Company to eliminate Availability Lines

[jimntx]

This was posted on another bulletin board I belong to by the moderator who attended part of the APFA convention. (My personal opinion: APFA will take no action because elimination of availability affects only junior f/as for the most part.)


Among the many issues, presented or discussed at this past week's APFA Annual Convention and BOD Meeting in Hawthorne, CA is the topic of Availability.

I was present at the Convention for the first day and a half. I was not there for the report from the Scheduling Department which included Crew Resources plans for Availability.

Because I wasn't there I am sharing what I was able to learn from other participants about this issue that will effect Domestic and
International FA's in a very broad cross section of Seniority.

It is the company's intention to eliminate Availability (blank schedule or PDF bid line) within the next several months. The company contends that Availability does not work for them even with the changes in the 2001 CBA as virtually all Available FA's reach their maximum within the first 20 days of the month. The result is a shortage of FA's to cover flying at the end of the month.

Since all trips must be bid, there would still be Vacation Replacement opportunities and perhaps a number of additional bid lines with very few trips AND preset days a FA would be available to the company.

Again, all this is my understanding of what is coming at our work group within a VERY few months.

To ensure that the company has sufficient coverage for its operations, the balance of FA's not needed to cover trips to be bid would be placed on Reserve. Put it simply, a substantial portion of those who bid and/or hold Open Replacement would be placed onto the Reserve list to cover flying that is or will be placed into open time.

While many of us have hoped for improvements to Reserve and a reduction in the number of reserves necessary, it would appear that the company is moving in the exact opposite direction. They want more FA's on reserve to meet their needs at their convenience.

I have the distinct impression that our BOD is not happy about this new attack on the work life quality of our members. Last year our domestic bid sheets were decimated in the name of simplification. It took months to convince our leadership that action was needed, and even our attempts at achieving relief in this area were frequently hampered by the lack of communication from the company, and lack of commitment by the National leadership.

Once again we find ourselves under attack by Crew Resources in its non stop goal to eliminate bid lines, lay overs, quality of work life and sweep its inability to balance efficiency with job quality.

It will take the efforts of everyone in our work group to convince the National Leadership of the APFA that we are tired of losing ground on the quality of our work lives. We must insist that our local elected officials turn up the heat on the APFA's national leadership. Effective national leaders should be able to appropriately balance the needs of the whole against their "big
picture" agenda and the needs of the company. If Crew Resources and the National Leadership were actually participating in the Work Together environment we would not be suffering the consequences that rip apart this job path we are all committed to.

Take your first action now! Write to your APFA Base Chair.
Their email address is: [email protected]. (xxx or xxxx is your base)

Tell them this latest attack by the company is unacceptable and insist on immediate action by the APFA. If we don't make our voices heard, this change will become the norm. It will cost us today and long into the future.

Your choice, longer on reserve, or just a few minutes to send your
email!

 

[nbmcg01]

This was posted on another bulletin board I belong to by the moderator who attended part of the APFA convention. (My personal opinion: APFA will take no action because elimination of availability affects only junior f/as for the most part.)
Among the many issues, presented or discussed at this past week's APFA Annual Convention and BOD Meeting in Hawthorne, CA is the topic of Availability.

I was present at the Convention for the first day and a half. I was not there for the report from the Scheduling Department which included Crew Resources plans for Availability.

Because I wasn't there I am sharing what I was able to learn from other participants about this issue that will effect Domestic and
International FA's in a very broad cross section of Seniority.

It is the company's intention to eliminate Availability (blank schedule or PDF bid line) within the next several months. The company contends that Availability does not work for them even with the changes in the 2001 CBA as virtually all Available FA's reach their maximum within the first 20 days of the month. The result is a shortage of FA's to cover flying at the end of the month.

....

The issue of coverage issues could easily be resolved by less restrictive trading rules. Get rid of the hour formula and let the trading begin. Also, if All available flights were posted by the base, a whole picture could be obtained by someone wanting to trade or pick up time. AA's first response is to be more restrictive or "throw the baby out with the bath water". By easing the trading rules, more flights will be covered. Who really cares who is flying the trip (except the furloughed) as long as there is a relatively warm body occupying the jump seat and they are contractually legal. Quality of life rules make for much happier employees which results in less off duty, and most importantly happy customers.

What the Company is suggesting is a major concession and the price tag should be heavy. Extended recall, return of vacation days, pension "protection", the choices are endless.

There has also been some discussion re: transcon turns. Long turns can be wonderful IF there are protections in place. !. No more than 2 legs 2. No more than 2 legs 3. No more than 2 legs It is SO simple.

**Moderator Note: Please refrain from quoting a lengthy post. It just makes it easier for everyone to read follow-on posts. Thank you.**

 

[AAStew]

I heard the complete opposite this weekend in New York. The company has too many people sitting on reserve and want to shorten the reserve lists. At JFK we are flying about 55-60 hours on reserve and being released quite a bit more than we are used to. I think before we assume the worst we should get it from the horses mouths, either the APFA or AA.

