Partnership Program Q and A

1. Can all flight attendants participate in the partnership program, regardless of their seniority?

Although active flight attendants can bid for the partnership program, awards will be determined by seniority, domicile surpluses and cost effectiveness. Partnerships generate cost savings for the Company through salary because two flight attendants fly one line. However, benefit costs for each of the partners continue and costs are incurred in administering the program.

The aggregate cost savings of the program will also determine whether all flight attendants who desire to, will be able to participate. If there are sufficient numbers of senior partnerships to offset the costs of junior partnerships that may not provide cost benefits, the junior partnerships may be awarded.

2. What qualifications are included for eligibility?

Flight attendants in a partnership must have these same qualifications: aircraft, services (domestic and/or international) over-water and passport, and be based at the same domicile. If one of the partners is internationally qualified and the other is not, they can bid for partnership. However, they can only share domestic lines.

3. If I bid and am awarded a line on the junior partner's seniority, do I continue through the month with the junior seniority?

No. Once the senior partner's line of flying has been constructed, each partner will have separate trips and the seniority of each flight attendant will apply to any competitive actions (i.e., trip trading, reassignment, conversion, competing for premium positions, etc.).

4. If my partnership bids a line worth 87:00, how will we split the line of flying if our monthly maximum(s) is 46:00, 48:30, or 50:00? Will one of us be forced to opt?

The trips will have to be distributed so that the ID(s) will fit into the two individual lines of flying. This could force one or both of the partners into an opt situation.

5. Can we split an ID in order to fit all of the trips into our individual lines?

No. Individual IDs may not be split between the partners.

6. If my partnership is awarded a line of flying with three high-time trips, how will we split the line?

Each partner must take one of the IDs (up to 50:00). The lesser value trip that remains unassigned will be placed into open flying.

7. We only have three days after primary lines are awarded to notify the Company how we want our trips divided. What if I can't reach my partner?

Partners are responsible for notifying the Company of which trip(s) they will each be flying. If you know in advance that you will not be available to coordinate the distribution of flying, you may notify the Company of each partner's preferred flying dates. Absent notification by the partnership the Company will distribute the flying as equally as possible, with the greater portion assigned to the senior partner.

8. Our awarded line of flying has been split and my partner and I each have separate lines of flying. Can we trade with each other?

Yes. Once a partner has an individual line of flying, she/he can trade with open flying or any other flight attendant, including her/his partner, provided all qualifications are met.

9. If I'm a partner, when may I submit trip trades?

As a partner, a flight attendant may only submit trip trades after her/his individual line has been constructed.

10. If I want to pick up a trip from open flying on my individual partner line, what category will I use?

Because partners have opted to reduce their line guarantee by virtue of participation in the partnership program, open flying will be awarded under Sections 9.I.4.d. and 12.Q.4.d. (Order of Assignment) – "Flight attendant who desires to increase time for any reason, including a flight attendant who desires to make up AFA flight pay loss." Open flying will be awarded after these two types of requests and ranking among the partners will be based on greatest time under maximum.

11. Can I take ANP, DAT or PTO if I am in a partnership?

Yes.

12. If awarded a move-up line, how does the partnership advise the Company how to designate which trip(s) we each fly?

The Company will call the senior partner, who selects which trips each partner will fly. Once both partners' lines are completed, the Company will utilize the normal means of notifying the other partner of the awarded move-up line.

13. Can I work a reserve block of days on at the beginning and at the end of the month?

Yes. Each partner must, however, work a minimum of two reserve blocks of days on with a minimum of eight (8) days on.

14. What if my partner and I only have three blocks of days on?

One partner will work two blocks of days on and one partner will work one block of days on. The partner working one block must choose the longest block.

15. Can I attend RET as a partner?

Yes. Each partner bids for and attends RET during her/his normal month(s). RET is placed in the partner's individual line(s) as required and paid accordingly.

16. If I don't bid for RET, will I be assigned if I'm a partner?

Yes, while participating in the partnership program flight attendants are required to attend RET and will be assigned on days off according to RET class availability if no bids are received by the Company.

17. Will additional partnerships be awarded during the three (3) month partnership period?

A waiting list will be maintained of partnership requests. In the event additional partnerships are required, these will be processed in seniority order.

18. Can I request a partnership after bids have been closed?

Partnership requests submitted after the close of partnership bids will be placed on the waiting list based on the seniority of the senior flight attendant in the request. A waitlist screen will be available in SkyNet after bids close.

19. What if we don't want to be on the waiting list for a partnership?

If you do not want your partnership request to be placed on the waiting list, do not check the waitlist box on the partnership bid form in SkyNet.

20. Can I remove a partnership request from the waiting list?

Yes. If you would like to remove your request from the waiting list, check the 'remove name from waitlist' box on the partnership bid form in SkyNet.

21. What if I failed to remove my partnership request and it was processed during the three (3) month period?

You will be responsible to fly as a partnership.

22. Will the fact that there is no monthly minimum affect the partnership?

Each partner is already below the sixty-five (65) hour minimum because each is restricted to maximum(s) of 46:00, 48:30, or 50:00 per month. Each partner will, however, be guaranteed the value of the trips placed in her/his line of flying as well as trip(s) picked up in open flying and additional flight time credit resulting from trip trades, inbound flight(s) from the previous month, etc.

