Another Vf Offered

[etops1]

In This MEC E-Line Issue
July 13, 2005

-- Voluntary Furlough with Limited Recall II Program (VFLR II)
-- Accessing The Hub
-- AFA Local Numbers

Dear Members,

The Following was sent out today via CBS regarding an additional
VFLRII to help in the overstaffing situation that has been
created by the reduction in aircraft. This program is offered by
the Company and was negotiated by your MEC. It is in addition to
the original VFLR that is due to come out again sometime in 2006
for the oversubscribed amount of 323. The Company currently has
an overage of 300 flight attendants due to aircraft returns to
the lessor in the next couple months. There are some differences
in this VFLRII in that if it is oversubscribed, this VFLRII will
NOT trigger another VFLR offer. However, we still have in our
agreement from the original VFLR an oversubscribed amount of 323
which will be offered in 2006.

The MEC went into negotiations regarding this VFLRII and
negotiated that the Flight Attendants who were NOT eligible in
Dec. 2, 2004 because of the VF, and those who returned on June 1
from the VF will NOW be eligible to participate in the VFLRII.
Any flight attendant who was active as of July 7, 2005 will be
eligible for the VFLRII Program. A flight attendant awarded a
VFLRII must be in "active status" as of September 1, 2005. There
is a subtle difference in that a flight attendant who is awarded
the VFLRII will receive their cash payment for the signed
"Release" no later than November 30, 2005; which is a 90 day
wait period instead of 30 days. The Company will not contest
unemployment benefits for the awardees of VFLRII as this is due
to a reduction in force and a reduction of work.

There are two scenarios in this newly negotiated provision that
permitted the past VF returnees to participate:

In exchange, the Company is obligated to offer another VFLR for
the oversubscribed amount from the original VFLR and will offer
the oversubscribed amount of either 323, OR COULD AWARD EVERYONE
that applies even if the amount is oversubscribed beyond 323 in
2006. If they choose to award and satisfy all who apply in 2006
to the oversubscribed VFLR, then the program will cease and the
Company will have met their obligation to AFA. If this occurs,
then some Flight Attendants will not be eligible for
unemployment and this method could trigger "recalls" from the
Involuntary furlough list. However, this does not preclude the
Company from offering another VFLR in the future if there should
be further reductions in fleet, as all language for the VFLR is
still intact accept for 2(f) that speaks to over subscription in
this scenario.

On the other hand, in this scenario, if the Company decides in
2006 that they can only award the 323 min. requirement, then any
over-subscription number will trigger another event and 2 (f) of
the 2004 agreement will stay intact. The VF returnees of Dec 2,
2004 and June 1, 2005 are only eligible to participate in this
VFLRII.

If you have already applied for a VPLOA for Aug. or September
2005, you may still apply for the VFLRII, and this furlough will
take precedence on September 1, if awarded.

Please take your time and review all the language below.

Teddy
MEC President, AFA-CWA

----------------------------

The following CBS message was sent out today and the information
is posted on theHub.
Date: Wednesday, 13 July 2005 16:33 ET
To: Emc2-News-c
From: KINSEY.P
Subject: Vol Furlough w/Limited Recall II

As a result of the reduction of aircraft and the overstaffing
created, the Company is offering a second Voluntary Furlough
with Limited Recall II Program (VFLR II), under which qualifying
Flight Attendants may voluntarily furlough (due to lack of work)
from US Airways with limited recall rights in exchange for a
cash payment on November 30, 2005 and certain travel benefits
for themselves and eligible family members. There may be tax
consequences associated with the use of these travel benefits.
In order to qualify for the Program, an employee must have been
in an active status as of July 7, 2005, and must be in an active
status as of his/her awarded VFLR II release date of September
1, 2005 to be eligible for a VFLR II. (Flight attendants awarded
a VPLOA for September will be considered active for the purposes
of this Program.) A copy of the complete Program is available on
the Inflight Services page on theHub (thehub.usairways.com).
Flight attendants awarded a December 2, 2005 release date in the
original VFLR Program are not eligible to participate. Their
release date will remain December 2, 2005. Please read all of
the details of the Program. To be considered for participation,
you must be eligible, and must complete the VFLR II Application
and Bid Form (see links below) and return it to: US Airways Inc.
Inflight Administration H/195 2345 Crystal Drive Arlington, VA,
22227
Attention: Voluntary Furlough with Limited Recall II Program

Such Application and Bid Form must be received and in the
possession of Inflight Administration no later than August 26,
2005 at 11:59 pm. You may fax your Application and Bid Form to
(703) 872-6476. You may verify receipt of your Application and
Bid Form by checking on theHub. Inflight Administration will
post on theHub each afternoon (Monday through Friday) a
searchable list of forms received. The list will be available
after 5 pm and include forms received prior to 11 am that day.
Please address any questions that you may have about this
program to Inflight Administration at 800-327-0117. Prompts, 1,
5, 4, 5.

