Collective Bargaining Agreement

2005-2010

Section 9 -- Flight Assignments And Scheduling Procedures

SECTION 9
FLIGHT ASSIGNMENTS AND SCHEDULING PROCEDURES

Construction of Lines of Flying
1. All flying assigned to each domicile shall be shown in lines of flying and posted for bid, except the Company shall not be required to make up lines of flying equal to less than sixty-five (65) hours.
2. Lines of flying shall be constructed so that the average of all lines at each domicile is not less than sixty-nine (69) hours.
3. Domestic and International lines of flying shall be constructed so that the average of all lines at each domicile is not more than eighty-four (84) hours credited flight time in the first month of the calendar quarter, one hundred sixty-eight (168) hours combined maximum for the first two (2) months of the calendar quarter and two hundred fifty-two (252) hours combined maximum for the full calendar quarter.
  1. Priority will be given to scheduling pure lines of flying.
  2. With the concurrence of the Local Schedule Committee, and where no other International ID(s) is available to create additional line(s) of flying, a Domestic ID may be included in the International line of flying. In such event, the Local Schedule Committee and Onboard Scheduling will mutually agree which ID is to be used.
4. Charters in Lines
  1. Charter contracts which have been concluded prior to the 5th of the month preceding departure shall be assigned to a domicile and placed into lines of flying for the following month, except when it cannot be determined which domicile will be able to cover the charter most efficiently.
  2. Whenever possible, these IDs will be in the form of working round trips.
  3. If it is not possible to put the charter into a working round trip at the time it is placed in the line of flying, it will be shown as a one-way assignment and changed to a working round trip as soon as possible, but no later than departure time of the original charter. If no such return is available, the Flight Attendant will be scheduled to deadhead home. The return assignment must depart within twenty-one (21) hours after arrival of the original charter at its destination point.
  4. If the charter does not operate for any reason, or is rescheduled in such a manner that the Flight Attendant in whose line of flying the charter is shown cannot fly it for any reason, the Flight Attendant may be reassigned to any other ID(s) for which she/he is legal on the day(s) the charter ID was originally scheduled to operate. Priority will be given to reassigning to the same type of flying.
5. Relief lines of flying shall be constructed and made available to those Flight Attendants awarded “relief” (RLF) on a monthly basis. All flying created after the line award process and flying which becomes open as a result of vacancies, ANP, vacations, all leaves of absence and sick leave will be used, whenever possible, in the relief line construction process.
6. Additional flying remaining after the relief lines are awarded shall be placed in reserve move-up lines of flying and shall be offered throughout the month to reserves, in accordance with Section 10.B.1., except, if needed, to build lines of flying for transferring and/or returning to active status lineholder Flight Attendant(s), or when monthly or specific day(s) coverage would be adversely affected.
7. a. Domestic lines of flying shall be constructed using only Domestic IDs and International Lines of Flying shall be constructed using only International IDs, except as provided in Section 9.A.3.b.
  
  b. Notwithstanding sub-paragraph 7.a. above, Relief lines of flying may be constructed using both Domestic and International IDs after completing the process of constructing Domestic Relief lines and International Relief lines.
Schedule Changes
1. Flight Attendant schedules may be revised during the month if changes are made in airplane scheduling or if IDs are reassigned from or to another domicile after the lines of flying have been posted and/or awarded, provided that the new ID be for the same number of days or less than the originally scheduled ID.
2. In the event of a published operational schedule change, the Company and the LEC President or designee will meet and mutually decide on an individual domicile basis whether a rebid is necessary.
3. When schedules are revised without rebidding, the revisions will take into consideration the Flight Attendants' previous schedules.

Bidding Procedures

The minimum number of Flight Attendant bid positions on each aircraft will be as follows:

Aircraft Minimum FA Bid Positions

B-747
9

DC-10
7

B-767
4

B-767-300
5

B-757
4

B-737
3

B-777
8

A320
3

A319
3

It is understood that a flight may depart with less than the designated number of bid Flight Attendants; however, in no case will a flight depart with less than the FAA minimum.
All lines of flying and position assignments, (as described in Paragraph 6 below), shall be bid and awarded in seniority order in accordance with bids submitted by qualified Flight Attendants at each domicile. A Flight Attendant assigned to a particular cabin may be required to perform duties in the other cabin(s) on a given flight. Provided, that when the bidding procedure does not fill all premium positions with Flight Attendants of more than one (1) year of active service on the line, the most junior qualified lineholder with more than one (1) year of active service on the line will be assigned. If there are no Flight Attendants with more than one (1) year seniority, then the premium positions will be filled by any qualified Flight Attendant in seniority order.
a. At all domiciles and co-terminals, lines of flying will be posted for bidding. Bids will remain posted for at least seven (7) consecutive twenty-four (24) hour periods and shall be awarded as soon as possible after the close of bidding.

Whenever possible, the schedule will be as follows:

Posted no later than 0800 Hours of the 10th
Closed 0800 Hours of the 17th
Awarded no later than 0800 Hours of the 20th

In the event such schedules cannot be met, the Company shall notify the LEC President at the domicile affected. If more than one domicile is affected, the Company shall notify the MEC President.

b. Until such time as PBS is implemented, at all domiciles and co-terminals, lines of flying will be posted for bidding. Printed Key pages and Cover Letters will be available when bids open. Lines of Flying will be available no later than 0800 on the 15th to be avail-able for at least three (3) twenty-four hour (24) periods during the bid process. Bids will remain posted for at least six (6) consecutive twenty-four (24) hour periods and shall be awarded as soon as possible after the close of bidding.

