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Vacation Bidding 2005

See also: 2005 UAL Vacation Bidding Package (.pdf)

It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year again, but we will soon be bidding for our 2005 Vacations. During the past year, almost everyone has had the chance to see first-hand the impact of the changes to Section 18 – Vacations.

It has been a period of dramatic change. The following is an overview of the annual vacation bidding process for your review.

The first step in the annual vacation bidding process is the assignment of Reserve letters. Section 10.A. of our Contract requires that 2005 Reserve letters be assigned and posted in domiciles in September. This must be done during the month prior to vacation bidding. The list establishes the top 25% of the domicile who are exempt from Reserve rotation and assigns “A” or “B” to all Flight Attendants with more than five years seniority. You will obtain important information by checking the domicile seniority list known as the Reserve Letter List containing the 2005 Lineholder status and Reserve letters.

Vacation Bid Periods (Section 18.E)

Vacation Accrual and Bidding Seniority

The number of vacation days accrued and your vacation bidding seniority are based on Company seniority, which may be very different from your Flight Attendant seniority. When vacation bids open, a seniority list for vacation bidding will be available in your domicile. The list will show your seniority for vacation bidding and the total number of days you have accrued. Vacation accrual is based on completion of years of service. As an example, if you were hired on December 29, 1994 , and you complete 10 years of service on December 29, 2004 , you will have 30 vacation days to bid for 2004. The number of vacation days you have accrued will be included in your VACBID screen.

The number of vacation days increase as you reach specific seniority levels as provided in Section 18.B of the Contract with a maximum accrual of 44 days.

The Company will reduce your vacation days accrued if you have been on Leave of Absence (LOA); paid or intermittent Family Medical Leave (FMLA); if you have been on furlough status, voluntary or involuntary; or if you have been on suspension for 30 days or more. The only exception to this list is Occupational Leave status, which will not impact vacation accrual. If you are impacted by a reduction in your vacation, your vacation accrual will be reduced by 1/12 for each 30 days or major portion, on a prorated basis (Section 18.C). If you used day-at-a-time-vacation (DAT) between November 1, 2003 and December 30, 2003 , your vacation accrual will be reduced in 2006. Once vacation accruals are posted in the VACBID screen, adjustments are not made.

The CRAF Side Letter of Agreement on page 231 of the Contract provides an additional vacation benefit for those Flight Attendants who fly (1) one or more CRAF IDs covering sixteen (16) days or more in a given month. These Flight Attendants will accrue an additional two and one-half (2 ½) vacation days to be taken in the following year. Days off between consecutive CRAF trips will count as assigned CRAF days for this purpose. Flight Attendants receiving such credit will be identified on the vacation accrual schedule posted in each domicile.

Bidding Strategies

Flight Attendants who were on furlough during 2004 will have reduced vacation accrual or, in some cases, no vacation to bid. Both of these factors may drive a reduction in the vacation allotments throughout the year. You may find that you can hold a vacation period that your seniority may not have held in the past. We strongly recommend you bid the vacation period you want to hold.

Throughout the year, you can significantly increase your income by scheduling yourself to fly holidays. Keep this in mind when planning your vacation bidding. You may want to avoid bidding a vacation period that will encompass a holiday, thereby precluding you from receiving any holiday pay. There are five (5) contractually paid holidays each year, one of which is your birthday. The remaining four (4) paid holidays are specific for the country of your domicile (Section 2.Q).

Other Bidding Considerations

• If you have at least 14 days and less than 30 days, you may split your vacation in two periods of seven (7) days or more.
• If you have at least 30 days, you may split your vacation into three (3) periods.
• You may span two calendar months using 14, 15 or 16 vacation days, providing you have at least four (4) full days in each month.
• If you bid to span two months using 17 or more days, you must have a minimum of seven (7) vacation days in each month.
• If more than 6 vacation days fall into your Reserve month, you will not be eligible for a move-up line until after the period of vacation.

Sacred Days

Days off preceding and following a scheduled vacation are considered part of your vacation and are “sacred” days (Section 18.M). The Company cannot assign training or meetings on those days unless you have specifically bid for them.

Vacation Pay

Lineholders are paid 2:48 per vacation day, prorated for any partial day. Premium pay for vacation applies as provided in Sections 5.B.3.b. and c. and 12.D.4.e. Additionally, if a Flight Attendant’s vacation period results in her/him being projected under her/his minimum guarantee for the month due to the elimination of trips that fall in the vacation period, her/his guarantee shall be adjusted. The new projection will equal vacation pay plus trips scheduled and this may be below 65 hours.

Section 18.M. of the Contract provides that if a vacation starts or ends between a scheduled outbound and return flight, a Flight Attendant may, at her/his option, move the vacation period forward or backward in order to fly the scheduled ID. Contact your Schedule Planner immediately after monthly schedules are released should you opt to fly your trip.

In a 30-day month, Reserves are paid 3:57 hours per scheduled day of availability encompassed by the vacation. In a 31-day month, Reserves are paid 3:45 per scheduled day of availability. Reserves whose vacation encompasses no days of Reserve availability may move the vacation to encompass two (2) days of availability. Contact your schedule planner if you find yourself in this situation.

Vacation Advance

The Company shall provide, on written request, a partial advance up to sixty (60%) of pay to a Flight Attendant for the purpose of vacation. This advance must be requested at least seven (7) days prior to the beginning of the vacation period. (Section 18.P) Contact the Flight Attendant Service Center for assistance.