-------------( end of letter
)--------------------------------------

VFLR II Documents are in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
Get a free copy of Acrobat Reader HERE-
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html .

VFLR II Memo
(http://www.afausairways.org/Restructure/vflr/VFLRII_MEMOJuly_13_05.pdf)

VFLR II Program Details
(http://www.afausairways.org/Restructure/vflr/VFLRII_ProgramDetailsJuly_13_05.pdf)

VFLR II Application and Bid Form
(http://www.afausairways.org/Restructure/vflr/VFLRII_APPLICATIONJuly_13_05.pdf)

VFLR II Sample Release
(http://www.afausairways.org/Restructure/vflr/VFLRII_RELEASEJuly_13_05.pdf)

===================

Accessing The Hub:

http://thehub.usairways.com
Logging in the first time your user name is u0(zero) and your
five digit employee number. Your initial password is the first
five digits of your social security number. Questions about the
Hub? Please contact the EDS Help Desk at 336-744-6000 for
assistance. More information can also be found HERE.

AFA Local Numbers
Council 40 PIT 724-695-3329
Council 41 DCA 703-212-8090
Council 69 BOS 781-289-8454
Council 70 PHL 215-492-0840
Council 82 LGA 315-736-3483
Council 89 CLT 704-527-0325

 

[jimntx]

I guess I just don't understand. Why would the company offer voluntary furloughs that might "trigger recalls from the involuntary list?" And, if this happens doesn't it just complicate the seniority/merger issue even more?

 

[SKY HIGH]

And, if this happens doesn't it just complicate the seniority/merger issue even more?


SKY HIGH states: Maybe they're trying to AVOID what happened at AA with the TWA flight attendants. DATE OF HIRE is the rule for both F/A groups. Combining the two groups, I would think that the Amer. W Flight Attendants would dominate the bottom of the seniority list. Offering these VF's weed out the SENIOR F/A's for a more balanced integration.

 

[jimntx]

Offering these VF's weed out the SENIOR F/A's for a more balanced integration.

[post="281790"][/post]​

But according to the document, there may be only 323 VFLRs offered. Even at the reduced staffing these days, that's not even 10% of the U flight attendants. And, considering that they do have some recall rights, I don't see how this helps with the integration.

It should be interesting. It's all fine, well, and good to say that both are AFA and both have DOH clauses in the mergers/acquisitions section, but when AW flight attendants go back on reserve or get bumped from their base because U flight attendants are holding "their" lines, I don't think it's going to be as smooth as some might think.

I'm an AA flight attendant who thinks the TW f/as got scr*wed. I am fully aware that I would have been furloughed sooner and recalled later if the TW flight attendants had gotten DOH or slotting, but fair's fair. I also know that I would not have been happy about the situation either. But then, I knew that I was going to be furloughed either way. With AW flight attendants who have been off reserve for years, how do you think they will feel if they become subject to furlough or pushed back on reserve?

Isn't anyone beside me a little curious that here we have the "savior" of U in the form of this merger and before it's even completed, a furlough is being considered? And, judging from the underwhelming response of the MAA f/as and pilots to the Republic offer, this just exacerbates the overage.

 

[PITbull]

I guess I just don't understand.  Why would the company offer voluntary furloughs that might "trigger recalls from the involuntary list?"  And, if this happens doesn't it just complicate the seniority/merger issue even more?

[post="281785"][/post]​

Your confused.

The above message speaks to TWO VFLRs. An additional VFLRII for release on Sept 1, which needs 300 reduced heads in addition to the already scheduled release of SEpt. 1 of 100. Then there is the Dec. 2 release of 200. Then there is THE OVERSUBSCRIBED VFLR (spoken to above) scheduled to meet the contract obligation of the oversubscribed amount of 323 minimum. In this case, the Co. may decide to end the program by granting all those that apply, even if the number exceeds the needed 323.

If they do not award all who apply in 2006, then if the number of applicants exceeds 323, it will be oversubscribed again, and another offer is due AFA.