Whenever possible, the schedule will be as follows:

Posted no later than 0800 Hours of the 12th

Closed 0800 Hours of the 18th

Awarded no later than 0800 Hours of the 20th

In the event such schedules cannot be met, the Company shall notify the LEC President at the domicile affected. If more than one domicile is affected, the Company shall notify the MEC President.

c. A Flight Attendant may leave a permanent bid on file. If a monthly bid is not received or if a Flight Attendant does not submit a bid into the award system, any permanent bid on file will be used in the primary and relief line award process.
The Company will make available to each Flight Attendant the lines of flying and key pages for her/his domicile for the following month.
1. These lines will indicate a planned pattern of IDs, days off, estimated number of relief lines, the projected actual and credited flight time of each line, weekends and holidays specially outlined, type of equipment and number of Flight Attendant positions. The reserve lines will indicate the days off and will have weekends and holidays specially outlined.
2. The key pages shall indicate duty time, ground time, layover time, layover location, including name and telephone number of the hotel used for legal rest as well as locations where crew lounge facilities are not available, total time away from home, total expenses, ID number, flight time for each flight, total accumulative flight time, total actual and credit time for each ID, effective days, type of equipment, departure and arrival time of each flight.
Copies of the line awards and position assignments shall be made available in sufficient quantities for the Flight Attendants to satisfy the needs of the domicile.

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6.	Position Assignments
	a.Purser position assignments (F) shall be available for bid each month.
	b. Should the aircraft require, the following position assignments shall be available for bid. Aft Purser (B-747).....Line # followed by B Forward Lower Galley (B-747, DC-10) or First Class Galley - Main Deck - for B-747-400, B-747-200 with more than 24 passenger seats..... Line # followed by C Aft. Lower Galley (B-747)..... Line # followed by D and on new or reconfigured equipment requiring a substantially similar service as required for the first class galley main deck.
	c. All remaining Flight Attendant positions will be bid as follows: Any Position..... Line # only Any Non-Premium Position..... Line # followed by Y Any Relief Line..... "RLF" Relief Line.....Line # Reserve Line..... Line #
	d. Cabin work assignments for non-premium positions will be filled based on aircraft type in accordance with Company standards. Such positions will be assigned in seniority order during the preflight briefing.

Block Bidding
Block bids of five (5) or more lines will be accepted and may be in either ascending or descending order, i.e., 35-49 or 49-35. Shown below are three (3) examples of Block Bids:
1. First available Open Position:
  Example: 17-25 or 25-17
2. First Available Purser Position:
  Example: 17F-25F or 25F-17F
3. First Available Cabin Position - exclusive of the Purser Position:
  Example: 17Y-25Y or 25Y-17Y
A Flight Attendant may bid a relief line at any point in order of bidding (see above for bidding code). If a Flight Attendant indicates a bid for a relief line and is awarded one by virtue of seniority, she/he must accept the assignment. However, she/he may indicate a bid for the type of flying she/he would like and this bid may be considered, if possible. Prior to the start of the bidding period, the approximate number of relief lines for the subsequent month will be made known to the Flight Attendants at the domicile. A Flight Attendant who will be on vacation during the month may not bid for a relief line.
Reserve lines may be bid by lineholders.
Flight Attendants who wish to bid to fly together must both indicate this on their bid screens and must submit identical bids. The bids of both Flight Attendants will be honored according to the seniority of the junior Flight Attendant.
A Flight Attendant may call in order to ascertain her/his bid award for the following month. The specific procedures and times for such calls will be established at each domicile with the recommendations of the LEC President considered.
A Flight Attendant who fails to indicate enough bids in accordance with Paragraph C.6 herein, shall be assigned to the numerically lowest numbered line of flying (i.e., one is less than six) or reserve line, as applicable, which remains unassigned after all the Flight Attendants senior to her/him have been assigned.
Flight Attendants transferring into a domicile may bid a line of flying at the domicile to which they are transferring in accordance with their system seniority, if their transfers are effective on or prior to the first of the month. If a Flight Attendant is notified of her/his transfer after bidding has closed at the domicile to which transferring, or if the transfer becomes effective after the first day of the month, she/he may bid any line of flying awarded and left vacant by resignations or transfers out at the domicile to which transferring.

