Debora Sutor's Notes From Meeting With Terry Hart On 7/17, 2000.

Present: Debora Sutor, Jaren Chandler, Susan Piper, Terry Hart

Terry Hart invited AFA to this meeting for the purpose of updating the union on the construction activities on the G Concourse. The following are bullet point notes from that meeting.

· They are 4 months ahead of schedule and under budget currently.

· They estimate that construction should be completed between Christmas and New Year's.

· It was necessary to update all of the infrastructure on the concourse as everything was outdated. Had to update wiring, electrical, heating and air etc.

· There will be an additional jet bridge added to gate G-1 as well as additional two other additional gates at G-14 and G-19. Company not sure yet whether or not to renumber all of the existing gates or call the new gates G-1A & G-1B, G-14A & G-14B, G-19A & G-19B. AFA suggest renumbering all gates as the A & B numbering is confusing to passengers boarding the aircraft. Example is gate G-2A & G-2B. Passengers never sure if they are boarding correct aircraft.

· A new Admirals Club will open on the G Concourse sometime in December.

· All gates on concourse will be supplied with EGRs for the agents.

· The whole concourse will be receiving a new roof.

· Gates G-7 & G-16 will have to re-configured and have their pedestals moved in order to accommodate the new gates that will be added.

· ORD currently has 7 ATRs which are all in use. No spares available. We will lose one ATR in august, 2 more in October and the rest by November 2, 2000. The ATRs will have to be phased out in conjunction with the re-vamping of the gates on the concourse.

· Gate G-7 should be re-configured and the new gate added to G-1 sometime in October.

· There are 6 gates on the G concourse that belong to AA. They are gates G-1, G-3, G-4, G-6, G-8 and G-10. AA tries to stay off of these gates in the morning but as traffic picks up in the afternoon, they use them. They also use them on OSO days. They try not to use gate G-4 at all because if they do, we can not park planes on G-2. All gate usage is driven by the airline schedule.

· There is no truth to the rumor that AA will take over the G concourse once construction is complete.

· Eagle may add service to Greensboro later this year.

· No plans to add additional service anywhere until after winter. May add new markets and additional service to existing markets come Spring.

· Terry is trying to get funding approved for electric and heat/air units to be placed on the jetbridges. This will allow the company to remove about 40 pieces of ground equipment from the ramp. It will also be great to use if you have a broken APU. If funding is approved, we may have these units available by next Spring.

· Terry has already received funding approval for additional push back tractors and baggage conveyors. New push back tractors will be run on electric power and no tow bar is required.

· The City of Chicago is planning to begin major construction to the front of terminal 3. The front will be extended out to the street. The ticket counters, baggage claim areas and security check points will all be changed.

· CMH will become all AA ground personnel. Cut over should be completed sometime in August.

· Eagle will begin service between MSN and DFW in September. Research shows that current flights between CID, GRR and FWA and DFW doing very well.

· Eagle ceased service to SPI two weeks ago.

· Company thinks they finally have a fix for the oil pressure problems on the EMB. They are awaiting FAA approval for this fix.

· The company is currently in talks with Embraier for the purchase of the EMB-140.

 5/18/00

Susan Piper

Regional Director of Inflight

American Eagle Airlines Inc.

Please find the following minutes from our roundtable meeting on May 15, 2000. I felt the meeting was very productive and I look forward to attending these meetings on a quarterly basis.

In Attendance for the Association of Flight Attendants:

Debora Sutor, Jaren Chandler, Tavis Alexander, Laurette Espeland, Jeffery Myles, Veronica Tenerelli, Sara Pichelmann.

In Attendance for American Eagle Airlines:

Susan Piper, Andy Baum, Karen Anderson, Karen Skaar.

Issues Discussed

1.        AFA not receiving resign/release list. – This was discussed at the last roundtable meeting in January, 2000. AFA reported that they were still not receiving the list. It was agreed that the in-flight managers would  begin to e-mail (via personal e-mail) Tavis when flight attendants are released or resign. They will add this to their checklist of things to do when an F/A leaves the company.

