda Christou at lschristou@comcast.net by May 8th.

In solidarity,

LEC President Laura Masserant,

LEC VP/MEC Scheduling Chair Jake Jones,

LEC Sec/Tres Linda Christou,

Council Rep Stephanie Adams, and Council Rep Adam Clarey