Negotiations: Update Seven
Fellow Spirit Flight Attendants,
This week, your AFA Negotiations Committee met with the company in Fort Lauderdale from March 1st through March 3rd. Joining us in this collective bargaining session was our MEC Scheduling Chairperson, David Bedene. His expertise on current issues concerning crew scheduling was invaluable. The sections we discussed this past week were Section 7: Hours of Service, Section 8: Scheduling, Section 9: Reserve, Section 10: Training and Meetings, and Section 15: Filling of Vacancies or Transfers. We also spent some time negotiating the MIA base training LOA.
Tentative Agreement Reached on Section 15:
Filling of Vacancies or Transfers!
We were able to agree on language regarding how base transfers would be handled if more than two bases were closed to transfers and provide additional clarifying language on the days off afforded to new hires following initial training. We also added in the language from the previous LOA on base transfers while still on probation.
MIA Letter of Agreement (LOA)
Regarding the MIA LOA, there is a provision in Section 2 of our CBA stating that if a Flight Attendant is required to attend recurrent training more than 25 AAA miles from his/her domicile, s/he will be considered training “out of base” and must be provided positive space air travel, a hotel, and per diem. Since the MIA base only exceeds the 25 AAA mile limitation by eight-tenths of a mile, management asked for a full waiver from the required contractual provision (with nothing in return). Obviously, this was unacceptable. We successfully negotiated that all MIA-based Flight Attendants will receive two additional credit hours paid above guarantee for attending recurrent training in FLL as compensation for their extra travel time. You can view the complete LOA by clicking this link.
Section 8: Scheduling and Section 9: Reserve
We provided the company with our initial proposals for Sections 8: Scheduling and Section 9: Reserve. Both of our proposals have comprehensive overhauls of some of the current systems in place and much more clear and concise language, especially when it comes to irregular operations. Included in our proposal are sweeping changes to how reserves are scheduled and what can (and cannot) be done to flight attendants during IROPs/delays/cancellations, etc. Since this was just our first proposal, there will be many more discussions on these topics in future negotiation sessions.
Section 7: Hours of Service
The company returned Section 7: Hours of Service. We were pleased to see that company had removed many of their unrealistic demands from their previous proposal and returned to the current contract’s language on many different areas of this section. However, we are still apart on many issues including the 33/7 limitation, alternate deadheads, and notification. Although we feel that progress is being made in the right direction, we still have some major hurdles to overcome in this section.
Section 10: Training and Meetings
The company also returned section 10 to us. The company backed off on their previous proposal of a 10.5-hour recurrent, but aside from that, there wasn’t too much movement. We are still apart on trading training dates (like S3), the amount of pay for a day of training, and how distance learning is paid. We are still seeking “hour for hour” pay for training and meetings, however, this is not something that is an industry standard and is an uphill battle because no one else in the industry has it.
What’s next?
The next collective bargaining session is scheduled for March 14-16, and it will be held virtually. We anticipate continuing our discussions on Scheduling and Reserve and may begin opening additional sections.
In the meantime, please continue to show our solidarity by WEARING YOUR AFA PIN. Please wear your pin on your uniform, above your wings, or on the collar of your shirt to show the company that we are united behind our negotiating committee and committed to getting an industry-leading contract!
Also, stay tuned for a new survey that will be released in the coming weeks to clarify some of the answers we received from the last survey! If you are reading this update from a source other than your own personal email, make sure you update your email address with AFA, so you don’t miss out. You can update your email address by clicking "Manage Your Subscription" at the bottom of this, or any newsletter.
Finally, please remember that you can ALWAYS email us at Negotiations@SpiritAFA.com. Emails sent to the negotiations committee are read by all committee members and are always responded to. Thank you for your continued support!
In Solidarity,
Your AFA Negotiations Committee -
Jason Kachenmeister
Colleen Burns
Rick Santiago
Paula Mastrangelo