2.        What are the requirements for an individual from outside the United States applying for the position of flight attendant? – Susan explains that there are different rules for Canadian citizens applying in the U.S. A Company would have to sponsor an applicant and assist them with visas etc. Canadians fall under a different set of rules. For most countries the applicant just needs a green card. Our Company does not currently participate in any sponsorship programs. Susan will try to get more information and will report back.

3.        If stand ups and reduced rest overnights have been deemed unsafe by the Company, then why are our reserve flight attendants still being scheduled for them? – The company asks AFA for specific examples of this as they have not heard of it being done. Jeffery Myles produces a copy of flight attendant Perring’s HI3 (see attachment 1), who flew a stand up on April 11/2000. Susan stated that crew scheduling told her that they were not doing this. Debora asks what the company’s position on this issue is? Veronica states that Mike Hagey told her that Peter Bowler said that no one was to be scheduled for stand ups or reduced rest.

Follow up: Susan will check to see what the company’s position on this issue is and get back to AFA.

4.        What is the status of the 360 degree evaluations? Have they reached the lower levels of management and if so, what are the results? – The 360 degree review has not been done for the in-flight managers in ORD yet because they have not been in their current positions for at least one year. Mangers are allowed to ask the peers of their choosing to fill out their evaluation. In the case of an in-flight manager, they may or may not choose to have a flight attendant critique them. AFA does not view this as a realistic evaluation if flight attendants are not given the opportunity to evaluate their managers. No discipline can be issued as a result of a bad review.

5.        Currently two ORD based flight attendants are almost at the maximum 300 hour accrual for sick time. Would the company entertain further accrual or some kind of buy back? In addition, does section 5 page 34 of the Employee Handbook (see attachment 2) apply to these two flight attendants? – The Company’s response is no. Susan explains that the company feels that this is a negotiated item. The Employee handbook is only applicable to non contract employee groups. AFA states that the Company could look at a sideletter for this at any time outside the realm of section 6 negotiations. Susan responded again that the company is not interested at this time.

6.        Exchange of documents/information in grievance hearings. – AFA passes out letters from Colleen Scanlon dated 4/16/99 Richard Wrede dated 4/20/99 (see attachment 3). The background on this issue was that Susan had asked Debora previously if AFA could be more specific when writing the “Statement of Grievance”. She wanted to see specific dates and a more detailed description of the problem. In addition she had asked that AFA supply any documents that pertained to the grievance at hand as it was too much work for the in-flight managers and they didn’t have the time. Debora explained that the AFA’s representatives time was limited as well and that due to our current understaffing situation, union drops have not been approved. AFA explains at the meeting, that per the letters passed out (see attached), until the company and the union have an agreement for the free exchange of documents from both parties, the Association will be limited to the amount of information we release in a grievance hearing. The Association also agrees to be more specific when writing grievances in the future and supply whatever documentation they can (e.g. HI1 or HI3).

7.        Problems with Union Trip Drops. – Susan explains that this was a very bad month in terms of staffing.  Veronica explains that she was told by the swaps/drops department that when union drops are denied, they do not go back and re-evaluate them like they do other drop requests. Union drops are not looked at again after they have been denied. Debora states that the position of the Union is that union trip drops should not subject to staffing and that the Association was told, by Trish Hollinrake, that pre-planned absences would not be denied. The most recent trend seems to be that even pre-planned absences are questioned and if the company thinks that the reason for the union drop is legitimate, they will approve it. Debora explained that this is not a path she is willing to go down. The Company does not have the authority to approve/deny a union drop based on whether or not they think it is necessary. Susan explained that pre-planned absences are not to be questioned or subject to staffing.  

Follow Up: Susan will talk to Jane Easton about all the problems with Union trip drops.

8.        What is the company’s current position on fatigue for flight attendants? – Susan said that Colleen Scanlon’s letter dated 11/1/99 (see attachment 4) states the company’s position. Debora reads excerpt from pilot’s manual that contradicts this position (see attachment 4). Copies of the excerpt are made for all in the room. Debora states that by not recognizing flight attendant fatigue that the company is in essence, making a statement that flight attendants are not an integral part of safety of flight. Laurette states that it is her understanding that the pilots receive an attendance occurrence for a fatigue call but that it is not held against them for purposes of discipline. AFA’s position is that if a flight attendant notifies the Company that he/she is too fatigued or sick to perform their safety related duties on board the aircraft, and that if the Company forces that flight attendant to fly in spite of that, and if something happens on that flight, the Company will be held liable. Just because the current computer does not have a code for fatigue for flight attendants, does not mean that flight attendants do not get fatigued.

