part 2-----
CLOSING
Finally, in the letter from ALPA FedEx MEC to FedEx VP of Flight Operations, Bruce Cheever, ALPA addresses one problem with our current state of affairs with Flight Safety in FedEx is: Morale. The proposed solutions include improving esprit de corps and pride in the company. Taking money away from the grievants by attempting to stretch the contract, taking some kind of an odd approach, looking for every smallest way to refuse to pay a pilot is not working towards the goals we need. These kind of actions are exactly the kind of actions that lead to poor morale. Let’s fix this now, and pay the grievants what they are due.
ATTACHMENT 1
CAPT S. LETTER REGARDING SUBSTITUTION – ALPA TRAINING AID
ATTACHMENT 2
ANALYSIS OF DECISION MAKING USING THE SUBSTITUTION FLOW CHART
The purpose for this attachment is to show the process used to arrive at the decisions made by the grievants concerning substitution.
This flow chart is located on the ALPA Web Site and in the union’s pocket calendar.
INSERT FLOW CHART HERE
QUESTION: Was a RAT trip offered in the initial assignment period?
ANSWER: NO (Continue Flow Chart to Continue in Sub Status)
QUESTION: Was a SUB TRIP offered in your substitution window? (8-HR)
ANSWER: NO (Continue Flow Chart)
DISCUSSION:
The “Initial Availability Period” is defined in the Capt S. Article as “from the time you are advised eligible for SUB until four hours after your original showtime.” The grievants were notified they were eligible for SUB – Therefore they were in the INITIAL AVAILIBILITY PERIOD – whether they were on a trip or not. The article further explains, “A pilot eligible for SUB may be offered a substitution assignment at any time in this window. (You are only required to be available for contact by phone in the 8-hour Initial Availability Window, ± 4 hours from your original scheduled showtime.)”
The Contract Q & A has a section that talks about Substitution. It says,
Question: CRS calls me and tells me that my trip a week from now has canceled and that I'm eligible for substitution. What happens now?
Answer: You are now in your "initial availability period." You do not have to be available for substitution assignment until 4 hours prior to showtime of your original trip, but CRS may offer you an assignment by telephone or VIPS at any time. Your decision whether to accept or reject has a pay consequence. If you receive a substitution offer by accessing VIPS, you will have 24 hours (or until 4 hours prior to showtime, if that's shorter) to call CRS and reject the trip. If you don't reject the trip, you will be deemed to have accepted it. A VIPS script will make this clear. Once you are within 4 hours of showtime, CRS will call you for any substitution assignments.
The crew WAS available (as defined above) during the 8 hour Initial Availability Period. Scheduling didn’t offer a trip. They didn’t call. They didn’t put it in VIPS. The crew was away from base on a pairing at the time, but they still could have offered a trip by calling, or placing the trip notification in VIPS. The trip would have started the following day after they returned to base, and could have easily been within the footprint of the original trip. This is exactly what happened one week earlier to the same aircrew, when pairing #YY was cancelled. They were offered a substitution trip (Trip 2YY) the day prior to the day the trip actually started. They all then deviated on that trip to get to DFW, but they all accepted that trip.
Section 25.H.D d. says a pilot shall be required to be available for substitution assignment only during the portion of an availability period during which he is not in a legal rest period, on a trip, or in training. However, there is no language in the collective bargaining agreement that says a pilot can’t be NOTIFIED of a trip in the initial availability period if the pilot is in crew rest or on a trip. The SUB trip history a week prior set a precedent for this.
QUESTION: Was original trip less than 72 Hrs TAFB?
ANSWER: NO (Continue Flow Chart to STATEMENT)
STATEMENT: Get 18 hours toward trip guarantee. (Continue Flowchart)
REQUIREMENT: Sit Next Availability Window. (Continue Flowchart)
DISCUSSION: The aircrew did this. The next availability window is based on a substitution assignment with a showtime that couldn’t be within 72 hours of the showtime of the original trip, because the original trip was greater than 72 hours. The next availability window in this case was between 1000 - 1600 LBT, Thursday, July 18th. The crew was available for contact by CRS for SUB assignments.
QUESTION: Was a Trip Offered?
ANSWER: Yes. (Continue Flowchart through option of “YES”)
DISCUSSION: Scheduling called each of the crewmembers. They each declined the trip. Before the S/O declined the trip, however, he explained that he was going to decline the trip, but he’ll still get 18 Credit Hours for substitution guarantee. He asked the scheduler to confirm his interpretation of the contract. The scheduler replied, “I’m not allowed to answer any questions about pay.” The S/O replied, “Well, I called and spoke to the union about it. I’m sure that’s the way it is anyway.” CRS did not give any indication that the crew would loose substitution guarantee if they rejected the trip.
DECISION BRANCH: Accept or Reject
DECISION: Reject (Continue to bottom of flowchart)
STATEMENT: YOU KEEP ALL PREVIOUS SUB CHs EARNED.
YOU ARE DONE WITH SUBSTITUTION (End of Flow Chart)
DISCUSSION: This last statement is why the aircrew is entitled to the 18hrs of pay, even though they turned down a 6 hour sub trip.
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If you just read all of that you've got more time than me...
End of the story: I wasn't in MEM for the initial availability period, therefore the I.A.P. NEVER EXISTED, so I didn't get paid.
