MEC Officer Letter – October 1st Implementation

pdf. October 1st Implementation

Following ratification of our Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA), the company and the Union Members of the Joint Implementation Team (JIT) set to work to establish the fundamental system requirements that would be used in building the common scheduling platform on which all United Flight Attendants will be scheduled. This group of dedicated individuals focused their attention on outlining the foundational programming for the system and established the necessary requirements for testing the programming to ensure an outcome consistent with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Over the past several months, a great deal of work has been done establishing the programming necessary for our new JCBA. There have been a large number of programmers involved in developing the intricate data flow necessary. Beyond that and once the programming was completed, significant testing was performed to ensure the outcome of the programming met expectations. During the course of this testing, we were pleased to learn that much of the programming worked as expected. At the same time, it became apparent there were some items that required additional focus and fixing. As a result of needing to fix certain aspects of the programming, it’s fair to say we reached certain check points later than intended. Nevertheless, work continues always focused on that all important October 1st implementation date – the date on which we will all fly together.

At our most recent MEC Meeting in Atlantic City, NJ, the Union Members of the JIT provided the MEC with an update on a number of the items being programmed for our new scheduling platform. Their report outlined not only the areas of success but also those areas where additional resources were being focused to maintain the timeline for an October 1 implementation. There are some items whose delivery has been delayed and the group is closely monitoring the progress on these to ensure implementation as originally intended.

Over the course of the next several months, we will work in tandem with our JIT Members to ensure the necessary resources are available to support this implementation. We will be communicating with you on the progress of the ongoing efforts to build, from the ground up, a common scheduling platform that meets all of our expectations. As we progress through the timeline we will continue to keep you updated.

While perfection is certainly what we all strive for in the process, it’s important for us to acknowledge that October 1st will be difficult for all us even under the very best of circumstances. Why, you might ask, would we say this? The reality is that October 1st will be full of change for all of us. Reasonably, we can anticipate the impact of some of this change. At the same time, despite our best efforts, some of the change may be exactly as intended from a programmatic perspective but may be unanticipated from the personal perspective.

We need to be honest with ourselves. Change is difficult. As human beings, most of us really don’t like or welcome change especially when we can’t control its pace or impact. Let’s be clear; change is coming. Our ability to adapt to change is dependent on our willingness to accept and navigate it.

We encourage each of you to engage in the process of learning about our collective future. Review your Contract to begin to become familiar with the provisions contained therein. Make the personal commitment to read everything and to begin to compile the resources that are in the process of development for reference and education. Take the time to get to meet your flying partners, to learn from and about each other. Most importantly, let’s work together to make our unification through this merger a success. Ultimately, our success depends on all of us coming together to support each other to advance not only our careers, but also our collective future.