Follow Up: Susan will check with the chief pilot’s office about fatigue for pilots and how it is handled                    in terms of attendance. She will further check on the significance of the excerpt from the pilot manual and how it relates to flight attendants.

9.        May 3, 2000 e-mail regarding 90 minute transportation in DAY. How does this affect duty time? – (see attachment 5) Susan explains that she is currently looking into what the trip sequence associated with this hotel transportation looks like and if this has been a problem with crews. AFA states that is their position that if a flight attendant is required to leave the hotel 90 minutes prior to departure that the flight attendant should be signed in for duty time purposes, 90 minutes prior to departure as well.

Follow Up: Susan will report back after she has had a chance to check into this.

10.     Use of change fund for transportation at outstation. – The flight attendant in question in this case was Jennifer Gillis. She was in an unusual situation whereby she found herself in BOS without a crew. There was not a crew hotel set up in BOS nor did the company have a contract with a transportation service. Susan stated that she was told to use her change fund for transportation due to the unusual circumstances and that she was reimbursed. This is contrary to what our manual states, which is why AFA was questioning the use of the change fund. Company stated that there are a number of reasons that a flight attendant may need to use their change fund and that they would look at it on an individual basis. (Problems with transportation and hotels also came up under this topic) Susan stated that the company has a contract with Sureway cab service in New York. Tavis told her that there have been problems reported to AFA by flight attendants who use the vouchers issued to them for the Sureway cab company. When a flight attendant tells the cab company that they have a voucher, they are made to wait 30 minutes or longer. AFA stated that if this is the case then the flight attendants need to contact crew scheduling to have their duty time adjusted to reflect the wait. AFA also reported that often times hotels tell the crews that they don’t have any rooms available. Company responds that this is not always true. What they really mean is that there are no rooms available at the discounted crew rate. In-flight managers or crew scheduling can authorize rooms for crews at the higher rate. AFA responds that we have a lot of new hire flight attendants and that don’t always know what to do in a situation like this. Company responds that some of this information is covered in the “Welcome to ORD” new hire packet. AFA requests a copy as they have not seen it. The Company reports that they now have two crew hotels in Boston and are working on a contract for a third as well as a transportation contract whereby, vouchers can be sent via e-mail.

Follow Up: Company will supply AFA with a copy of the “Welcome to ORD” new hire packet.

11.     Rest Interruption. (AFA has recent example, see attachment 6) When will computer be capable of providing RAPs and Rest? – Computer is now capable of  recognizing and assigning RAPs. Jaren gives the Company a copy of a write up from a flight attendant whose rest was interrupted. Jaren also states that some flight attendants report that crew scheduling is keeping them after their trip to finish the remainder of a ready reserve shift in order to fulfill their RAP. Susan states that this is not correct and will look into. She also reports that the third ready reserve shift has now been changed to 3PM – 11PM because of the elimination of stand ups. The Association asks if it is the Company’s position that they can interrupt rest, per the sheet that they put in the flight attendant mailboxes. Susan states that it is the Company’s position, that they can call a flight attendant during rest up to 2 hours prior to the start of their RAP to notify them of a flight assignment. AFA responds that we believe this to be a violation of rest requirements and that we will probably have a disagreement over this issue. Further questions were raised, but not answered, about whether or not a flight attendant is responsible to answer the phone or call AVRS during their assigned rest period.  If they don’t, will they be issued a missed assignment? Does the company believe that a RAP is duty time?

Follow Up: Susan will check into the above referenced questions and issues and report back to AFA.

