F/A Secondary Lines for May-AFA Labor thread title edited

[safety stud]

The system is broken... It's been broken... It's going to stay broken till we fix it...
The problem is nobody is listening... If they where, we would be on our way to a merged contract... an airline with "Synergy"... and producing a product everyone wants to use.
We... the people on the front line working everyday... have no voice... The college kids DP hires to make decisions for him have NO effective knowledge of how a system works... more importantly ours... If they would just listen to the front line employee's for their input rather than being told this is the way it is "Deal with it"... then this airline might just turn around and make something of itself. Till then we are just squandering in our own pool of goo...

In any business, it's the people working everyday on the front line who produce the returns the company needs to manage, grow, and prosper. It is the everyday RES agent, Ticketing agent, MECH, Pilot, F/A, Scheduler, Cleaner, etc... that make any airline what it is. If you have a good front line employee base, then the decisions of management become secondary.

At our airline, The bad decisions of management on a continual basis, have filtered down to it's employee base so that the front line employee's feel they are just a number in the big cog that makes up this airline. If you feel like a number, and only a number you will act as such. There is no encentive to do better.

Sure management can hire new people to run an airline, but unless they listen, understand, and act on what the employee base says, What's the point... You are only putting a band aid on an open, bleeding, or should I say hemorageing wound.

As for what I feel about Flight Attendant issues here, What's the point... We have gone over hand and fist on everything from MT, VF's, Reserve systems, secondary lines, opening bases, working on an EAST contract negotiated in 2nd BK, etc... What's the point if NOBODY listens...

It's just alot of HOT air...

Just my opinion...

 

[beachboy]

What who when.. :huh: .Can't Compute...
Am I sitting here agreeing with safteystud? Yes I am at every last word of that post! Exactly how I feel.

 

[BajaBabe]

I agree with both of you life is short and lets face it choose your path. I still believe that life will get better I just has Arlin Spector on my flight what a joy of a man.Take Care and for God Sakes HAPPY BUNNY HOP DAY.......OLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Travelpro72]

Safety Stud is 100% right. What we have is here to stay. Even if the east contract expired.....how long does it take from there. We can bang pots and pans and shout, "we're mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore". Guess what, YES you will my dears. Until the Pilots iron out their issues and close sections of their contract that the AFA negotiating committee wants "me-too'd" our contract goes into PARK. There will be no contract to send out for a vote until 2025 the way things look right now. Hell we'll colonize Mars first.

With all that aside I do hope everyone had a Happy Easter wherever you are.

 

[HottootrotNyc]

I have a question for all of you at US. Do you stay with the pilot's on all trip's and through out the entire trip? At Continental on the 737 trip's we use to stay with the pilot's the entire trip, now if we have 4 leg's in one day we can have up to 4 different group's of pilot's. The 757/767 domestic trip's have always been this way. It work's out very well by increasing productivity, and increasing the amount of time we fly in a trip. Lately we have been having alot of 30+ hour 4 day trip's. I flew a 757 trip blocked at 36 hour's and with over's walked away with 37:30 at the end of the trip.

I have read through every airline's contract since we are starting to talk about what we want in our next one here at CAL. I could not understand your reserve system and how you bid for line's. It seem's so complicated. At CAL we have straight reserve, and for bidding line's are pre-built. Then we have vacation line's, they take the trip's off of the flight attendant's line and build a line out of about 4 different people's trip's. Then we have what we call a move up line, if there is alot of excess trip's, they will put a certain amount of people on a list and call you and let you know they can build you a line for the month.

What type of system do you all want at US? I don't like Delta's system at all. I am a former Delta/Song flight attendant and the system is very unequal, and it really require's for the airline to have PBS. PBS violte's seniority *OFTEN*, and if you fly high time and your base is small, you can forget it. All the trip's are given out during bidding, and you really need to rely on picking up from other f/a's. I like the straight reserve system and the fact that we as reserve's can pick up on our reserve day's. I want the option to be able to pick up on day's off, and am glad we don't have the T/O option. This would cause alot of problem's in my opinion. So how does your system really work and what are they learn toward's in the new contract?

 

[Travelpro72]

Our f/a contract is so absolutely complex it is almost beyond explanation. If you think the reserve section was hard to understand you should see the complexity though (flexibility) you have as a line holder or as they call it at Rusty Air.....A Block. The contract that is being negotiated (though it won't get done) in many ways is our east group wanting to hold onto a lot of "old ideas" and pasting them together to say, "Hey look ya'll we thought outside the box and brought you an innovative contract that works for YOU". It is not. If your contract is up soon and some at Continental are looking at the US airways contract......keep on movin'. Don't even bother to understand it. It's an UNFAIR system and it pits everyone against each other. We have a severely broken, out of date and archaic system
OH yeah, how could I forget the fact that our system will keep you on reserve in your biggest bases anywhere from 11 years and up. Sweet.

