Source: AFA
As we all know, during the operation, flight schedules can
fall apart, and while frustrating, reassignments are part of our job. To protect our rights during reassignment,
the company is obligated to follow the provisions outlined in our Contract.
When United’s operation causes all, or part of our ID(s) to
cancel, resulting in a misconnect, or becoming illegal for our scheduled trip;
our Contract outlines procedures for reassignment. Sections 8.J. for domestic and 12.I. internationally
apply when at your home domicile.
Sections 9.I. and 9.K apply for reassignments away from home
domestically, and 12.Q. and 12.R. for the international operation when away
from home.
Legality Compliance
Any reassignment must ensure you remain legal for your next
scheduled assignment. The reassignment
must also comply with legalities including 35-in-7 and 8:30-in-24 domestically;
and 24-in-7 and 1-in-7 for both operations.
Additionally any reassignment must fall within your monthly maximum.
In the domestic operation you may not be reassigned to more
than one ID. Internationally you may not be reassigned to more than one ID if
the original assignment was four days or less, and to no more than two IDs if
the original assignment was more than four days.
Reassignment Priority
Reassignment priority should first be given to reassigning to
an ID in the same operation, domestic or international, the same number of
days, and the same number of hours as the original ID. However, if these
preferences are not available, the company has the ability to make a
reassignment to recoup the lost time and you will be paid the greater of the
two assignments. If you are subject to reassignment when losing only part of
the original ID, the crew desk should do everything possible to schedule a reassignment
on the same day and avoid holding you for assignment on the following day. Keep in mind; the reassignment may not
interfere with previously unassigned (sacred) days preceding vacation days.
Notification
Notification of any assignment or reassignment for
Lineholders or Reserves must be accomplished in through direct telephone
conversation. Flight Attendants in the Purser position are not
responsible for informing the rest of the crew of a delay or schedule change;
these notifications need to be handled by the scheduler. ACARS or other
non-approved forms of notification are not acceptable for reassignments. ACARS
messages may relay a request for you to contact crew scheduling upon arrival
and if you receive the message you may contact the crew scheduler once you are able
to do so.
Contact
When required to contact the company at a later time for a
reassignment, you are only required to contact the crew desk at a
prearranged time once per day encompassing
the additional 24 hours. For example: If the scheduler is not able to make an
immediate reassignment when contacting you about the change in the ID, which
could take place after checking in for an ID at the airport, the pre-arranged
contact time should not be scheduled until the following day.
A reassignment may not be made in an attempt to recoup time
lost earlier in the month. Additionally, a reassignment may not be made if
there is no time to recoup. For instance, if you have a two 5 hour one-day IDs
back to back, and the first ID turns into a 10 hour two-day ID, there should be
no reassignment for the lost (second) one-day trip that you are out of position
to work because there has been no loss of time.
Declining a Reassignment
Lastly, remember that you have the option to decline the reassignment if the
number of Reserves is equal to, or greater than the projected number of Flight
Attendants needed for the specific time of the reassignment. Keep in mind that
the crew desk considers many factors in determining what adequate Reserve
coverage means and declining a reassignment is ultimately based on operational
needs. However, when you decline a reassignment, your line projection and
guarantee will be reduced by the value of the original assignment or time lost
in the ID.