Welcome to My Nightmare-AFA thread 12/8-

[theFLYonthewall]

Good points, but, as Trav pointed out, most major airlines are not tied to their pilots, and are not constantly filing grievances. The key is for everyone, schedulers and FA's alike, to be educated and understand the rules of the contract. It amazes me how many of our FA's have absolutely no clue when it comes to the current contractual rules. If you don't know the rules, and don't carry your contract, you are going to be burned.

With respect to the FAR's protecting us, I have talked to many FA's at other airlines, and they have a negotiated duty day in black and white. Period. No room for misinterpretation. It is what it is, and you will not be required to fly over that.(*Think about it: when was the last time the pilots backed you up on the phone with scheduling?) Again, the FA's will have to educate themselves on these rules, because they won't have the pilots to lean on to take care of the mess.

Interesting discussion for sure, I just think we can be a heck of a lot more productive, with proper restrictions and work rules, if we separate.

I am not disagreeing with anything you are saying. However just because every other airline does it doesn't mean its a better deal for the flight attendants. As I said I don't know any other way this is all I've known. Yes it would make us more productive then again are we going to be losing blocks because of it? I certainly do not want to see any additional loss of lines or furloughs because of it. Think about it--if you have for example 50 lines the pilots built to their contract/far legalities. Would we still get 50 with ours? We certainly won't get more if we are being more efficent and more productive and have the ability to fly more time in a day then the pilots. What concerns me is would we need all the flight attendants we currently have if we start creating and building our own trips. If the pilots are building 20 hour 4 days and we are building 28 hour 4 days, thats 32 additional block hours of time. There is only so many block hours per month per base. Less lines, less lineholders, less people.

 

[NoMoreKoolAid]

I am glad someone is thinking this through instead of blindly opening this can of worms. I know you all would be the first screaming when the blocks dry up and furlough come. The company is drooling for us to seperate. They don't care about our contract now, here you think they will follow your rigs and duty days? I can hear it now! How dare AFA allow this!

 

[Zarah]

I am not disagreeing with anything you are saying. However just because every other airline does it doesn't mean its a better deal for the flight attendants. As I said I don't know any other way this is all I've known. Yes it would make us more productive then again are we going to be losing blocks because of it? I certainly do not want to see any additional loss of lines or furloughs because of it. Think about it--if you have for example 50 lines the pilots built to their contract/far legalities. Would we still get 50 with ours? We certainly won't get more if we are being more efficent and more productive and have the ability to fly more time in a day then the pilots. What concerns me is would we need all the flight attendants we currently have if we start creating and building our own trips. If the pilots are building 20 hour 4 days and we are building 28 hour 4 days, thats 32 additional block hours of time. There is only so many block hours per month per base. Less lines, less lineholders, less people.

Not necessarily. You could be working more hours per day, but less days per month/block. It would just depend on how it is negotiated. Working 90 hours in 9 10-hour days or 90 hours in 12 7.5-hour days. (Just an example).

 

[theFLYonthewall]

Not necessarily. You could be working more hours per day, but less days per month/block. It would just depend on how it is negotiated.
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If there is 800 block hours for the month on say the 319, lets say the pilots currently build the lines to 80 hours as per their contract and FAR legalities. So that gives us 80 lines x 3 flight attendants. We still only have that 800 hours to play with and build our pairings and lines with. If we build our pairings higher that means less trips and our lines higher to say 95 hours that is 15 hours more per line. Which will result in less lines, which will result in less lineholders and possibly less flight attendants needed. For the company this is all a bonus. For the flight attendants does it benefit the entire membership or just 70% of us?

I am certainly not saying I am opposed to splitting however if it is going to cost someone their line or their job. I will not vote for it.

 

[theFLYonthewall]

Just a correction to my previous post..800 block hours with lines built at 80 hours gives us 10 lines. What are we going to get building the pairings and lines higher? If we build the lines at 90 that's a loss of slightly over 2.5 lines using the 800 block hour figure as the example. If you build the lines at 95 hours thats a loss of almost 8.5 lines.

Why not negotiate better duty rigs, that will make the pairings pay more. Then we won't be doing 10 hours of hard time a day. People won't lose their lines or their jobs.

 

[Zarah]

Just a correction to my previous post..800 block hours with lines built at 80 hours gives us 10 lines. What are we going to get building the pairings and lines higher? If we build the lines at 90 that's a loss of slightly over 2.5 lines using the 800 block hour figure as the example. If you build the lines at 95 hours thats a loss of almost 8.5 lines.

Why not negotiate better duty rigs, that will make the pairings pay more. Then we won't be doing 10 hours of hard time a day. People won't lose their lines or their jobs.

No jobs would be lost if the union negotiates the provisions correctly. If what you are flying today is what you would be flying then, how does that include a job loss? The difference would be how many days you fly to get those hours. It could be the same, more, or less days.

Has anybody seen what the union is talking to the company about with regard to the FA/Pilots staying together or splitting?