Flight Attendant TA Questions & Answers

[FWAAA]

Crew rest seats:  also a loss.  Currently at US, we have rest seats on all transatlantic.  Say bye, bye on LHR, DUB, GLA, EDI, you get the picture.

WRONG.   Of the cities on your list, the only ones scheduled for less than seven hours are DUB and EDI.   LHR, GLA and other European destinations are all scheduled for  7.00+
 

where is the language regarding crew rest seats... your statement would indicate they are gone for 9 hour and possibly longer flight? and I presume that applies to all FAs? if so, that is big.

just curious, what aircraft types does AA and UA operate which have dedicated FA seats (on the main cabin or above/below deck facilities) that routinely operate flights up to the limit of the new rule (whatever you say it is)?

The US flight attendant is whining that they'll not enjoy crew rest on flights scheduled for less than 7:00 hours, and you interpret that as "APFA gave away crew rest on flights of 9 hours or longer?   For chrissakes, why not read the public summary provided by the APFA?    Crew rest on all flights scheduled for 7:00+
 
So this is where you got the erroneous nonsense about crew rest?   So the pmUS side loses crew rest on PHL-DUB and PHL-EDI.   BFD.    AFAIK, US airplanes have no dedicated flight attendant crew rest facilities - on the A330s I believe that the crew uses the exit rows for rest.    What a crappy-ass airline with a crappy-ass union representing its FAs.   They couldn't persuade Cheap-Ass Parker to give them dedicated crew rest seats.   So the FAs take the exit row seats - the only economy seats with any legroom, leaving tall customers folded into E- seats.  
 
AA's widebodies, as others have posted, all feature dedicated crew rest seats and/or bunks for the flight attendants.    Don't know if the APFA won concessions from management to install crew rest seats on the crappy-ass US A330s or not.   

 

[WorldTraveler]

nope, I asked repeatedly for the guideline of what flights would be affected and there was no response.

how is it you that you, a non-AA employee and certainly not an FA, all of the sudden can speak to and defend an issue which AA FAs haven't addressed.

as for crew rest, AA's 767s and 772s may have crew rest but they are on the main passenger deck and are only lie flat on the 777s, are they not - and there are only 4 of them, right? what is the staffing on an AA 772 but if it is more than 8, then you can't give everyone a chance at even a couple hours of crew rest which is about all you get on a 9 to 10 hour flight anyway.

and if APFA did not succeed at standardizing crew rest facilities, then mgmt. did indeed win. let us know the answer to that.

 

[FWAAA]

as for crew rest, AA's 767s and 772s may have crew rest but they are on the main passenger deck and are only lie flat on the 777s, are they not - and there are only 4 of them, right? what is the staffing on an AA 772 but if it is more than 8, then you can't give everyone a chance at even a couple hours of crew rest which is about all you get on a 9 to 10 hour flight anyway.

As currently configured,  AAs 772s are staffed with 11 FAs IIRC.   Flight attendants do not rest at the same time, so the four bunks on the 772 are sufficient.  I don't have the contract handy right now, but I do not believe that AA's FAs get two hours of rest on a 9-10 hour flight.  I don't recall the exact figures, but I believe each FA gets a shorter rest period than two hours.   
 
AA's 763s feature four reclining seats with curtains - the seats are like business class seats were 15 years ago, with substantial recline, legrests and footrests.   

 

[WorldTraveler]

again, I based my question - which was a question based on the statement about crew rest that would involve destiantions including LHR which is longer than 7 hours. If that post was incorrect, then I asked repeatedly for verification.

Since you say the TA is public, can you provide a link?

I will simply say that if AA FAs on a 9 or 10 hour flight get 2 hours or less of crew rest, other carriers are providing more rest opportunity than AA is. and they are also doing it in facilities that are off of the main passenger deck and with bunks even on 767s.

 

[AirLUVer]

again, I based my question - which was a question based on the statement about crew rest that would involve destiantions including LHR which is longer than 7 hours. If that post was incorrect, then I asked repeatedly for verification.Since you say the TA is public, can you provide a link?I will simply say that if AA FAs on a 9 or 10 hour flight get 2 hours or less of crew rest, other carriers are providing more rest opportunity than AA is. and they are also doing it in facilities that are off of the main passenger deck and with bunks even on 767s.

Not that you ever cite where you pull your numbers from, but you can find the information regarding FA Crew Rest on www.apfa.org, click on the T/A link on the home page. And there is a pdf of the highlights of the agreement.

 

[WorldTraveler]

thanks for the link... I'll put it on my to do list.

What numbers do you want me to cite?

flight times are pretty common knowledge, esp. for anyone that has any experience at all with flying.