12.     Problems with recurrent training. – Laurette discusses problems with recurrent. She has written letters that she has copied to various Company personnel. AFA states that they wanted to discuss the problems with recurrent at this meeting in case other flight attendants report problems. This way, the in-flight managers will know that they are not isolated or one of a kind problems. Susan states that the flight attendants feedback has not gone unnoticed. The company has changed the recurrent schedule. The first day will now begin at 12:30 PM . Other changes can be seen by looking up the star record of N*AEREC00. The Company has also installed a lock box for critique sheets so that they remain confidential. This way they do not have to hand the critique directly to the person they are critiquing. The Company encourages continued feedback. Penny has worked very hard to make recurrent training a refresher course and to create an environment that is not as stressful as it has been in the past. This is being taken very seriously.

13.     Sabre does not currently have a rescheduled line on an HI3 to show when flights have been delayed out in the morning to provide for crew rest. Can this be changed and/or what is the dispatch code to find out if a flight has been delayed? – AFA explains that currently, an HI3 will only reflect two different lines; a line for scheduled departure times and a line showing actual departure times. AFA would like to see a third line that shows a rescheduled departure time that would be reflective of a delayed departure time. This would help when calculating duty time and rest periods. There are two codes in DECS that will show if a flight was delayed for crew rest. They are DIF (Date) (Flight #) & FIL (Flight #). In addition, one can enter the number 2 and the flight number in RES. AFA reports that proper rest continues to be a problem because even if a flight is delayed out in the morning, the flight attendant is not always notified and proceeds to the airport for the flight as if it had not been delayed. Susan states that this is because the Company can not interrupt rest. Laurette reports that this was brought up at the last Grievance Resolution meeting in DFW and that she told the Company that any changes to current rest policies were subject to an MEC decision.

Follow Up: Susan will check to see if the computer can be programmed to provide a RSKD line in addition to the SKD  and ACT lines.

14.     Write ups and flight attendants that walk into the in-flight office with issues, need to be given the same attention as grievances so that they do not eventuate into formal grievances. – AFA explains that many flight attendants do not feel that their issues are taken seriously or acted upon in a timely manner by some in-flight managers. AFA would like to be able to work out some of the problems/issues that arise without having to file a grievance, but time limitations play a big part in working through issues. Sometimes, grievances have to be filed in order to preserve the flight attendants rights and meet the necessary time limitations. It is important to act upon issues in a timely manner for this reason.

15.     Clarify grievance procedures in an effort to make the process smoother for both AFA and the Company. – AFA explains that we use the Local Grievance Chair (Laurette Espeland) as our central contact. The representative that files the grievance is not always the individual that will present the grievance to the Company in a hearing. Often times, the AFA representative that gets the paperwork on an issue first, is the one who files the grievance. When it comes to the hearing, it will depend upon who is available and/or who is most familiar with a particular case. Sometimes it makes sense to have the same representative follow all the way through a case especially in disciplinary situations. This is where the Local Grievance Chair comes in. Copies of all grievance hearing should be sent to the Grievance Chair and she will then be responsible for coordinating the scheduling of the hearings at a mutually agreeable time, between the Company and the AFA representatives. It is not always necessary to have the flight attendant present for the presentation of a grievance. Sometimes however, it is very beneficial to have the flight attendant present. It depends on the issue at hand. AFA realizes that it has become a bit confusing presently, as Laurette is on leave of absence. Laurette has prepared and distributed a procedure and contact list that can be followed in her absence (see attachment 7). Jaren Chandler will become the primary contact person in the event that Laurette is not available.

16.     Discuss ways to improve working relationship between AFA and the Company. – AFA feels that the company has taken the position that because Local 51 files grievances, that we have a bad relationship with the Company. AFA tries to explain that grievances should not always be viewed in a negative manner. The turnover in management is high. Grievances can provide a written record of how certain situations have been handled  in the past. This is beneficial to both parties. In addition, not all issues can be handled without filing a grievance. There are certain situations whereby time limitations have to be met. It is not always necessary to re-invent the wheel as there is already history with regards to issues. AFA feels that these roundtable meetings are also very beneficial to improving the relationship between the Union and the Company.

17.     Ready Reserves Flight Attendants being assigned Standby Reserve duty for a third time before all other Reserves at the base who are legal and available have been assigned at least one time. – AFA explains that we have had reports from reserve flight attendants that Section 9 F. 5. Is being violated. We discussed ways that we might be able to track this to see if Crew Scheduling is following the contract.

