Crew Schedule Frustrations

[s80dude]

Beware to those of you on reserve. I received a call at 11:30pm the other night on my hotel room phone from Crew Schedule letting me know they were adding a turn to the end of my sequence. I asked the scheduler why he felt it was appropriate to contact me at 11:30 at night as I was sound asleep and had a 4:40am EST pick up (I am DFW based so it was 3:40 for the old body clock) He explained that it was easier for them to do it this way.

Needless to say, I never did fall back asleep as I was too "irked". It's pure insanity for them to do this. There was ample opportunity in the morning to contact me. I was mid-sequence and it was not like I was going to disappear in the morning and become untraceable.

I have no problem with a reassignment. I am on reserve and I know that goes with the territory. But I do have a problem with being disturbed in the middle of the night for something that could easily have been handled in the morning. All I got was an extended duty day and no sleep.

:down:

 

[StraaightTaalk]

I am sure Garfield or operaations will be on here shortly to say, "How dare a flight attendant complain about being woken up in the middle of the night. Everybody knows that a flight attendant is not entitled to sleep."

 

[jimntx]

The only time you are safe from them calling you at their convenience is during your mandatory 12 hour rest break following the end of a sequence. You do not have to answer your phone during that time regardless of whether or not you have sent them a HISEND requesting uninterrupted rest.

Twice they have tried to give me a missed trip because I did not answer my phone during rest break. Twice they have had to remove it as soon as I remind them that Article 10, Section F, Paragraph 11 states that "No reserve flight attendant shall be required to keep the Company advised of his/her whereabouts during the off-duty periods as provided herein, or during the period while on scheduled vacation."

Last time they tried to give me a missed trip, I called them back 30 minutes prior to the end of my rest period.

Scheduler: We gave you a missed trip because we called you twice and you didn't return our calls.
Me: I was in my mandatory 12 hour rest period. In fact, I was only 5 hours into it when you called the first time (at 0200 to tell me I had a 1330 sign-in).
Scheduler: You didn't send us a HISEND saying you wanted uninterrupted rest.
Me: Oh, you misunderstand, dear. You can call me all you want. However, I'm not required to answer the phone. I then directed the scheduler to the Article 10 quote for reference.

Now, you should also file a complaint with the union because the first part of that paragraph states, "The Company will use its best efforts to avoid contacting a reserve Flight Attendant on a legal rest period between the hours of 2300 and 0600." A layover is a legal rest period. (Stop laughing this instant. I mean it. Get up off the floor. You're getting your uniform dirty. )

It has been my experience over my vast 3 year career that there are some schedulers on night shift that go out of their way to interrupt f/a rest. There is NO justification for calling someone at 0200 to tell them they have a 1330 sign-in. So, if you are a scheduler, don't even try.

 

[Mach85ER]

Are you a pilot or a f/a?

I don't know what the rules are for f/a's, but pilots have a fatigue policy as well as liability from the FAA in a case like above.

On the pilot end, my response might have been "no" for the turn, as well as for the 4:40 am pick up too. (easy to say on the keyboard on a sunny afternoon though )

 

[jimntx]

Are you a pilot or a f/a?

I don't know what the rules are for f/a's, but pilots have a fatigue policy as well as liability from the FAA in a case like above.

On the pilot end, my response might have been "no" for the turn, as well as for the 4:40 am pick up too. (easy to say on the keyboard on a sunny afternoon though )

[post="246373"][/post]​

You're joking, right? The only rule the FAA has regarding flight attendants is that we can not work more than 6 calendar days in a row. That's it. End of discussion. Any other limitations, such as hours on duty or hours aloft is strictly contractual. And, no, we can not refuse a trip like pilots can.

 

[Mach85ER]

jimntx,

Thanks for the info. I was pretty sure you guys had pretty much nothing on the contract end of it and even less with the FAA, but I never knew there was a 1 in 7 rule.
cheers

 

[Garfield1966]

Not sure of the situation but from the sounds of it I would not have called. I would have tried to contacted you at the departure gate or upon arrival on your terminating flight.