 

[jimntx]

I heard the complete opposite this weekend in New York. The company has too many people sitting on reserve and want to shorten the reserve lists. At JFK we are flying about 55-60 hours on reserve and being released quite a bit more than we are used to. I think before we assume the worst we should get it from the horses mouths, either the APFA or AA.

That they were trying to reduce the number of reserves was my understanding also. However, I talked with a base vice-chair (not SLT) this morning who was at the convention.

The company scheduling coordinator does, in fact, want to do away with Availability. Seems he hates it and has always hated it. The vice-chair I talked with represents one of the larger bases which has not that many junior people in it. She is concerned that this will make her reserve numbers go above 20 years. It is contractual that they can't make anyone serve reserve more than 3 times/year; so, more people will have to be on reserve at some point in the year if availability is eliminated.

The thing that just blows my mind is that the company complains that most availability f/as are maxxed out by the 20th of the month, and so are not available at the end of the month when they are short of reserves. I guess it never occurred to them to build availability and reserve lines with more days off at the beginning of the month and more days on at the end of the month. Duh!

 

[IORFA]

At IOR they are testing a theory for the month of MARCH. Approx. 30 less reserves for the month and leaving Option II open for the entire month and let people who want to fly, fly. Hope it works!!! Also, building AVBL lines with days AVBL at the end of the month, won't do anything. All you have to do is go on Make up and problem solved.

 

[Garfield1966]

I guess it never occurred to them to build availability and reserve lines with more days off at the beginning of the month and more days on at the end of the month. Duh!

OH my god. That's such a great idea. Why didn't we think of that? OH yea, we did but when on RL lines you can plot on any AVBL day or DO and RP lines can ask to have their days moved around and can also fly MU/II on their DO's so they still end up maxing out prior to the end of the month. On avg. I release about 20-30 FA's each month for the end of the month starting around 7 days before the end of the contractual month.

I have not heard anything here about AVBL going away. I know it has been on our wish list for years but never thought I would see the day when it would happen. I guess hope springs eternal.

 

[AAStew]

Garfield, you must be a joy to receive a call from.
These flight attendants should supposedly be holding a line on these months, so whatever they can do to control their schedules is great! More power to them or so to speak. The answer is to build the majority of RESERVE lines working at the end of the month.

 

[IORFA]

Spoken like a true horses arse Garfield. I can only hope that crew schedule starts going to a reserve system and starts to call people out for work when the call volume increases or there is weather around the system. I hate waiting on the phone more than 10 minutes to talk to someone who would rather I just hung up. Maybe they can call you guys at 0230 for a 1830 shift then cancel it at 1800 when you are on your way. Then you can deal with the wife and kids and babysitter all the while canceling what plans/errands you had planned to do during the day. We all know you made plans, because you were supposedly the 25th crew scheduler to be called out, out of 26. But they wouldn't release you, so they decided to use you first. Boy, I can't wait, sounds like your work life might change a little as well.

 

[Garfield1966]

When I am on the clock I am professional on the phone. Nearly 20 years with AA and not a single passenger or FA complaint. This is a forum and I will vent if I so chose. Jim implied that we should just build AVBL lines with AVBL days at the end of the month as if no one else ever thought of that. Do you honestly think I am going to let that insult slide?

As far as the reserve lines are concerned, I believe planning is loading up the front and back of the month heavier then the middle and for the most part it works out fine. Bad WX can screw up the works but for the most part we make it work. OH yea, forgot about preferential bidding and domestic 30/7 problems (two more things I wish they would do away with).

Bottom line is that AVBL is a pain in the butt. No one works the line they were given (day off move requests, MU … etc) AA might as well just give a line of DO’s and tell the FA to fly what they want. We are inundated with AVBL move requests (I had several on my desk when I left which I did not have time to process).

The rumor I heard was that it will not disappear till the end of the year (give or take) but it will be modified quite a bit. AVBL days will be fixed, if you drop an AV trip, AVBL days will come back, and a few other things that I cannot recall at the moment.

 

[jimntx]

I never once got crew scheduling to move an avbl day for me. I think I asked twice over the years.

Admit it, Gar. You won't be happy until every f/a in the system is on 24/7/365 reserve and you have all the power. Bwah-hah-hah-hah!

Then calling at 0230 for a 1430 sign-in can be the norm.

 

[AAStew]

So if you drop a trip you get an AVBL day back? I don't think that will happen.What you want is a warm body, you have one. Flight attendants need to be able to have a life outside of work. Otherwise, why not just lock us up in a cage, and release us according to manning requirements? I believe this would cause flight attendants with less seniority to leave, exactly the opposite of what the company is trying to establish.
The truth is if they are so short handed they could recall at any moment, but we all know that is exactly what they don't want to do.

 

[Garfield1966]

Please, then they will start making me release people left and right. No thanks, too much work.