Follow Up: Susan will check with Cathy Jacobs and report back to AFA.

.

18.     Move Union Bulletin Board to a better location. – AFA explains that before we moved to the new crew lounge, the Union bulletin board was hung over the flight attendant mailboxes and it was accessible. Now that we have moved to the new crew lounge, the Union bulletin board is hung on a wall behind a steel beam with recliner chairs in front of it. It is impossible to even change the items in the bulletin board let alone have the flight attendants read anything in it.

Follow Up: Susan will check to see if Union bulletin board as well as AFA lockbox can be moved. It should be noted that since the meeting, Andy Baum has met with Debora Sutor to discuss where these items can be moved.

19.     Flight Attendants with less than one year of seniority have been told by the Uniform Department that they are not allowed to payroll deduct any uniform items ordered. – AFA had a report of the above referenced issue. Can not find anything in the contract or the Reference manual that states this is Company policy.

Follow Up: Susan will check into the uniform issue. She thinks that it is only flight attendants on probation that are not allowed to payroll deduct uniform items.

Other Items Not on the Agenda That Were Raised During the Meeting

·        What is Company policy for baggage in the fwd closet on the EMB 145? There is still confusion. – There is a new revision for the pilots manual that changes their procedures to match ours. Karen Anderson followed up on this already with an e-mail message.

·        Catering in LGA and BOS remains a problem. – Catering still throwing items on seat 1A. Caterers do not have all of the items in stock that we carry on our aircraft. AFA explains the need to have a safe for depositing liquor monies in LGA. The Company and AFA agreed that we would encourage flight attendants to write FSTR’s to Chris Carlson. AFA asks if flight attendants can send Chris Carlson an e-mail FSTR from their home computer. This would be easier than trying to squeeze them in on breaks and after a trip from Sabre. Chris has also indicated that it is easier for him to send the FSTR and all replies he may receive with the punch of one key stroke if the FSTR’s are generated from a home computer.

Follow Up: Susan will check to see if we can publish Chris Carlson’s group wise e-mail address so that flight attendants can e-mail FSTR’s from their home computers.

·         The Company is looking into a portable restroom for the BOS base. It is supposed to be just like a real restroom with a place to wash your hands etc.

·         The issue about whether or not to board and aircraft when it is not clean is ongoing. AFA expresses concern over the fact that we almost always have to call to have our aircraft cleaned and catered. This should be done automatically. The Company suggest setting up a meeting with the ORD catering department to try and resolve some of these issues. The Company also announced that it has ordered four (4) new trucks to cater the aircraft by swapping the entire cart.

·         AFA and the Company discuss problems with open time. Flight attendants are not being paid the greater of the scheduled or the actual time flown if their block time for the month falls below the 75 hour minimum guarantee. Their guarantee is simply raised by the amount of hours they have picked up and if the trip ends up going over the scheduled amount of time they picked up, the excess is simply applied toward their guarantee. AFA stated that MEC President Barbara McNaughton had taken issue with one of the examples that the Company initially proposed publishing. Since that time the Company has in fact published these examples. AFA was uncertain what if any resolve Ms. McNaughton had come to with the Company over the one example in question.

Items from January 10, 2000 Roundtable Meeting that still need follow up

·         The Company will Provide AFA with blank copies of all liquor discrepancy forms.

·         Susan will send e-mail message to Greg Zimmer to determine if ORD catering or the outstations are responsible for placing snacks/breakfast bars on board the aircraft for flights designated to have these items. She will then let AFA know and send out an e-mail message to the flight attendants.

I would like to thank all of the participants of this of this roundtable meeting for taking the time to meet and discuss all of these important issues.

Sincerely,

 Debora Sutor

AFA Local 51 President

CC:

Lapurette Espeland

Jaren Chandler

Tavis Alexander

Jeffery Myles

Veronica Tenerelli

Karen Anderson

Karen Skaar

Andy Baum

Barbara McNaughton

Stephanie Babbish

Trish Hollinrake