Sisters and Brothers:
Your IAM representatives met with the Company yesterday and would like to pass along the following information covered in the meeting:
Attrition
In regards to attrition, in October there were 61 CRJ and 13 ERJ Flight Attendants on the attrition list. Thus far in November there are 14 CRJ and 2 ERJ Flight Attendants on the list.
Staffing
The Company is concerned with coverage over the holidays and the impact it could have on the operation particularly on the CRJ/Delta Connection operation. We are working with the Company to develop an incentive plan in order to reward our members for their hard work while contributing to optimum operational performance. Depending on staffing on the CRJ side, there may be more incentive programs later in the year as well.
The Company is also concerned with the amount of overstaffing on the ERJ side at this time. However, in December we will have more block hours but it will be reduced again in January. If you bid on a job share in December and were not awarded it, please do not be discouraged from bidding for a job share in January, as it is very likely you will receive it in January. The possibility of short-term furloughs still exists for ERJ but we are working diligently to keep that from happening.
Pass Travel/Cabinseat Agreements
There have been rumors that if you’re a CRJ Flight Attendant and you transfer to DFW, you will retain DL pass travel until 2020. This is incorrect. Unless you retire before the end of the Delta operation, you will not receive DL pass travel until 2020.
However, keep in mind you will still have the option of the DL cabinseat agreement.
We also addressed the issue of the cabinseat agreements being in the Delta Connection name and what affect that may have on our agreements. The Company seemed confident that this would not affect our agreements, as they are between all the major carriers and we would now be under those same agreements only under the American Eagle/United Express path now. A thorough review of our cabinseat agreements is set to occur before the year’s end and at that time, we will follow up to make sure we are keeping you up to date.
Delta Takedown Update
We verified that as previously planned, four CRJ 900s will be coming out of service on Nov 4 and another four on Nov 30.. These aircrafts coming out of service are all a part of the previously planned and announced Delta take down.
Training & Facilities
The CRJ cabin trainer and the entire Training Department will eventually be transitioned to the IAH training facility. However, no specific dates are available yet.
Airline Transitions
Due to the short staffing on the CRJ operation, Skywest agreed for any of the CRJ Flight Attendants that are being hired to wait until their March class to begin their training. However they did agree to give them a January seniority date because the delay in their hiring was due to operational need within at ExpressJet.
DTW & ATL Parking
Unfortunately, while the Company did try to maintain DTW parking for those with parking in the base, once the base closes the DTW parking authority will not allow the Company to purchase parking.
Please be advised at the new ATL parking lot the bus is labeled ABM not XJT. We have advised the Company that some members were unaware and missed buses for this reason. The Company should be sending out a memo for clarification.
CRJ Part-Time Reserves
We addressed the issue of ensuring the reserve part-time Flight Attendants’ bids would be run and awarded correctly. The Company has worked with us and has assured us that there should be no issues in the bid for reserve part-time Flight Attendants.
ERJ Reserve Jobshare Leveling
There have been issues when it comes to leveling reserves that are job sharing at the same rate as regular reserves when their guarantee is only half of that of full time reserves. We believe we are in agreement with the Company that job sharing reserves should be leveled at half the rate of a full time reserve and should come to a resolution on this issue very soon.
Customer Service Performance
Our customer service performance for all of our mainline partners has been noted to be very high and in many cases exceeding that of our mainline partners and regional competitors.
Fleet Update
There have been no new changes to the fleet. The Company did not have any update on when we would be increasing our ERJ fleet to maximize the CPA for flying up to 126 ERJs. As we previously reported, we are currently flying 101 ERJs and increasing up towards 126 was dependent upon pilot staffing. Due to our high attrition pilot rate and the highly competition to attract new hires the pilot staffing is not at a place that puts us in a position to be able to add to our ERJ fleet at this time.
Rumors
There have been many rumors about a “big announcement” United is going to be making at A-tech next week. The Company has stated that this is simply a “thank you” from United for our outstanding performance.” There has also been rumors that IAD will be opening as a base for the UAX operation and the Company has stated that there are no plans to open an IAD base but periodically they run scenarios for which bases would work best for crews based on current aircraft and flying, so that may have been where the rumor began.
In Solidarity,
Sara Gonzales Marche’ Johnson-Cooper
GENERAL CHAIR SPECIAL REP.
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