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Reserve Review: Transitioning from Lineholder to Reserve

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MEC Reserve Committee

 

As we know, the unique circumstances in which we find ourselves as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our flight schedules, many of us may find ourselves transitioning from lineholder to Reserve status, effective with the start of the new schedule month on May 1, 2020. To assist in navigating these and other changes while on Reserve status, we have compiled a list of highlighted items we recommend you review.

 

Resolve End of Month 1-in-7 Conflicts

Whenever a Reserve is not scheduled with at least one (1) calendar day off at her/his home domicile in any consecutive seven (7) day period due to the convergence of monthly schedules, Sections 6.P.3. and 8.I.2. provide the Flight Attendant with the ability to decide how the schedule conflict will be reconciled. This must be done prior to the first day of the new schedule month in one of the following ways:

1. Flight Attendants may “self-trade” to correct the 1-in-7 by trading days off either mutually with another Reserve or with the Reserve Pool during the Open Time trade windows.

2. Flight Attendants may contact crew scheduling prior to the first day of the new bid month to have the 1-in-7 conflict resolved.

  • Flight Attendants may move a day off from later in the month to resolve the 1-in-7 conflict. The Flight Attendant may indicate preferences as to which day off in the new month will be moved, and these preferences will be considered, if possible.
  • For the purpose of complying with the 1-in-7 limitation, a Reserve may be released (RLSD) from a day of availability. However, this is employed only as a last resort.
  • If the Flight Attendant will be a Lineholder in the new month, she/he will work with scheduling to adjust the schedule. If it is necessary to drop a trip to resolve the 1-in-7 conflict, the Flight Attendant’s preference as to which pairing is to be dropped will be subject to the concurrence of the Flight Attendant and Inflight Scheduling. In the event of a failure to reach agreement, the pairing to be dropped will be subject to the approval of the Crew Resource Manager/designee.

3. Flight Attendants may waive the 1-in-7 legality by doing nothing. If the Flight Attendant does not contact crew scheduling before the first day of the new bid month, the 1-in-7 is considered automatically waived. If waived, the 24-in-7 FAR must still be satisfied with a 24-hour period free-from-duty in the consecutive seven (7) days.

NOTE: The 24-in-7 Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) may not be waived by a Flight Attendant or the company. If you have a 24-in-7 violation it will appear on your master schedule and must be resolved by crew scheduling.

A Flight Attendant who contacts crew scheduling and indicates she/he does not wish to waive the 1-in-7 must have the conflict resolved at that time. Flight Attendants may not be told to “wait” to resolve the conflict at a later date, that the “pool numbers” will not allow for a day off to be moved or that there are “no legal trade options.”

If you find yourself faced with these explanations, contact your Local Council Reserve or Grievance Committee for assistance in resolving this matter before the first day of the schedule month.

 

Verify Contact Information

If you have not been on Reserve in some time, it is a good idea to verify that your telephone contact information on file in CCS is current and accurate. These are the numbers that scheduling will use to notify you of a Reserve assignment if necessary, and the Contract requires Flight Attendants to keep the company advised of where she/he can be reached. In addition, a Reserve may provide one (1) alternate contact at a time.

 

To update your contact information in CCS, click on your name in the upper right corner of the screen, and select “My Information” from the drop-down menu, as shown below.

                                                           

Your contact information will then be displayed for updating, as shown below.

             

Input Reserve Preferencing and Ready Reserve Preferences

In our previous “Reserve Review” article that appeared in E-Lines on April 14th, we discussed the two different Reserve assignment processes: Reserve Preferencing and Clean-Up and Ready Reserve. Flight Attendants have the ability to input preferences in advance for each process. For detailed information, please review the previous article, the Reserve Survival Guide and the Reserve Preferencing page on the MEC Website, including the Tutorial videos.

 

Ascertain Next-Day Assignment

Reserve Preferencing and Clean-Up assignments are finalized each evening by 1930 HDT. All Reserves scheduled to be available the following day are required to ascertain their assignment by utilizing one of the automated means provided by the company (i.e., checking the Master Schedule, acknowledging the CCS Priority Message, etc.). If a Reserve is unable to do so, or if the automated system malfunctions, the affected Reserve must call the Crew Desk for their assignment.