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Legality for New Schedule
1. A Flight Attendant awarded a line of flying for which she/he will not be legal should follow trip trade procedures to make herself/himself legal.
2. The Flight Attendant can, and if necessary should, contact Onboard Scheduling for assistance in rescheduling if unable to resolve the legality problem by trip trading.
3. If a Flight Attendant is unable to make herself/himself legal at least seven (7) days before the schedule change (or as soon as possible, if she/he does not know the new schedule seven [7] days in advance) Onboard Scheduling will then reschedule the ID(s) involved in such a manner that the reassignment will not make the Flight Attendant illegal for her/his next scheduled ID or sequence of ID(s) or project her/him over ninety-two (92), one hundred eighty-four (184) or two hundred sixty-one (261) hours credited flight time. Only with the concurrence of the Flight Attendant may the reassignment interfere with scheduled unassigned days. Such reassignment shall be made prior to the departure of the last trip in the old month. This covers overlapping trips and trips dropped due to eight (8) in twenty-four (24), thirty (30) in seven (7), one (1) day off in seven (7), or twenty-four (24) in seven (7).
4. Priority will be given to assigning Flight Attendants to IDs in the same operation and the same number of days.
Adjustment of Time
1. Each Flight Attendant should check the projected time shown on the line of flying she/he is awarded. She/he should also keep records so she/he knows projected credited and actual flight time during the month. The Flight Attendant is also responsible for turning in flight time and holding time reports according to established procedures. The Flight Attendant and Onboard Scheduling are mutually responsible for keeping track of the Flight Attendant's projection throughout the month and quarter.
2. Flight Time Records
  During the month, a Flight Attendant will be able to ascertain from the Company the amount of flight and pay credit, expenses, and any special pay credit (e.g., holding time) for each ID flown during the month. Additionally, at the beginning of each month, the Flight Attendants will be given at each domicile or co-terminal, an ID by ID summary of the above mentioned items credited to that Flight Attendant in the preceding month.
3. Decreasing Time
  1. A Flight Attendant who is projected over two hundred sixty-one (261) hours in a quarter may follow trip trade procedures, after line bids have been awarded for the third month of the quarter to reduce projected time. If unable to reduce time by the beginning of the third month, she/he must contact Onboard Scheduling for rescheduling. The Flight Attendant may be projected to two hundred sixty-one (261) hours for the last ID of the quarter. If it is necessary for a Flight Attendant to drop an ID because of high time, her/his preference as to which ID is to be dropped will be subject to the concurrence of the Flight Attendant and Onboard Scheduling. In the event of a failure to reach agreement, the ID to be dropped will be subject to the approval of the Crew Resource Manager/designee.
  2. Priority will be given to assigning Flight Attendants to IDs in the same operation and the same number of days.
4. Increasing Time
  1. A Flight Attendant may work open IDs between scheduled IDs at any time during the month, provided this does not make the Flight Attendant illegal for her/his next scheduled ID or sequence of IDs and does not project the Flight Attendant over the following: Ninety-seven (97) or one hundred (100) hours for the first month in the quarter or one hundred ninety-four (194) or two hundred (200) hours for the second month in the quarter, combination of flight credit and projected time for the two (2) months, or two hundred seventy-six (276) or three hundred (300) credit hours for the quarter.
  2. A Flight Attendant who puts in an open flying request to make up ANP or PTO will have her/his maximum increased by the amount of ANP or PTO made up.
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Open Flying

Summary of Open IDs: A summary of all open IDs for the month will be available, and will be revised whenever additional flights become open. It must be accessible to Flight Attendants twenty-four (24) hours a day. A Flight Attendant must be qualified for the type of service as well as the equipment scheduled in order to be assigned a particular ID. "One Way" flights will be shown in the open flying summary as having an "open return." A Flight Attendant must be legal to fly the open flight and a like return flight without disrupting her/his assigned schedule. (See Assignment of Open IDs.) The Company can waive this restriction, if necessary, to accomplish coverage. Charters which cannot be placed in lines of flying will be listed separately in the open flying summary and will be entered there as soon as they become known.
IDs shall not be split apart from the configuration in the DSL, if by doing so, credit time would be increased. The Company may waive this restriction, if necessary, to accomplish coverage.
A Flight Attendant may sign up for open flying as follows:
1. By submitting an open flying request.
2. By calling in the request to Onboard Scheduling.
A Flight Attendant may specify the type of flying she/he wishes to pick up in accordance with Company procedures. If the particular types of flying the Flight Attendant specifies do not become open, she/he shall be by-passed.
A Flight Attendant who has signed up for open flying may remove her/his name at any time before being called or notified via the automated communication system for an open ID. Once called or notified, however, she/he must accept the assignment, except when the call or written notification is made less than four (4) hours before departure time.
IDs cease to be open when they are assigned by scheduling personnel in accordance with Paragraphs D, E and I of this Section.

Filling of Premium Positions

If the Flight Attendant originally assigned to a line of flying in any of the premium pay positions is unavailable for an ID, the most senior qualified Flight Attendant on board will have the first right of acceptance for the above mentioned positions. An exception is in the case of a trip trade, when the Flight Attendant trading assumes the premium pay position. If there are no volunteers, the open premium position(s) will be assigned to the junior qualified reserve on board.

In the event there are no reserves on board, the most junior lineholder will be involuntarily assigned to the open premium position(s). Flight Attendants with less than one (1) year seniority will not be allowed to assume a premium pay position unless no other more senior Flight Attendant is on the flight. If all the Flight Attendants have less than one (1) year seniority, the most senior Flight Attendant assumes the position.

If a Qualified Purser Position is open, it will be filled in the following order:

(1)

By the most senior purser qualified Flight Attendant who elects to fill the position (including anyone in a LQ position who is also purser qualified).

(2)

If a senior purser qualified Flight Attendant does not volunteer, the open qualified position is filled as follows:

(a)	By the most junior qualified reserve. If none is available, then,
(b)	By the Flight Attendant who picked up the position through the open flying process, if purser qualified. If not qualified, then,
(c)	By the most junior purser qualified Flight Attendant on board.

