The cancellation of 75 to 80 percent of American Airlines flights in May due to the coronavirus travel restrictions means a drastic reduction in flying hours available for flight attendants. As a result, the company and Association of Professional Flight Attendants union reached an agreement on Monday that the most junior attendants will shoulder the load.
The system flight attendants normally use for bidding on trips will not function if all flight attendants participate, because there will be more flight attendants than flying hours/legal trips available. So as a way to reduce the pool of people bidding, the parties decided that the most junior attendants will be required to bid, while the rest will be considered “no schedule” and would get to collect pay while staying sheltered at home.
U.S. airlines received a $58 billion bailout package from the federal government to help ease the financial burden during the crisis and help cover employee salaries through the end of September 2020.
An APFA letter to its members stated: “Your APFA Leadership discussed options for processing the May bid. The decision was made to process PBS (preferential bidding system) with the most junior lineholders required to create legal lines. PBS will run the bid in normal seniority order within this group.
“Before making this decision, the APFA Board and National Officers heard from MANY of you on this topic. One thing you made abundantly clear was the belief that each individual Flight Attendant should have the ability to choose which group she/he wished to be in. We hear you and we agree with you. We are currently in discussions with the company to allow Flight Attendants a mechanism to ‘opt-in’ to the trip bidding process if you are expected to be a ‘no schedule’ line holder at your base.”
The APFA added that if it is unable to secure the “opt-in” process for May, it will press to get it for June and subsequent months.
“Most people in the country are able to shelter in place right now, but union members across the country are out there taking risks to assure that the country continues to function,” said Wendy Walsh, the secretary of Unite Here Local 355, which represents 7,000 workers in South Florida and 32,000 statewide.
“So, whether it is a police union, the firefighters, flight attendants or food service workers at the airport, all of those workers are on the front line keeping the country moving and now is a moment where everyone in the country is recognizing these hard-working people are front-line heroes to make sure the entire country is being served.”
Walsh said the coronavirus pandemic has forced unions and companies to make unprecedented, tough choices.
“These aren’t easy choices for anyone, and during a pandemic there are no perfect solutions,” Walsh said. “It’s a very important thing that we have labor unions that are making sure we’re protecting those workers, making sure they have healthcare, and protective gear they need as they go out there to do these essential jobs.”
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