However, having said that we have been burned on numerous occasions by FA’s who we have had to RA or pair up for what ever reason who walk right by Flt Svcs with out acknowledging the assignment or Flt Svcs cannot make it in time to catch the flight.

Now if it were a rule that before leaving the ATO all crew members had to look at their HI3 to see if anything changed that would eliminate any calls at any hour of the day when people are trying to get some much needed rest from a hard day. Just an idea.

Feel free to come up to Crew Skd on a OS day and see who we are and what we do. I cannot count the number of FA's who acknowledge that they had no idea of what we did or why. Makes alot more sense when you are there looking at it from our side. Just another idea.


Curvetalker, get a life already will you.

 

[AAStew]

Jimntx,
Are you sure about that rest rule? I had scheduling call me in the middle of the night countless times during my last reserve month. My friend also tried to call them after we got in from Paris and went thru customs a couple of weeks ago to confirm assignment and start her legal rest and they advised her that since she called 5 minutes too late she wasn't entitled to a twelve hour undisturbed rest. If what you say is true our dear union better make this better known as scheduling is jerking us around quite a bit.
BTW I never answer my telephone in a hotel room. I leave it off the hook and only use my cell. If the cell does not show a number I do not answer.

 

[StraaightTaalk]

Curvetalker, get a life already will you.

[post="246495"][/post]​

Really bugs you since I hit the nail on the head with my comments. If my comments regarding your hatred of flight attendants were not true, you wouldn't have bothered responding.

 

[Garfield1966]

You give your self far too much credit but hey if it make you happy you go right ahead. I guess the idea of me wanting to give a possible answer to the rest of the folks could not be a valid reason huh? If I am so mean why would I take the time to provide a answer to the folks on this board?

As far as the do not disturb policy goes here is how we at crew skd play. I was trained that if you call us between wheels down and end of debrief, you are allowed to ask that you not be called with during your rest and as long as the not gets passed along during turn overs (it usually does) you will not be called. If you call after debrief is over depending on if the crew skd is a hard a$$ or not they can say no to your request. Personally I don't much care when you call.

One thing that you have to keep in mind when doing this is that the result can be short call out. Now for those of you who live near all the airports that you fly out of, it's no big deal. I called someone the other day in DCA. She was the only person legal to fly and had requested that she not be called during her rest. That's all fine. The catch was she ended up with 2 hours and 7 min to get to BWI. I would have called her well over 3 hours out but .... so needless to say she was really pissed and she got a miss trip on top of that. She finally calmed down a bit after I explained why. There are consequences for all our actions. All we ask is that you understand what they are. Truth be told, the 12 hour rest does not even pop up on our radar for stuff that bugs us.

 

[StraaightTaalk]

Your answers seldom come without some snide remark about flight attendants, tinged with your hatred of our work group.

If you were such a master at what you do, you would have no problem putting in for a transfer to the pilots' side of Crew Schedule. But then again, I am sure they don't want you either.

You must have a pretty bad employment record if you are stuck dealing with people you hate so much.

 

[MiAAmi]

I always find it kind of funny how "some" flight attendants think that crew scheduling or the company in general is out to get them. A little self absorbed I guess. Most if not all your contract guidelines can be confirmed by calling APFA or looking in your contract. This forum (while interesting to follow) is not the best place for accurate information about your contract.

 

[MiAAmi]

Your answers seldom come without some snide remark about flight attendants, tinged with your hatred of our work group.


You must have a pretty bad employment record if you are stuck dealing with people you hate so much.

[post="246545"][/post]​

Boy, you can be nasty. I'd hate to get on your bad side.

 

[StraaightTaalk]

Boy, you can be nasty. I'd hate to get on your bad side.

[post="246552"][/post]​

Yeah, remember that.

 

[MiAAmi]

Yeah, remember that.

[post="246563"][/post]​

I'm shaking in my shoes