(3)

If no purser qualified Flight Attendant is on board, or for open non-qualified purser positions (i.e. North America narrowbody), the open premium position is filled as follows:

(a)	By the most senior Flight Attendant with at least one year of seniority who volunteers to work the position. If no one volunteers, then,
(b)	By the most junior reserve with at least one year of seniority. If none is available, then,
(c)	By the Flight Attendant who picked up the position through the open flying process, if she/he has at least one year seniority. If not, then,
(d)	By the most junior Flight Attendant on board with at least one year of seniority.
(e)	If there is no Flight Attendant with more than one year of seniority, then the premium position will be filled by the most senior Flight Attendant on the crew.

Note: The name of the Flight Attendant assigned an open premium position, either voluntarily or not, will appear in the purser position on the FLTLOF (marked by an asterisk, indicating that it was open). If the Flight Attendant was assigned the position involuntarily (through drafting or reassignment), she/he is not considered to have picked up the position through the open flying process.

Flight Attendants may be specially assigned to scheduled flights under the following conditions only:
1. The assignment must be on a voluntary basis.
2. Flight Attendants so assigned must be in addition to the required crew complement for that flight.
Charter flights may be specially assigned in accordance with the following conditions:
1. The chartering company or person(s) must request a specific Flight Attendant(s) by name in writing and she/he shall be used on the charter subject to her/his approval.
2. Should the Company deem it necessary to have a language speaking Flight Attendant on a charter, the Company shall have the ability to assign one (1) position on the ID to a Flight Attendant so qualified.
The Company shall keep daily open flying records which will include a description of all open IDs and the name(s) of the person(s) assigned to such IDs. These records shall be available for perusal by Flight Attendants.

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Schedule Trading
1. Trip Trading With Another Flight Attendant
  1. Flight Attendants based at the same domicile may be involved each month in exchanges of ID(s) with the approval of Onboard Scheduling.
  2. In the event of irregular operations, Flight Attendants involved in the exchange of ID(s) shall remain in each other's schedules until they can return to their own schedule after adequate rest periods.
2. Trip Trading for Charter Flights
  1. a. Flight Attendants will be limited to one such trade per month.
  2. The charter should not involve less trip days than the ID being traded.
  3. All other trip trade rules will apply.
  4. The trade will be submitted to Onboard Scheduling on a regular trip trade form and will be handled by Onboard Scheduling.
  5. Charter positions will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, if at the time the trade is being awarded there are more requests than there are assignments available, seniority order will be used.
  6. Onboard Scheduling will have the right to disapprove such a trade if it will result in a coverage problem.
3. ID For Days Off
  Lineholders may trade IDs in their lines of flying with another lineholder for days off (RDO).
4. Trip Trading for Open Flying
  1. Lineholders may trade ID(s) in their lines of flying with open flying.
  2. The daily allocation shall not be less than four percent (4%) of the total active Flight Attendant population for each domicile. If the domicile is assigned more than one type of flying, the allocation shall be proportioned based on the number of lineholder and relief positions for each type of flying assigned to the domicile. A fractional number will be rounded up. If the needs of the service permit, Onboard Scheduling may allow the daily allocation to be exceeded.
    
    Same day trades will be processed beyond the allocation outlined above up to ten percent (10%) of the proportionate allocation for each type of flying.
  3. Trades shall be awarded prior to the open flying process each day, and will begin to be processed before the 1200-1500 open flying process on the last day of the old month.
  4. Section 9.G.2.b. through f. rules will apply.
  5. Trades shall be processed in the following manner:
    
    (1) Trades shall be submitted by the Flight Attendant in preferential order.
    
    (2) Trades shall be processed in preferential order by seniority until the most senior Flight Attendant is awarded one (1) trade or until her/his preferences are exhausted and no trade can be made.
    
    (3) Awarding shall continue in accordance with sub-paragraph 2. above until each Flight Attendant’s preferences have been processed.
    
    (4) Should a balance of the allocation remain after processing all Flight Attendant trades in accordance with sub-paragraph 2., the award process will be run again in seniority order.
    
    (5) Trip trades shall only be awarded to qualified Flight Attendants in accordance with the above provisions.
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Time of Assignment of Open IDs
1. All open flying requests received prior to 1200 hours each day shall be processed and awarded that same day between 1200 and 1500 hours for all known open flying departing after midnight of that day for the remainder of the month. This phase of the process will be complete at 1500 hours. All IDs dropped as a result of charter trades shall then become open flying. Open flying shall become closed when requested and awarded to lineholders.
  1. IDs which are open after the 1200-1500 process has been completed shall be available and may be assigned to lineholders requesting same.
  2. Flight Attendants awarded open IDs scheduled to depart more than forty-eight (48) hours from time of assignment will be advised via the Company’s automated communication system, and are responsible for that assignment.
  3. Flight Attendants awarded open IDs scheduled to depart less than forty-eight (48) hours from time of assignment will be advised via the Company’s automated communication system, and the assignment will also be confirmed with the Flight Attendant. If that assignment has not been confirmed six (6) hours before departure, the ID will be assigned to another Flight Attendant.
  4. After lines have been awarded, requests for open flying in the new month may be submitted. These requests will begin to be processed during the 1200-1500 period on the last day of the old month.
2. Reserve assignments for each domicile shall be made during the fifteen (15) hour period preceding scheduled departure time of the outbound flight. It is desirable to assign the ID as early as practical within the fifteen (15) hour period.
3. Drafting assignments shall not be made more than six (6) hours prior to scheduled departure.
Assignment of Open IDs
Assignments for open flying shall be in the order as listed below. In the application of Paragraphs 2 and 3, a Flight Attendant who, due to the irregularity is projected the greatest number of hours beneath her/his line guarantee will be assigned first. In the application of Paragraph 4, a Flight Attendant with the lowest line guarantee will be assigned first. In the application of Paragraph 6, a reserve with the lowest projection will be assigned first. Within Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, and 6, if the number of hours is equal for two (2) or more Flight Attendants, the assignment will be according to seniority preference.

