Flight Attendant Staffing Shortages

[FlightChic]

Why is it that the beginning of every month and during every holiday scheduling is always begging reserves to make themselves available on their off days and assigning us trips into our days off because they are so shortstaffed? Why do they continue to let us have 50, 60, or even 100 open time trips during the first few days of the month thus using up every single reserve? Are we the only airline that has hundreds and hundreds of trips to fill at the last minute day after day, month after month, holiday after holiday? I just cannot imagine why anyone would think this is a good idea except for those who benefit from the flexibility. The bidsheet MUST die! There seems to be widespread panic amongst the schedulers and reserves alike each time this happens! When will the company and the union stop fighting and start using their heads and collaborate for once and come up with real solutions that work and that benefit all of us? Notice the key words solutions and work. Yes, find something that actually works and by that I mean that you can find an effective solution without screwing someone over. I guess it's more fun to see who can out-screw the other! To the company and the union: When will you learn that reserves are not meant to be here just so a select few can have 8 chances to rearrange their schedule? Do you not realize you are only shooting yourself in the foot? In a dream world, every reserve would ban together and refuse to work until something is done about this nonsense!

The End.

 

[safety stud]

Why is it that the beginning of every month and during every holiday scheduling is always begging reserves to make themselves available on their off days and assigning us trips into our days off because they are so shortstaffed? Why do they continue to let us have 50, 60, or even 100 open time trips during the first few days of the month thus using up every single reserve? Are we the only airline that has hundreds and hundreds of trips to fill at the last minute day after day, month after month, holiday after holiday? I just cannot imagine why anyone would think this is a good idea except for those who benefit from the flexibility. The bidsheet MUST die! There seems to be widespread panic amongst the schedulers and reserves alike each time this happens! When will the company and the union stop fighting and start using their heads and collaborate for once and come up with real solutions that work and that benefit all of us? Notice the key words solutions and work. Yes, find something that actually works and by that I mean that you can find an effective solution without screwing someone over. I guess it's more fun to see who can out-screw the other! To the company and the union: When will you learn that reserves are not meant to be here just so a select few can have 8 chances to rearrange their schedule? Do you not realize you are only shooting yourself in the foot? In a dream world, every reserve would ban together and refuse to work until something is done about this nonsense!

The End.

Yea, get rid of the Bid Sheet.... Right....
Maybe you think we should eliminate lines of flying all together and everyone is a reserve?
Then everyone is on the same page at all those times you mentioned.... Right...

NOT....

Now it's the end...

Just my opinion...

 

[FlightChic]

Yea, get rid of the Bid Sheet.... Right....
Maybe you think we should eliminate lines of flying all together and everyone is a reserve?
Then everyone is on the same page at all those times you mentioned.... Right...

NOT....

Now it's the end...

Just my opinion...

Absolutely not! We need more lines and fewer reserves. Only we should utilize reserves for irregular operations, illegal crews, sick calls, etc. You know, real emergencies...People, Safety Stud is a perfect example of why the union is the way it is. :down: :down: :down:

 

[hula-flyguy]

And when the bid sheet is eliminated, and you become a block holder.....you will cry that you have NO flexibility.

You will burn trips that you cant drop through the bid sheet, and a reserve will end up flying it anyway. How about this....

Bid a block....and fly it! What a novel idea! Who in AFA will go for that?

mmmmhmmm....thats what I thought.