There is now an additional overage of 300 f/as as of Sept. 1. They need to get rid of f/as; not replace them. The portion you are reading is for the year 2006 if the Co announce the VFLR that is oversubscribed by 323 that anyone who wants it will be awarded, then THAT MAY CREATE AN INVOLUNTARY RECALL.

The difference in the VFLRII is that AFA was able to negotiate permitting those that were left out last year because f/as who were not active as of Dec. 1 were purposely left out , for example the VF returnees of Dec. 2 2004 and June 1 2005, they will now be able to apply if they choose. That makes a larger pool of applicants by 350.

The idea has always been to someday create a situation where all INVOLs return.

The INVOL list will not just disappear; no matter how badly AWA wish this to be (if that is the case). We have f/as that belong to our seniority ranks. Contend with it and deal with it. These folks will be coming back. A fence will be up for sometime to separate the flying between AWA and USA, but this is not a fence to infinity...

 

[jimntx]

I understand the part about the fence, but I'm guessing that the AWA flight attendants might be looking at how well the fence worked for the TW flight attendants. The fence was supposed to stay up for 5 years--until April, 2006. It came down in 2003 after only 2 years and all the former TW flight attendants were furloughed.

I know that AFA to AFA mergers are supposed to be different, but I don't believe that AWA flight attendants will sit quietly and be furloughed so that U flight attendants can be recalled. And, a fence has a way of disappearing if it suits the company for it to disappear. I'm not trying to stir the pot. I'm just trying to be realistic based on how I would feel if I were in their shoes.

 

[cltflyguy]

Your confused.


The idea has always been to someday create a situation where all INVOLs return.

[post="281797"][/post]​

We should all take bets to see exactly what year it will be when all of our INVOLs have been recalled!!! Figure they just recalled 50 a while back to go to LGA and now its lay off time once again!! :down: of course we all knew it was coming with the exiting of 60 a/c and i know that more than 50 will take the VFL but i just for once we could get through 1 year with none of this to worry about.

 

[PITbull]

I don't believe mainline has to worry about any more Involuntary furloughs.

AFA has enough programs for folks to volunteer to get the heck out of this unstable business.

 

[xoxo]

jimntx,

Do you think that when I was hired in Jan 2000 that I was happy after nearly 4 years of service to be furloughed? Then I came back to MAA..and now I am gonna have to get furloughed again. WE ARE NOT HAPPY EITHER!!!!!! But, that is the way it is. So, when I get recalled and it is DOH, then that is the way it is. If they did not like the AFA rules then they should have chosen another airline to work for. Some of these f/a's at AWA were just hired this year..they are still on probation. I am sorry, but, they knew what they were getting into when they applied for an airline job in this day in age. DOH...sorry, but, thats way it is. And the furloughed f/a's that come back deserve it. We have been through enough. Just ask any furloughed f/a that is working at AWA right now. They will be first to tell you.

 

[xoxo]

Just read over at AWA message board that there may be another AWAclass for f/a in September. This is what I mean...they keep hiring more and then they all think that the furloughed people should be junior. :down:

 

[RowUnderDCA]

furloughed U F/A's should apply and get seniority numbers on both the west and east sides of the 'fence.'

 

[xoxo]

furloughed U F/A's should apply and get seniority numbers on both the west and east sides of the 'fence.'

[post="282024"][/post]​

Good idea...that is what we should do. AWA..here I come!

 

[DCAflyer]

Good idea...that is what we should do. AWA..here I come!

[post="282038"][/post]​

If AWA wants to hold new classes, they should consider filling them with current MAA flight attendants and hold classes concurrently with furloughs from MAA. They could give them temporary hire dates of when their class begins, and once the fence comes down, their mainline UAIR seniority date could take effect. Just a thought!

 

[xoxo]

The only problem with AWA, they do not pay for lodging while you are in training. That why most of the people that are in PHX, live there or are from there. A friend of mine stayed there with someone during training. I myself cannot afford to pay for a hotel for 8 weeks.

 

[DCAflyer]

The only problem with AWA, they do not pay for lodging while you are in training. That why most of the people that are in PHX, live there or are from there. A friend of mine stayed there with someone during training. I myself cannot afford to pay for a hotel for 8 weeks.

[post="282044"][/post]​

Ouch... I did not know that. Eight weeks of training plus you have to pay for lodging. I have never heard of an airline making their inflight trainees pay for lodging. Why do they train for eight weeks? When I was at Carnot, we trained on seven aircraft and it only took six weeks. AWA only has what, three A/C types? Still, according to AFA, once the merger formally goes through, which should be in September or October, AWA must recall UAIR furloughees before hiring off the street.