 

At 1930 HDT, Reserves will be assigned to one of the following:

  • A specific pairing: A CCS Priority Message will be sent indicating the pairing number and report time, and the pairing will appear in the Master Schedule. Report to the departure gate at check-in time.
  • Standby Reserve: A CCS Priority Message will be sent indicating the Standby location following an “X” (e.g., “XLGA”) and report time, and the same information will appear in the Master Schedule. Report to the domicile or co-terminal and call scheduling at check-in time using the designated telephone.
  • Release (RLSD): A CCS Priority Message will be sent, and “RLSD” will appear in the Master Schedule. You are free from contact for the following day until the 1930 assignment process prior to your next day of availability.
  • Ready Reserve: No CCS Priority Message will be sent, and the Reserve day will remain blank in the Master Schedule. In other words, if you have not been assigned to a pairing, to Standby or Released for the next day, you have been assigned to Ready Reserve. You must be able to report within a minimum of three (3) hours.

 

Be Telephone Available When Required

While on Ready Reserve, and when Contractually required, Flight Attendants must be telephone available. This includes promptly checking and responding to any voicemails you receive from Crew Scheduling, which may at times come from unexpected or unknown caller ID telephone numbers. This is especially true while many schedulers are working either from home or an auxiliary Network Operations Center. Be sure to take this into account if you use special settings on your mobile phone to screen calls.  Check your Do Not Disturb settings.

 

A Reserve will not be deemed unavailable for contact and assigned an Unable to Contact (UTC) or Missed Trip (MT) unless Crew Scheduling has made three (3) calls over thirty (30) minutes spaced approximately ten (10) minutes apart to all numbers listed on the Employee Info screen in CCS.

             

 

*MEC Grievance 3-19 is a sustained System-wide grievance that provides if a Flight Attendant’s legal rest period at home is interrupted by a call from Crew Scheduling (outside of the last hour), the rest period shall be restarted as soon as the error is discovered or is brought to the company’s attention within the same rest period in which the improper contact was made.

 

More information regarding Reserve availability and other responsibilities can be found in the Reserve Survival Guide starting on page 80.

 

Report at Check-in Time

Once you have been given an assignment, either during the 1930 Reserve Preferencing and Clean-up process or as a Ready Reserve within 15 hours of departure, you are no longer required to remain telephone available. Your next responsibility is to report for the assigned check-in at the appropriate location.

 

                                              

Ready Reserves will be given 15 hours’ notice before departure time at the domicile with the exception that a lesser notice may be given when the need for a Reserve cannot be determined at least 15 hours in advance of the flight.

 

Every attempt shall be made to assign a Ready Reserve at least three (3) hours prior to report for duty. A Reserve receiving less than a three (3) hour notice (i.e., “short call”) must attempt to make the assignment.

 

Block-in Following Assignment

A Reserve who returns to the home domicile at the end of a pairing, or who completes a Standby Reserve assignment, is required to block-in. When blocking in from a pairing, you may either use the automated Block-in screen in CCS or call Crew Scheduling. When blocking in from Standby, you must call scheduling. At that time, you will be advised of your status, which will be one of the following:

  • Released to legal rest.
  • Given a second assignment within the same duty period to avoid Drafting (which may not include pre-boarding duties), or
  • Assigned in accordance with TMAC order and legal rest provisions to a pairing departing within 15 hours.

You can access the Reserve Block In screen from 3 different locations in CCS, as shown below: 

                    

Once you click on any of those tabs, the following screen will appear:
 
                    

Prior to the completion of your last flight arriving back at your home domicile, Crew Scheduling will be alerted to your upcoming arrival.  Close to your debrief time, they will have updated your status to show you are released to legal rest or you are requested to call Crew Scheduling, either because there is the potential for your pairing to be modified or you have been assigned to a second pairing departing within 15 hours. Click on “Block-In” to acknowledge the block-in status. The acknowledgement will remain in the history.

 

See the JCBA Reserve Block-In Guide for more detailed information.

 

If you have additional questions on these or any other Reserve related topics, contact your Local Council Reserve Committee.