 

[Travelpro72]

Ok I come in off a 15+07 pay three day trip and at 11pm on the 3rd I'm showing as 96 for the 4th. Well as I wake from my slumber at 9am on the 4th I'm NOW 50. Within the time of 9am to 1 I go to 8. Trips by the handful are opening left and right. They are ALL departures between the hours of 5 and 8pm. Me's thinkin sisters from the burgh better learn to hop on a flight a little sooner or plan on sitting with their reserve brethren over here in PHL. Now no offense to those that commute from Pittsburgh BUT it's never been this extreme and dare I say coincidental. I understand the nature of being a reserve be it ANY system but what we have here are reserves NOT making their time but are being used here and there for petty commuting BS. WAIT until the summer storms start to roll through PHL. ALL doo doo is about to hit the fan regardless of how many they recall. The system is broken and the flexibility they allow the masses is JUST the fuel this fire needs. NO amount of reserves can handle the upset system we are about to experience this summer. Couple that with the fact that just about EVERY reserve is done with vacation until maybe November. You'll see a LOT of sickations this summer. Just sit back and enjoy.

 

[Twicebaked]

Yea, get rid of the Bid Sheet.... Right....
Maybe you think we should eliminate lines of flying all together and everyone is a reserve?
Then everyone is on the same page at all those times you mentioned.... Right...

NOT....

Now it's the end...

Just my opinion...

Bid sheet WILL BE GONE!!!!!

You can bet on that one. Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[PHL BULL]

Absolutely not! We need more lines and fewer reserves. Only we should utilize reserves for irregular operations, illegal crews, sick calls, etc. You know, real emergencies...People, Safety Stud is a perfect example of why the union is the way it is. :down: :down: :down:

FC you should have never left PHL lots of CLT/RON's and you would be close to the A/P...and you could understand the capt's breaf's ...huh whaat da say...need a cup for that bacca spit...did you get a big bow fer yer hair yet...come on back to PHL...we need ya... ring ring...call another BH...that's 4-U...

 

[safety stud]

Bid sheet WILL BE GONE!!!!!

You can bet on that one. Enjoy it while it lasts.

And what exactly twicebaked are you going to put in it's place? Answer me that! At least FC had the right idea in putting more lines of flying. By the way twicebaked... What in god's green earth makes you think the bid sheet will go! You are the one that doesn't get it either, giving up a contractual agreement on scheduling is ludacris. Unless you have a similarly worded agreement both sides can live with you will be promoting a concessionary give. Is that what your are promoting? Do you want to give something else away after everything else that's been given? The idea of another concessionary contract is not in my vocabulary and it shouldn't be in yours. Think before you speak.

Just my opinion...

 

[PHLfa88]

And what exactly twicebaked are you going to put in it's place? Answer me that! At least FC had the right idea in putting more lines of flying. By the way twicebaked... What in god's green earth makes you think the bid sheet will go! You are the one that doesn't get it either, giving up a contractual agreement on scheduling is ludacris. Unless you have a similarly worded agreement both sides can live with you will be promoting a concessionary give. Is that what your are promoting? Do you want to give something else away after everything else that's been given? The idea of another concessionary contract is not in my vocabulary and it shouldn't be in yours. Think before you speak.

Just my opinion...

HERE...HERE!!!

 

[safety stud]

Absolutely not! We need more lines and fewer reserves. Only we should utilize reserves for irregular operations, illegal crews, sick calls, etc. You know, real emergencies...People, Safety Stud is a perfect example of why the union is the way it is. :down: :down: :down:

FC, If the personal jab at me is because you think Im still in the union, you are sadly mistaken, I am not doing any work for AFA what so ever, and SHAME on you!!! However, if what you meant by that statement: "I am a perfect example of why the union is the way it is", meaning I stand by my contractual right as a blockholder to do what my contract allows then yes, you hit the nail on the head. I have stated in the past the CBA is the most important document flight attendants have at their disposal. Problem is most don't even know it exists or even read it. And why pretell FC do you want to give the company something the people before you fought for before you were even a tadpole in your mothers womb. The problem here is not whether the senior people on this property feel they are deserving, it's the junior people that feel they are intitled.

This company has gone through many transformations over the many years of it's existance. As of lately, the present reserve system is in shambles. Your entire base of knowledge is based only on what pertains to you only. Not the bigger picture. Giving away, changing, or eliminating any part of the CBA only weakens it and is concessionary. I for one am not about to give up anything to this management. Period. And neither should you.