Priority will be given to assigning Flight Attendants to IDs in the same operation and the same number of days.

ORDER OF ASSIGNMENT
1. Converted Flight Attendant
  A Flight Attendant converted from deadhead to working status on the same flight. A Flight Attendant shall not be converted if it will cause her/him to be illegal for the remainder of her/his scheduled ID(s). Conversion shall be offered in seniority order.
2. A Home Flight Attendant
  1. Who has lost her/his scheduled outbound flight for any reason or whose outbound flight will operate so late that she/he would miss her/his return flight and who, by taking an open flight, can legally connect the return flight. If such assignment cannot be made, the Flight Attendant may be deadheaded to the layover point to cover the return flight unless it involves a double deadhead.
  2. Who has lost her/his flight or ID, if in the opinion of the crew scheduler such reassignment will prevent drafting. The reassignment must be prior to the Flight Attendant's next scheduled ID and not cause her/him to be illegal for her/his next ID or sequence of IDs reduce days off below the monthly minimum, or project over ninety-two (92), one hundred eighty-four (184) and two hundred sixty-one (261) credit hours in the first, second and third months of the quarter, respectively.
  3. Who is being reassigned to restore minimum calendar days off.
  4. Who is being reassigned under Section 8.J.
3. A Visiting Flight Attendant
  
  This provides for the assignment of a visiting Flight Attendant who has lost her/his outbound because of an irregular operation or a visiting Flight Attendant who has an open return assignment.
  1. A visiting Flight Attendant with no return flight must contact the crew scheduler immediately upon arrival or as soon as the loss is known. A visiting Flight Attendant who has lost her/his assigned return flight shall be assigned in the following order, provided another open flight will not be created.
    
    (1) To a flight(s) which will return her/him directly to her/his domicile and not beyond, or return to her/his scheduled sequence. The Flight Attendant may be returned in an indirect manner if it is more expeditious.
    
    (2) To a flight which is scheduled to depart not more than twelve (12) hours beyond her/his original scheduled departure (this period may be extended by mutual consent of the Flight Attendant and the home domicile crew scheduler). A Flight Attendant can only be thus reassigned once.
    
    (3) To a flight which will not make her/him illegal for her/his next scheduled ID.
    
    (4) To be held for assignment for not more than twenty-four (24) hours in the case of a cancellation caused by an extended period of weather. Every effort should be made to get the Flight Attendant back to her/his domicile as soon as possible.
    
    (5) To be deadheaded home if no such open flights are available. Notwithstanding this, she/he may be assigned under Paragraph I. 7. of this Section.
  2. A Flight Attendant who arrives at a domicile with no assigned return flight may be given an assignment to her/his domicile that is scheduled to depart no more than twelve (12) hours beyond the termination of a legal rest period.
4. A Home Lineholder
  A home lineholder who desires to increase flight time, provided the assignment would not disrupt her/his assigned schedule or project her/him over maximum credited hours. (A Flight Attendant may make up military ANP.)
  
  The following order will apply to this category:
  1. Flight Attendant who has lost time for any reason (including military ANP and time lost under Sections 8.J., 12.I., and 18.K .) except illness or RDO.
  2. Flight Attendant whose line guarantee is below seventy (70) hours.
  3. A Flight Attendant who desires to make up sick leave time.
  4. Flight Attendant who desires to increase time for any reason, including a Flight Attendant who desires to make up AFA flight pay loss.
  5. A Flight Attendant who with Company approval desires to make up PTO and ANP.
  6. Flight Attendant who has lost time due to RDO.
5. A home reserve Flight Attendant.
6. a. A home reserve Flight Attendant who wishes to pick up open flying on scheduled days off on a once a month basis (as described in Section 10.F.2. and 3.).
  
  b. A home reserve Flight Attendant who wishes to pick up open flying on scheduled days off in order to prevent drafting (as described in Section 10.F.)
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7. Drafting

a. The most junior home Flight Attendant who can work the flight and still be legal for her/his next scheduled ID, (if time permits).

b. The most junior home domestic Flight Attendant available.

c. Any Flight Attendant legal for the flight (in inverse order of seniority, if possible).

Critical Coverage Situations
1. Critical Coverage Procedures
  1. Criteria
    (1) If a reserve list does not provide adequate coverage, lineholders may be assigned to open IDs in accordance with Sections 9.I. and 12.Q.
    
    (2) Declared periods of critical coverage shall not exceed six (6) consecutive days and, under no circumstances, will Flight Attendants be precluded from receiving their contractual one (1) calendar day off in seven (7), pursuant to Section 7.F. Relief from all duty and Company obligations under Section 12.K. will be provided unless originally scheduled in the Flight Attendant's line of flying or waived by the Flight Attendant.
    
