October FA Attrition

[kirkpatrick]

Attrition for the month of October totaled 68 of the active FA's plus an additional 26 TWAers retired from furlough status.

MK

 

[eolesen]

Enough is enough already. Pilot recalls are already starting, so my guess is that FA recalls will have to start sometime in 2Q07. But that's just a hunch.

 

[Nor'Easta]

Enough is enough already. Pilot recalls are already starting, so my guess is that FA recalls will have to start sometime in 2Q07. But that's just a hunch.

You would think that would be the case. With AA offering Bid Leaves every month and PLOA's every so often, I doubt a recall will happen.

 

[TWAnr]

...so my guess is that FA recalls will have to start sometime in 2Q07. But that's just a hunch.

The company made it quite clear in its discussions with the union concerning extension of recall rights that no flight attendants recalls are contemplated before 3Q08.

 

[TWskyliner]

deleted

 

[FWAAA]

The company made it quite clear in its discussions with the union concerning extension of recall rights that no flight attendants recalls are contemplated before 3Q08.

I don't doubt it. Park 19 more 757s (the ex-TWA lease returns) over the next year or so and you obviate the need to recall flight attendants for a while. And even though oil is down some from its recent spikes, $60/bbl is still too costly to keep flying all 300 MD-80s. Park another two or three dozen of them and you buy another year or two of freedom from recalls.

 

[kirkpatrick]

Sounds logical on the surface, but we've learned in the last couple of weeks that the company's plans for 2007 do NOT call for any appreciable downsizing. With fares high, oil down and profits back, I can't see any reason why AA should want to cut back anymore.

If the company plans roughly the same flying hours in 2007 as 2006, and they actually have plans "not to recall" (as opposed to "no plans to recall") then they must have close to 1000 too many FA's today. Why, then, don't they furlough, or at least offer more leaves?

Sorry, the numbers just don't work.

MK

 

[jimntx]

I talked with a manager at DFW today. The company is doing nothing until they know whether or not they will be awarded the China flight (DFW-Beijing, isn't it?).

Also, this manager repeated to me that DFW-D and IDF are still VERY overstaffed. From what I hear, so are ORD and MIA. That's why they offered bid leaves in those bases for November.

That being said, let's remember that there is a small, but telling difference between "there are no plans to recall in 2007" and "we are not going to recall in 2007."

 

[kirkpatrick]

There are always going to be times when staffing is less critical than others. That's what's so nice about bid leaves, PVD's, minileaves, etc; they allow flexibility to the company and the FA both. The months of Nov, Dec and Jan are good examples of times when the beginning and end of the month have very different needs.

Recalls will come when the critical periods, not the slack periods, can no longer be staffed adequately.

And I wonder what "way overstaffed" really means. If they're really WAY overstaffed, why are the people there in the first place?

MK

 

[jimntx]

And I wonder what "way overstaffed" really means. If they're really WAY overstaffed, why are the people there in the first place?
MK

Because they have always been there. And, since most of the very senior ones don't fly at all or as little as possible, the last thing the company wants to do is force transfer out the more junior f/as who are willing to actually get on airplanes that have passengers on them.

By the way, I got an answer to the question I submitted about why the retirements and the total attrition rate for September have yet to be posted. It seems they are short of help at Centerport (I feel their pain, don't you?). I was informed rather tersely that posting the retirements had to be done manually and was time-consuming and it would be done if and when someone had time to do it. Well, 'scuuuuse me.

 

[eolesen]

I don't doubt it. Park 19 more 757s (the ex-TWA lease returns) over the next year or so and you obviate the need to recall flight attendants for a while. And even though oil is down some from its recent spikes, $60/bbl is still too costly to keep flying all 300 MD-80s. Park another two or three dozen of them and you buy another year or two of freedom from recalls.

Granted, attrition for pilots is easier to predict due to age and you can't understaff a cockpit crew, but I'd expect that both tanks would run dry about the same time.

 

[jimntx]

They posted the statistics on the website for both September and October this morning. Not possible to do too much "analysis" of the numbers. Only 19 of the 30 retirees for September gave permission for their names to be posted on the website; so, an average seniority for the retirees would not be very accurate. Also, when you click on the link to see October retirees, you get a list of the PLOAs that were granted for the last 3 months of the year. Oops!

September
Domestic: 32
International: 28
Total: 60
Retirees: 30
Average Seniority: 23

October
Domestic: 42
International: 26
Total: 68
Retirees: 36
Average Seniority: 23

With 50% or better of the attrition being retirements and the average seniority being only 23 years, I would think this indicates that more and more junior people are quitting.

Interesting side note...for the first time with the September retiree list, TW retirees who allowed their names to be published are included in the list.