Day at a Time Vacation (DAT)

Each Flight Attendant may take up to ten (10) vacation days a year separate from her/his awarded vacation period(s), as provided by our Contract in Section 18.U. These days will be deducted from the Flight Attendant’s allotment for the following year’s vacation.

If you used day-at-a-time-vacation (DAT) between November 1, 2004 and December 30, 2004 , your vacation accrual will be reduced in 2006. Once vacation accruals are posted in the VACBID screen, adjustments are not made.

After the award of relief lines and prior to the beginning of the month, DAT vacation days will be awarded in seniority order. Throughout the month, DAT will be available only to the extent that regular ANP is available and DAT days have equal priority. DAT days will be paid at a rate of 2.8 hours ( 2:48 ) per day, the same as the daily vacation rate for a Lineholder. DAT cannot be made up. If awarded DAT, a Flight Attendant shall have her/his minimum monthly guarantee and/or line guarantee reduced accordingly. For example, if you were to use 2 DAT days for a 10-hour trip with a 79-hour line guarantee and a 65-hour minimum, you would be paid 5:36 for the two DAT days and your line guarantee would be reduced by 4:24 to 74:36 and your minimum to 60:36 (Section 18.R). Reserves using DAT are also paid 2:48 per day and their Reserve minimum is reduced from 75 hours.

Reserve Considerations

Lineholders may, as provided in Section 10.A.1.e. of the Contract, bid reserve lines.

If you are a rotating Reserve, consider your Reserve letter prior to bidding your vacation. 2005 Reserve letters are effective February 2005-January 2006. One Reserve letter trade is allowed each year. If a domicile needs to realign Reserve letters to restore the balance of Reserve seniority, you will be allowed an additional Reserve letter trade. (Section 10.A.4. and 6.)

You will be eligible to serve Reserve based on the following (Section 10.A.1.b.):

Some rotating Reserves prefer to bid their vacations in Reserve months, therefore minimizing their Reserve availability; others prefer to bid their vacations in Lineholder months, thus maximizing days off. If you reach the five-year Reserve cap during 2005, you will not know whether you will be an “A” or “B” until later in the year. This means, unfortunately, you will bid your vacation without knowing your respective Lineholder and Reserve months.

The Restructuring Agreement provides the Company with the ability to utilize a Reserve up to 87 hours in the third month of the quarter or to their quarterly maximum, if higher. Flight Attendants may wish to bid vacations at the end of the quarter in order to minimize the impact of the increased hours. Keep in mind, Section 10.B.2. of the Contract provides that a Reserve on vacation or ANP for seven (7) days or more will not be awarded a move-up line until after the period of unavailability. So, if you bid an end of month vacation as a Reserve, you will be by-passed on the Reserve move-up list during the month.

The Flight Attendant Schedule Quarters are:

No Bids and Insufficient Vacation Bids

If you have accrued less than 30 days vacation, but fail to submit a vacation bid, you will be assigned a vacation period during the secondary vacation bid process. If you have accrued 30 vacation days or more, you will be assigned a vacation period during the tertiary vacation bid process.

If you do not bid enough to cover your seniority, you will be assigned a vacation in one of the two following ways. During the primary bid process, the Company will award all primary bids. Insufficient bids will then be awarded in seniority order from working backward through the year, from December to January. If your secondary or tertiary bid is insufficient, you will automatically be assigned a vacation in inverse seniority order working forward through the year, from January through December. In this instance it would mean that if you have 1998 Company seniority, you will be assigned a vacation before someone with 1991 Company seniority.

Trading Vacations

You are allowed two vacation trades per year with another Flight Attendant (Section 18.S). All vacation trades must be completed two months before the first vacation. As an example, if you have a September vacation, you must submit your vacation trade request in July or earlier. There are two exceptions. Flight Attendants trading days in the same month are not bound to the requirement of trading two months prior to the vacation month. January trades must be submitted by December 15, and Flight Attendants trading days in the same month are not bound to the requirement of trading two months prior to the vacation month.

Trades between Flight Attendants involving vacation days awarded during primary vacation must be for the total number of primary vacation days. Trading your vacation with another Flight Attendant with fewer days will reduce your vacation. For example, Laurel has ten days of vacation and would like to trade with Hardy, who has eight days. If the trade is awarded, Laurel will lose 2 days of vacation. To avoid loss of vacation, we encourage you to trade the same number of days with your flying partners or use the interim vacation bidding process.

Interim Vacation Bids

Flight Attendants are allowed unlimited interim vacation bids. All un-awarded or vacated primary vacation days will be posted for interim vacation bids. You may split your vacation through the interim bid process as long as it does not give you more splits than you are allowed. For example, if you have a total of 16 days vacation, 10/1-10/16, you may submit an interim bid vacating 10/1-10/7 for 5/1-5/7.

The same two-month advance restriction applies to interim bidding as in vacation trading. The Company can waive this restriction based on the needs of service. You can interim bid a February vacation during the December interim bid process if there are available days posted.

If you are hospitalized, on jury duty or on an occupational for a major portion of your vacation, you may attempt to bid a later vacation using the interim bid process (Section 18.R.). Contact the Service Center to submit bids for these situations.

Transferring Flight Attendants must interim bid when arriving at their new. Interim vacation bidding may be done on Skynet at most locations.

Should you have additional vacation bidding questions, please contact your Local AFA office for assistance.

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