    (3) The provisions of Sections 9.I.4.e., and 12.Q.4.e. will be implemented prior to an announcement of critical coverage.
  2. Announcement
    (1) After consultation with the Crew Resources Manager and WHQSW, and prior to making a general announcement, the Senior Vice President Onboard Service/designee will advise the MEC President of this period of critical shortage and provide copies of the documentation used to make the determination. This documentation should include no less than the projected number of open IDs, the projected number of reserves to be available by domicile on each day(s) of the critical coverage period.
    
    (2) During any general period of critical coverage, the Crew Resources Manager may on a daily basis cancel the critical coverage at a given domicile by giving notice to the affected Flight Attendants at least twenty-four (24) hours before the designated two (2) hour standby period or by lesser notice, with the LEC President’s concurrence.
    
    (3) The MEC President will be provided with daily calculations of the actual number of critical coverage assignments made, as well as any changes in projected needs.
  3. Contact Period for Assignment
    (1) During such critical periods, the two (2) consecutive hours during which lineholders must be available for assignment to open flights or IDs will be determined in advance. The recommendation of the LEC President will be considered when determining the most practical hours for these assignments.
    
    (2) Onboard Scheduling personnel will call each contact number provided, (up to a maximum of three (3) contact numbers, excluding beepers and pagers), and leave a message, provided a message facility is available. Flight Attendants who were not available (DNF) for the initial call(s), may later confirm receipt of the message and contact Onboard Scheduling for another assignment during the specified call period via telephone and/or other means communicated by the Company.
    
    (3) Flight Attendants who wish to confirm their assignment prior to the two (2) hour window, may do so by contacting Onboard Scheduling via telephone and/or other means communicated by the Company.
    
    (4) Those Flight Attendants enroute home from flight arrivals during the announced critical coverage period, may contact Onboard Scheduling as soon as practicable for the purpose of receiving/confirming their assignment.
  4. Exclusions
    
    It may be decided by the Crew Resources Manager that only a percentage of the most junior Flight Attendants at the domicile will be required to fulfill the provisions of this paragraph. In this instance, such information will be included in the critical coverage announcement. Flight Attendants will not be required to be available for critical coverage on days off prior to or following their vacation period.
  5. Flight Time Limitations
    (1) At the Flight Attendant’s option, the flight time limitations of Sections 7.A. and 12.G. may be increased, during the specific month of critical coverage, by fifteen (15) hours.
    
    (2) If the critical coverage involves the third month of the quarter, the reserve flight time maximums outlined in Sections 10.H.2 and 12.U.6 may be increased by fifteen (15) hours at the option of the Flight Attendant.
2. Critical Coverage Pay
  1. A Flight Attendant shall be paid one and one-half (1½) times her/his hourly rate of compensation outlined in Section 5.A.1. and 2. for all credited flight time as defined below including Holding Time, as defined in Section 8.H., from the time a period of critical coverage has been announced and during a period of critical coverage, as follows:
    
    Flight assignments qualifying for critical coverage rates of pay include:
    (1) Open flying picked up by lineholders and reserves on days off from the time a period of critical coverage has been announced and during a period of critical coverage.
    
    (2) Flight assignments to lineholders on days off in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1.c. above.
    
    (3) Flight assignments to reserves in excess of the flight time limitations of Sections 7.A., 10.H.2., 12.G. and 12.U.6. as provided for in paragraph 1.e.(2). above.
    
    (4) Open flying picked up for the purpose of making up sick leave, ANP, AFA and PTO from the time a period of critical coverage has been announced and during a period of critical coverage.
    
    (5) Holidays will continue to be paid in accordance with Section 5.M. at the Flight Attendants' regular rate of pay.
  2. A lineholder will receive one-half (1/2) pay credit for the time she/he must remain available for assignment under the provision of paragraph 1.c. above, at the rates of pay outlined in paragraph 2.a., above.
  top of Section 9

Irregular Operations

Flight Coverage at Domicile Points
1. This provision provides for the steps taken to cover a flight which is open because of irregular operations. When a visiting Flight Attendant will not be able to connect, or is illegal for her/his regular flight, protection for that flight may be provided as follows, in the order listed. In all cases the Flight Attendant who is reassigned to cover the visiting Flight Attendant's flight must be legal for her/his own next scheduled flight.
  
  (1) Move up another Flight Attendant from the same domicile as the regular crew on the flight. Assign her/his flight to the Flight Attendant who cannot connect her/his own return flight.
  
  (2) Move up a visiting Flight Attendant from another domicile which will not further interfere with either crew's schedule and when the flights are to the same general destination.
  
  (3) Move up the first available home Flight Attendant for whose flight the visiting Flight Attendant will be legal, assigning that flight to the visiting Flight Attendant when she/he arrives as long as the flights are to the same general destination.
  
  (4) Consider the return flight open and assign the visiting Flight Attendant to the first flight for which she/he is eligible under Paragraph I-3.

Reassignment of Flight Attendants at Non-Domicile Points

When irregularities or illegalities prevent visiting Flight Attendants from working the regularly assigned flights, they will work the open flights available to them on a first in, first out or "FIFO" basis. If two (2) or more Flight Attendants have the same arrival time, assignments will be made on seniority preference.

