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A Home Reserve Flight Attendant Assignment of Open Pairings

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JCBA Section 7.S.

Reserves are grouped based on the number of days they are available. Within each group, Reserves are then ordered based on the amount of flight time they have accrued during the month with the lesser time accrued (TMAC) listed first. 

Generally, Reserves are considered for open assignments by matching the number of days they are available to the number of days of the pairing, then organized in time accrued (TMAC) order, and in consideration of any preferences that they may have on file for  Reserve Preferencing and/or Ready Reserve assignment processes.

For clarification purposes, when considering Reserve assignments, Reserves are first grouped into the days they are available. All Reserves good for 1 day, 2 days and 3 days will be categorized into their own specific groups designated by the number of days for which the Reserve is available. Reserve Flight Attendants having 4 or more days of availability will be categorized into the same group. Whereas Language (LQ) and Purser Reserves will be established on an entirely separate list of their own. 

Example: A one (1) day trip is available to be assigned, a legal one (1) day Reserve will be considered for the trip assignment before a 2 or 3 day Reserve Flight Attendant. 

A Reserve Flight Attendant good for one (1) day on low flying preference will always receive the one (1) day trip before a Reserve good for 2 days on high flying preference, assuming similar availability legalities. 

This process discourages a Reserve that is good for four days to be assigned turns when they are available for several days. Once Reserves are grouped into categories of available days, Flight Attendants will then be organized in time accrued (TMAC) order within that group. This is calculated on credited time including ; deadhead hours, vacation hours, rig hours, standby hours, sick hours and training hours. 

Additionally, in the instance where two (2) Reserves have the exact same time accrued (TMAC), the Flight Attendants (FIFO) from their last trip will be taken into consideration using the deciding factor of first in, first out. . 


If both Reserves have the same time accrued (TMAC) and FIFO, the Reserve with the highest seniority will be placed first on the list and subject to be assigned first. 

Utilizing the above parameters, an availability list will then be complied for each group, with high flying preference to called first to low flying and no preference. 

Reserve Flight Attendants are encouraged to review the Reserve the Reserve Preferencing assignment procedures. The Reserve prefererncing process occurs each evening at approximately 1800 HDT.

Note: Ready Reserve assignment procedures are used for assignments made outside of the Reserve Preferencing process. 

Detailed information about Reserve assignment procedures, refer to the Reserve Guide, found on our website, unitedafa.org or Section 7.S  of our JCBA.