Re-negotiating a more effecient way to schedule your employees needs to be done to change the present system. Your idea of more lines of flying is a great example of the right idea. However, by doing so you decrease the block time per block and force that flight attendant to make up time through other means. Meaning, they once again take away from what a reserve could fly. Is there an easy way to make both the senior and junior flight attendants reach a happy medium. I don't know.

Just my opinion...

 

[Travelpro72]

Well what you see today is NO RESERVES available to cover trips. Why you might ask? Because reserves are out flying trips that SHOULD be regularly staffed and not trips a true reserves should be used for such as irregular ops, etc. So I think we see that the system is broken and we have a problem. You can't rely on reserves to fly trips that blockholders don't want every day. It's also not practical to schedule trips every single day either. Scheduling puts these ridiculous messages on the phone thinking that ANY reserve could give a crap.

 

[HP_JACK]

Southwest has the same problem with to much open time at the start of every month.. So thats why they offer OT for all transition trips pick up.

As for the comments on the Bid Sheet: You don't need that stupid bid sheet for flexibilty. We have much more flexibilty witha Drop Pick up system on the west. That's Automated and First come First Serve.

Burn the Bid Sheet!!!!

 

[Twicebaked]

And what exactly twicebaked are you going to put in it's place? Answer me that! At least FC had the right idea in putting more lines of flying. By the way twicebaked... What in god's green earth makes you think the bid sheet will go! You are the one that doesn't get it either, giving up a contractual agreement on scheduling is ludacris. Unless you have a similarly worded agreement both sides can live with you will be promoting a concessionary give. Is that what your are promoting? Do you want to give something else away after everything else that's been given? The idea of another concessionary contract is not in my vocabulary and it shouldn't be in yours. Think before you speak.

Just my opinion...

What every other airline does.............INCLUDING the West.

You bid your block and whatever you can hold is what you get AND YOU WORK IT. If you want to switch/drop you do it via the ETB (pay credit).

Is there alot of flexibility? No, but it is time to stop giving you senior BHs everything you want on the backs of everyone else.

 

[safety stud]

Southwest has the same problem with to much open time at the start of every month.. So thats why they offer OT for all transition trips pick up.

As for the comments on the Bid Sheet: You don't need that stupid bid sheet for flexibilty. We have much more flexibilty witha Drop Pick up system on the west. That's Automated and First come First Serve.

Burn the Bid Sheet!!!!

First come first served? You've got to be kidding. That may work in an environment where everyone is junior like yourself, but not at a system that is run based on seniority. Unlike the west, flying is based on what you can hold. If your seniority is junior, you get stuck flying what those senior have the ability to drop or not have to fly. That is the way of the world. And HP, you to seem as though you want to be concessionary... Is that the way the west thinks? Give Give Give and never receive.... Pitifull

Just my opinion...

 

[safety stud]

What every other airline does.............INCLUDING the West.

You bid your block and whatever you can hold is what you get AND YOU WORK IT. If you want to switch/drop you do it via the ETB (pay credit).

Is there alot of flexibility? No, but it is time to stop giving you senior BHs everything you want on the backs of everyone else.

What on earth makes you think we should make our CBA like everyone elses. And what gives you the right to take away what has been in place through many a contract because you are junior and have to fly what a BH can give up. Someday some of you will be senior enough to reap the benefits of seniority. Other sadly wont have the patients put the years of flying and drudgery to understand the ramifications of such actions. An airline bases it's unionized labor agreements on seniority. Period. What part of that don't you understand? Sorry you are junior... Stay here a while and you just might become senior. If not, so be it. This once again points to the fact you think you are entitled to superseed seniority.

Yes the system is broken, yes it needs to run more efficiently, yes the more junior flight attendants need to have the flexibity the more senior f/a's have. But not at the expense of being concessionary.

Just my opinion...