(1) A Flight Attendant will normally be assigned only to flights toward her/his domicile. If this is not possible, the following order of assignment takes precedence:

(a)	The direction and destination of the open flight will expeditiously and efficiently return the Flight Attendant to her/his regularly assigned schedule.
(b)	The flight is normally flown by her/his domicile.
(c)	She/he is the only Flight Attendant legal to work the open flight.

(2) A Flight Attendant relieved from duty because of the maximum hours on-duty rules will be assigned to the first open flight for which legal after her/his rest period.

(3) If a Flight Attendant is illegal for her/his scheduled return flight, or if the return flight fails to operate out of her/his layover station, she/he must be assigned a return flight as soon as possible. Such flight must be scheduled to depart not more than twelve (12) hours after the original scheduled departure. This period may be extended by mutual consent of the Flight Attendant and the crew scheduler at the home domicile. A Flight Attendant may only be thus reassigned once.

(4) If it becomes necessary to require a Flight Attendant to remain at a non-domicile location to protect unserviceable equipment or to protect the operation of equipment which has become available because of the cancellation of her/his assigned flight, this time limitation will be extended to twenty-four (24) hours.

(5) The above twelve (12) or twenty-four (24) hour limitations may be extended to permit assignment to the first flight departing that station. Every effort should be made to get the Flight Attendant back to her/his home domicile as soon as possible.

In the application of sub-paragraphs 1. and 2. above, priority will be given to assigning Flight Attendants to IDs in the same operation and the same number of days.

Signing in for Next Flight
1. At the home domicile, a Flight Attendant shall not be required to sign in or call in for her/his next ID.
2. Away from the home domicile, a Flight Attendant need not call in for her/his next scheduled flight unless she/he has not been assigned an outbound flight.
On-Time Sections and Consolidation of Flights
1. On-Time Section
  
  When a scheduled flight is operating so late that the Company decides to originate an on-time Section at some down line point, the following will apply:
  1. If the on-time section operates out of a regular change point for that flight, the Flight Attendants scheduled to work the regular flight will work the on-time section. If the regular flight operates through the change point later, the portion of it beyond the change point will be considered an open flight.
  2. If the delayed flight is normally worked as a through flight with no change of Flight Attendants at the point where the on-time section is going to originate, the on-time section will be considered an open flight.
2. Consolidation of two flights is in effect a cancellation of one of them. The flight that operates, as determined by the flight number used, will be worked by its regularly assigned Flight Attendants.
top of Section 9

3.

a.

For scheduling purposes, thirty (30) minutes will be considered the minimum connecting time for Flight Attendants.

b.

In the actual operation when it appears the connecting time will be less than thirty (30) minutes, other protection should be provided. In the event thirty (30) minutes or more known connection time subsequently develops and/or an orderly transfer can be made in the opinion of Onboard Scheduling the originally scheduled Flight Attendants will cover their own flight, provided no legality problems or flight irregularities will be created.

c.

Notwithstanding paragraph b. above, at IAD, ORD, DEN, and SFO, the minimum connecting time may be extended to forty-five (45) minutes.

Miscellaneous
1. If a delay in flight departure or cancellation is known two (2) hours before scheduled departure, Flight Attendants will be notified of such delay, as soon as possible, provided such delay is estimated to be more than thirty (30) minutes.
2. When a Flight Attendant is unable to take her/his flight, she/he will notify Onboard Scheduling in not less than six (6) hours, except in an emergency, before the flight is scheduled to depart, and will in any event give as much notice as possible.
3. Flight Attendants checking off sick leave status must notify Onboard Scheduling that they are off sick leave status not less than eight (8) hours before their flight is scheduled to depart, and will, in any event, give as much notice as possible.
4. Without pay absences (ANP) shall be awarded in Inflight (SW) seniority order.
Circumstances for Reassignment
1. Flight cancellation or misconnection.
2. Legality problem.
3. On-time sections.
4. Errors in Assignment (refer to Section 8.I).
5. End-of-Month conflict (refer to Section 7.A.4 and 12.O.4).
6. Jury Duty (refer to Section 4.N).
7. Court witness for Company (refer to Section 4.O).
8. High time projection (refer to Section 7.A.6 and 12.G.6).
9. Restoring minimum days off (refer to Section 7.G.2).
10. Restoring 1 day off in 7 (refer to Section 7.F.2).
11. Missed trip.
12. First segment deviation (refer to Section 11).
13. Priority will be given to assigning Flight Attendants to IDs in the same operation and the same number of days.
Purser
1. Responsibilities
  In addition to regular Flight Attendant duties, a Flight Attendant assigned to work a Purser position on widebody aircraft shall perform additional duties as defined by the Company in the Flight Attendant Operations Manual.
2. Eligibility
  To be eligible for Purser qualification training, a Domestic Flight Attendant must:
  1. have a minimum of one (1) year of active service; and
  2. satisfy overall performance standards established by the Company.
3. Qualification
  1. Selection
    To be qualified as a Purser, a Flight Attendant must pass an objective selection process. The Company will design and administer the selection process and set the passing score for the process. The Company may, from time to time revise the selection process and passing score. The selection will be in domicile seniority order.
  2. Training
    (1) The Company shall offer Purser qualification training in seniority order to those individual Flight Attendants who have satisfied all selection requirements.
    