Never called anyone at 0230 since I have been here. The mid-nighters do that. Usually you can thank one of your fellow crew members for calling in sick late so we have no choice. Last week I had a FA call in sick at 2300 for a 4am sign in. She was a RSV who confirmed the trip several hours earlier. I looked at her *4 and seems when ever she called in sick it was late (I hope she is the exception to the rule). Yes, the reserve who I called was quite thrilled to hear about that SI at 2300 the night before. OH well.

If you get a 0230 call for a 1430 si, you need to report that person. Makes life bad for all of us.

Depends what you are asking for. If you want a day moved off of the begining or end of month, or a holiday then you are SOL. Most folks here will not move off of weekends. I have never really bought into that so I have done it on occasion when manning merits the move.

Here are some AVBL move hints:
1. Don’t send an "open" request – plz move AVBL off of xx. Tell us where to or we will not move it.
2. Don’t think about the first 5 or last 5 days unless you want to have AVBL moved there. If you have AVBL days there, they will be staying there.
3. If it’s a holiday and you want to be off, chances are everyone else wants to be off as well so save a tree and don’t bother asking.
4. Look at your schedule, if the changes will leave 1 AVBL day just hanging there, don’t send it. A single AVBL day is like 1 OREO. Does not do anyone any good.
5. Be creative, give me something I want and I’ll give you something you want. Something to the effect of if you want to move 1 day of 3, and you have a single day already there somewhere else in the month, offer to move the other 2 AVBLS to that 1 and then the one you want to hook with some other AVBL days. In other words, if you plotted a 2 day on a block of 3, offer to move that single AVBL day to somewhere where it will help me out and I am more inclined to help you out as well.

The bottom line is we want to be able to utilize you as much as possible. Our job is to cover the operation. There is no black list, we do not conspire against you. We could care less who you are, where you live, why you do what you do. We do not care if you have been assigned PBI, EWR, ONT 10 times in a row and you live 100 miles from the airport. There is a contract and a union that says we cannot care. When I plot AVBL, I look at your hours, your guarantee and how many days you are good for. I give you the highest value trip you are legal for. I do not look at your name, where you live, what you flew last, the message some of you put in your phone field. I don’t care.

We cover trips. That is all we do.

So if you drop a trip you get an AVBL day back? I don't think that will happen.What you want is a warm body, you have one. Flight attendants need to be able to have a life outside of work. Otherwise, why not just lock us up in a cage, and release us according to manning requirements? I believe this would cause flight attendants with less seniority to leave, exactly the opposite of what the company is trying to establish.
The truth is if they are so short handed they could recall at any moment, but we all know that is exactly what they don't want to do.

That's what I heard. Don't know if its true or not. Guess we will see when it happens.

 

[Skymess]

That they were trying to reduce the number of reserves was my understanding also. However, I talked with a base vice-chair (not SLT) this morning who was at the convention.

The company scheduling coordinator does, in fact, want to do away with Availability. Seems he hates it and has always hated it. The vice-chair I talked with represents one of the larger bases which has not that many junior people in it. She is concerned that this will make her reserve numbers go above 20 years. It is contractual that they can't make anyone serve reserve more than 3 times/year; so, more people will have to be on reserve at some point in the year if availability is eliminated.

The thing that just blows my mind is that the company complains that most availability f/as are maxxed out by the 20th of the month, and so are not available at the end of the month when they are short of reserves. I guess it never occurred to them to build availability and reserve lines with more days off at the beginning of the month and more days on at the end of the month. Duh!

Jim,

Roy Everett spoke of his desire to eliminate AVBL at the JFK town hall meeting in October.

You never fly avbl, do you? The only difference with the old avbl to now is that you can't get your avbl days released with straight avbl unless you fly the requisite hours. If you are straight avbl you can fly all of your days in a row, even if you don't have avbl days, and get released. The only day they won't release is the last day.

As Nancy stated, opening TTOT will severely cut the need for reserves. Eliminate the 85 hr dom and 90 hr intl max. They should also let us trade trips later in the month with next day sequences that would ordinarily go to AVBL FAs and reserves. At the least the union should suggest this before it goes away. Maybe if they also allowed us to pick up straight out of open time on our days off without having an AVBL day or without having to trade a trip, there wouldn't be any trips in open time for reserves to fly. Put more control in the FAs hands and I can guarantee that open time trips would be scarce.

 

[B.O.B.]

When I am on the clock I am professional on the phone. Nearly 20 years with AA and not a single passenger or FA complaint.

What a crock of crap! Not a single pax complaint. How in world would a CS get a pax complaint? Give me a break!

AVBL is not going away. So Garfy, get a life!

 

[Skymess]

What a crock of crap! Not a single pax complaint. How in world would a CS get a pax complaint? Give me a break!

AVBL is not going away. So Garfy, get a life!

hahahaha. Good point BOB. Next time things go wrong I'm going to give out the 956 phone number. You're going to be toast Garfield, just you wait and see. No passenger complaints. Bwahahahaha.