 

[HottootrotNyc]

I tried reading through the entire contract but there was so much I didn't understand. I was just trying to get good ideas and put them forward for our new contract. There was so much in there and so many side letters about shuttle f/a's and other stuff from former mergers. Reserve in our IAH base and HTA base is the longest, 8-9 years Domestic and 10 years International. So do you guys stay with the pilots Domestically or no? I also woondered what productive trips look like from say LGA. Is it all shuttle stuff or trancons to after a leg to PHL or CLT. Sorry! I am just curious about your airline....

 

[Travelpro72]

The east contract dictates a lot of "me-too" clauses. We stay together with our front end on domestic along with international. LGA tends to be shuttle by majority but they do have other airbus trips that will fly around the system both domestic and (islands I think) first going through PHL or CLT. As for side letters, I think we have more of them than actual contract.

Oh one more thing. Sharing pairings with our pilots restricts our ability to have higher time trips. Our average 4 day is in the low 20+00 hour range. We have a few we can find (good luck) that are around 24+00. Our average trips are 1days 5 hours, 2days 10 hours, 3 days 15 hours and 4days are 20 hours. If there is deadheading in there the trips are lower than the average minimums and involves claims that many STILL don't know how to do. Go figure.

 

[beachboy]

I am staying out of the Me Too issue because it's a dead horse and I think my position is known. But the reason our 4 days don't pay 25:00 anymore is because we were hijacked out of our duty rigs and min days. Blame that, not the me too for low paying trips. I better see some imporvement in this "new" contract on those rigs and min days or I will push #2 for NO.

 

[PHL BULL]

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Start there! All I can say is we are in for one rude awakening this summer. They are planning to run staffing at bare bones with seasonal INT. They can't even cover other bases trips without leeching off PHL it seems. I think this will spell the end for whoever does the staffing around here. Cover your eyes...a train wreck is about to occur.

the T/A build up is not untill june then we will see more lines, min line is 70hr. I was told that if we don't get a new contract before the one we have now expires we snap back to the 2000 contract...if this is true we should drag our feet and hold out for what was a good contract...anyone know if this is the case?

 

[beachboy]

No, false. Only the pilots pay snaps back. -_-

 

[Itestwell]

the T/A build up is not untill june then we will see more lines, min line is 70hr. I was told that if we don't get a new contract before the one we have now expires we snap back to the 2000 contract...if this is true we should drag our feet and hold out for what was a good contract...anyone know if this is the case?

No, the TA buildup is in May, just as it always has been. Actually, some of the TA buildup was even earlier this year, starting in April.... That aside, there were a lot fewer lines this May than in past Mays.....

It amazes me the rumors out there that FA's believe, hook line and sinker. Heads in the sand.......

 

[Travelpro72]

Ya know what amazes me even more? That the LECP or someone else delegated from the Local 70 office has not sent out an E-line since the meeting. Certainly NOW where lots are absolutely TICKED OFF (putting it mild). I understand there was a reduction of flying even with the ramp up of t/a. So let the local office DO WHAT THE HELL THEY WERE ELECTED TO DO and communicate to your membership. I'm sooooooo over how the office is being run. TOTAL BS. It's not a favor John to write an E-line. Do your g'damn job and talk to your flight attendants. If there was communication the RUMORS would die. Hell I'd print E-lines and shut people down right on the jumpseat. Unreal.

 

[beachboy]

And you are surprised why? John is an administrator not a leader. He could not lead a Mr Ha Ha clown parade out of a wet paper bag! He should be keeping the books at a dental office in Paduka, KY. "We are under budget" "i answer phone calls" ......so freaken whoopee doo! Scheduling answers the phone too so what? Can't cut the mustard or take the heat dont' run for office.

 

[Travelpro72]

Ya know I never thought that Local 70 would see someone as whacked out and under performing as Laura Albert but I guess never say never. It's like watching Jaws. Just when you think it's safe to go back in the water.........Jaws 2. (insert Jaws theme here). It's bad enough that flight attendants have to deal with scheduling and company issues but to have these issues with your union. C'mon already. Like beachboy was saying, if you can't take the heat don't run for office. People are po'd and deserve and expect a response IMMEDIATELY not next week from their Local office. People like to know they have a union looking out for them. Get it moving Daddy O.