    (2) The Company will design and administer the Purser qualification training program and will set the standards for completion of training. The Company may, from time to time, revise the training program and standards for completion.
    
    (3) Training for Flight Attendants selected for the Purser position will be provided at reasonable intervals, but not less than once a year.
    
    (4) Pursers may be required to attend periodic meetings relevant to the Purser position and will be compensated in accordance with Section 15.A.
  3. General
    
    (1) A Flight Attendant who wishes to withdraw from the selection/training process may do so at any time during the process, but will be required to wait a minimum of six (6) months before re-applying.
    
    (2) A Flight Attendant who participates in the selection process for Purser, but is not selected for training, or who fails to complete training, must wait a minimum of six (6) months before re-applying for selection/training.
    
    (3) A Flight Attendant who does not desire to maintain her/his Purser qualification will give the Company six (6) months notice.
    
    (4) The Company will determine the number of qualified Purser positions based on the needs of the operation.
4. Flight Assignments
  1. A Flight Attendant who successfully completes Purser qualification training and periodic recurrent training may be awarded a Purser position in the bid award process in seniority order.
  2. If an insufficient number of Purser qualified Flight Attendants bid Purser positions, Purser qualified Flight Attendants will be assigned in inverse order of seniority to these Purser positions.
  3. An open Purser position which is filled two (2) days or more prior to departure will be filled in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.I.4. with Purser qualified Flight Attendants only.
  4. A Purser position open the day before departure may be filled by a Flight Attendant not Purser qualified provided a Purser qualified Flight Attendant is currently assigned to the base or equivalent ID. Under the provisions of this sub-paragraph, the Purser qualified Flight Attendant assigned to the base or equivalent ID will fill the vacant Purser position.
  5. If no Purser qualified Flight Attendant(s) is assigned to the base or equivalent ID, a Purser qualified reserve may be assigned out of time accrued order to fill the Purser position.
  6. If no Purser qualified Flight Attendants are available, the position will be filled in accordance with Section 9.F.7.
  7. Reassignments
    
    (1) Purser qualified Flight Attendants filling Purser positions will be reassigned to open Purser positions first and then to any open ID(s).
    
    (2) In the event of an equipment substitution, etc., the most junior qualified Purser onboard will assume the Purser position, unless a more senior qualified Purser elects to work the position.
5. Trip Trading
  
  Trades involving Purser positions will be governed by Section 9.G. Flight Attendants trading into a Purser position must be Purser qualified.
6. Restrictions
  1. A Flight Attendant may be restricted from filling a Purser position based on the following:
    
    (1) Failure to pass annual Purser recurrent qualification training;
    
    (2) Failure to perform Purser responsibilities as outlined in the Flight Attendant Operations Manual.
    
    (3) Failure to pass annual Purser recurrent qualification training or to perform responsibilities as outlined in the Flight Attendant Operations Manual will result in an informal performance review at which time the Purser will be afforded refresher training, on the job training, and/or any other appropriate assistance. The Company will subsequently observe performance and offer reasonable assistance if necessary to improve performance to a satisfactory level. If, after the above steps have been exhausted, the Purser still fails to meet expectations, the Purser will be disqualified.
  2. A Flight Attendant may re-apply for Purser qualification after twelve (12) months from the date of disqualification and must be selected and trained under the provisions of Paragraph 3. above.

END OF SECTION 9

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Bidding Procedures: Procedures for bidding.
Critical Coverage: Critical coverage procedures.
Increasing / Decreasing Time: Adjustment of time information.
Irregular Operations: Procedures for irregular operations.
Open Flying: Open flying information.
ORDER OF ASSIGNMENT: Order of assignment of open IDs.
Purser: Purser information and procedures.
Reassignment: Various circumstances for reassignment.

AFActs: Tutorials to help understand the CBA.
Dispute Resolution: Dispute Resolution, Attendance and Performance Management
Letters of Agreement: Home page for the CBA Letters of Agreement.
PDF Versions: Portable Document Format of the entire CBA and various sections.
Committees: Detailed expertise in specific areas of the CBA.
Legality Report: Report potential violations or contract questions
Your Rights as an Employee: Information packet published by AFA in July 1999.
Purser Transition Booklet: Purser Transition Booklet
Understanding Your Pay Booklet: Understanding Your Pay
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Aircraft	Minimum FA Bid Positions
B-747	9
DC-10	7
B-767	4
B-767-300	5
B-757	4
B-737	3
B-777	8
A320	3
A319	3

Posted no later than	0800 Hours of the 12th
Closed	0800 Hours of the 18th
Awarded no later than	0800 Hours of the 20th

3.	a.	For scheduling purposes, thirty (30) minutes will be considered the minimum connecting time for Flight Attendants.
	b.	In the actual operation when it appears the connecting time will be less than thirty (30) minutes, other protection should be provided. In the event thirty (30) minutes or more known connection time subsequently develops and/or an orderly transfer can be made in the opinion of Onboard Scheduling the originally scheduled Flight Attendants will cover their own flight, provided no legality problems or flight irregularities will be created.
	c.	Notwithstanding paragraph b. above, at IAD, ORD, DEN, and SFO, the minimum connecting time may be extended to forty-five (45) minutes.

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Collective Bargaining Agreement

Section 9 -- Flight Assignments And Scheduling Procedures