 

[silverbird007]

Why doesn't the ignore feature hide quotes too? WT why are you so obsessed with the details of an airlines specific details on crew rest, the only other people who would be so interested would be terrorist. You need to get a life! You are way beyond strange. Maybe you should be reported to AA corporate security. And save yourself from typing a 500 word response because I'm not going to read it.

 

[WorldTraveler]

no, terrorists are not the only persons who have an interest in your crew rest facilities.

It has been repeatedly discussed on this forum and the subject of crew rest was raised by a US FA. I simply responded to it.

Based on what has been said here, AA/US still have industry UNCOMPETITIVE crew rest facilities and regulations for when they can be used.

You want to latch onto the "industry leading mantra" until the spotlight is focused on the subject and then it becomes very clear that not only does the AA/APFA contract or TA not even include industry standard financial terms but it is not even industry competitive regarding a number of key work rules and protections.

 

[robbedagain]

great post silverbird..   he is sooo ANTI AA and PRO DL   I have him on ignore

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Based on what has been said here, AA/US still have industry UNCOMPETITIVE crew rest facilities and regulations for when they can be used.

I didn't know that crew rest facilities are a parameter used to measure airline competitiveness.

But we should not be surprised since you're well known for fabricating terms & definitions to suit your narrative.

BTW: I do find it fascinating that somebody can be so critical of AA cabin configuration on the A321s used in the transcon market or the B777-300er cabin configuration (i.e. too generous, waste of space) and therefore uncompetitive. Yet here you are praising DL (surprise! surprise!) for offering allegedly superior crew rest facilities and therefore being far more competitive carrier. Interesting that in DLs case it is a compatitive/strategic advantage and not a waste of resources.

 

[etops1]

Galley Princess .. Where did we lose on crew rest ? It says in the highlites that we get crew rest on intl flight sched to 7hrs or more . This is what is currently in our LUS contract . LAA went to our way of doing it . They currently get crew rest on flts scheduled to 8hrs or more if I beleive . So why would we lose crew rest seats on LHR/ MAN/ EDI and other UK dest ? We get currently get crew rest sears on DUB SNN EDI MAN LHR GLA and others with the current 7 hr rule . So why would it change with the 7 hr rule still holding ? Just curious .

 

[WorldTraveler]

etops,
thanks for directing the question regarding crew rest to the appropriate person who first raised it.
 

I didn't know that crew rest facilities are a parameter used to measure airline competitiveness.

But we should not be surprised since you're well known for fabricating terms & definitions to suit your narrative.

BTW: I do find it fascinating that somebody can be so critical of AA cabin configuration on the A321s used in the transcon market or the B777-300er cabin configuration (i.e. too generous, waste of space) and therefore uncompetitive. Yet here you are praising DL (surprise! surprise!) for offering allegedly superior crew rest facilities and therefore being far more competitive carrier. Interesting that in DLs case it is a compatitive/strategic advantage and not a waste of resources.

airline competitiveness as a product is only related to crew rest if the crew is tired or haggardly looking because they don't have or didn't get adequate rest.

if as some have noted, Princess' assessment of the loss of crew rest is not accurate, then there should be little change other than there apparently will be a difference between the facilities on AA and US aircraft.

I am sure that DL very carefully considered the extra weight that it takes to put a FA crew rest cabin in the belly of their 767s as well as in the overhead areas of the 777s. NW already used the cargo bin fitted crew rest on the 330s so I'm sure DL knew the issues that affected NW.

but they did it anyway. and the benefit is that virtually all of DL's longhaul widebody aircraft have lie flat crew rest facilities off of the main passenger deck which provides a better environment for rest and also frees up seats to be sold.

UA also has a number of aircraft with lie flat crew rest facilities as well - not sure but it is likely higher than the number of aircraft AA has including off of the main passenger deck.

for int'l airlines and their operations, crew rest facilities ARE a major part of their operations and the resources they provide to their employees.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

airline competitiveness as a product is only related to crew rest if the crew is tired or haggardly looking because they don't have or didn't get adequate rest.
..........................
for int'l airlines and their operations, crew rest facilities ARE a major part of their operations and the resources they provide to their employees.

Quantify the crew rest facilities as it relates to competitiveness so that you can actually demonstrate with real data (numbers) that AA is better/worse/same compared to UA, DL, etc.

What's that? You can't because it is a metric you made up? OK good day!

 

[WorldTraveler]

to use the term that a lot of union supporters here throw around, it is a quality of life issue.

You simply cannot deny that DL and UA have been willing to invest in facilities that provide a better work experience for their FAs than AA has.

Any rational person knows that a lie flat crew cabin off of the main passenger deck provides a more restful experience than one placed in the middle of the cabin or worse yet with seats in the passenger cabin that may or may not even be surrounded by a curtain.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Funny, as someone who is actually affected by these work rules, protections, and crew rest facilities, I care very little not at all about what you have to say