23. How are sick leave and occupational leave paid?

Both sick leave and occupational leave are paid to the partner who is ill or injured based on her/his individual line of flying during the month in which the illness or injury occurs.
If an occupational injury causes one partner to remain off work, the partnership will be dissolved. The remaining partner will, however, be permitted to form a new partnership provided the senior partner continues to have the same or greater seniority.

24. Will I be entitled to death in family (DIF) benefits?

Yes. Each partner is entitled to DIF benefits and will be paid according to her/his individual line of flying.

25. How will I be paid for Jury Duty?

Each flight attendant will be paid for Jury Duty based on her/his awarded line of flying.

26. If I participate in a partnership, what impact will the program have on my ability to use FMLA?

Participating in the partnership program will have no affect on how a partner uses FMLA. However, it may affect the accrual of hours toward FMLA eligibility.

27. If a partnership is suspended because of the need for specific language/ Purser qualification, what would be my monthly maximum?

A Flight Attendant who has had her/his partnership suspended for one of the above reasons, would revert to the quarterly system with a prorated monthly maximum.

28. Will I receive half of the difference to our reserve guarantee of 75:00 hours if I am already at my 50:00 hour maximum?

Yes. According to Section G.5, if the total of both partners' lines is less than 75 hours, the additional reserve guarantee hours will be divided equally between the partners.

29. In some cases it may not be possible to split reserve blocks into a total of 8 work days in each partners schedule. How will these instances be handled?

In a 30-day schedule month, the distribution of 4 reserve blocks may result in one partner having two (2) blocks of reserve 'days on' totaling seven (7) days. (Reference G.2 of the LOA)

30. I would like to find another flight attendant with whom to form a partnership. Is there a way to post a request or to view a list of others who are looking for a partner?

Flight attendants can use the trade board in Unimatic to post preferences for a partnership and search for partners with similar preferences. To post preferences for a partnership, i.e. advertise for a partner, enter: POSTRD, and follow the prompts for 'Advertise For Partnership.' To search for partners, access the tradeboard by entering: TRDBRD/PART

31. I understand only the junior partner's bid will be considered for both primary and relief processes. What happens if only the senior partner bids?

Because only the junior partner's bid is considered, if no bid is on file in the junior partners bid screen, the award will follow the insufficient/no-bid logic (lowest line award number available) based on the junior partner's seniority.

32. Can Flight Attendants in a partnership place a request on file for 30 day ANP?

Yes. Partners may put a request on file for 30 day ANP. Before lines are split, both partners must place requests on file to be considered for the award of 30 day ANP. The request will be considered at the junior partner's seniority. If 30 day ANP is awarded before lines are split, both partners will be placed on 30 day ANP status. If only one partner places a request on file, 30 day ANP will not be awarded to the partnership and consideration of the individual request deferred until after the lines are split.
Once the awarded schedule is split between the partners, each partner would be considered individually for 30-day ANP, in the same manner as for daily ANP. Either partner desiring 30-day ANP should individually submit their own request in the normal manner.

33. What happens if one partner's vacation encompasses all the trips included in the awarded line of flying?

Pursuant to the LOA, Section I. 5, neither partner will have any trips assigned to his/her line. The partner with vacation can pick up trips outside the vacation period. The other partner can pick up trips any time in the month. Neither partner has a minimum and both partners are subject to the 46:00 hour flight time maximum, with the option of 48:30 or 50:00 flight time maximum.

34. What if my partnership is awarded a reserve line and one of us has vacation. Are the vacation days dropped from the line, and the remainder of the reserve days split between the partners? For example, my vacation is September 1 – 10. The line has the first 6 days of the month on. Do those 6 days drop off the line, and the remainder of the days split between us?

Neither partner will fly the vacation days. The remainder of the line will be flown by the partners as determined by their Notification of Reserve Availability Days sent to Advance Schedule Planning.

35. Can partners request to be added to the reserve move-up list after the line is split?

Partners may request a move-up line. If a move up line is awarded to the partnership, the award will be based on the junior partner's seniority. The senior partner must inform the Flight Attendant Support Team how the move up line will be split at the time of notification (H.8. of the Partnership LOA) in accordance with paragraph E.2. of the Partnership LOA.

36. When looking at a Line of Flying screen (DSPLOF), will there be any indication of a partnership?

Once the awarded line of flying has been split between the partners, each partner is responsible for his/her schedule; therefore it is not necessary to identify a line of flying for partners. The line of flying for a Flight Attendant in the partnership program will look different as information about quarterly limits (QAC, QPJ, QMX) will not appear and the monthly information will be at 50 hours or less. The GAR for lineholders will be the value of the trips assigned in the line of flying at the time of the split. For Flight Attendants assigned a reserve line, the MIN will be the value of the number of reserve days times the daily reserve rate for the applicable schedule month.

37. When will the waitlist be considered?

For subsequent months of the partnership period, there will be a monthly evaluation of manpower needs, and if warranted, awarding additional partnership requests on the wait list will be considered based on an overall evaluation of cost neutrality in the aggregate, and will be awarded at the seniority of the senior partner.

38. If the partnership program is continued beyond the 3 month period and I wish to continue in the partnership, do I have to re-bid for partnership?

Yes. Future Partnership Programs will require a new bid process. Future Partnership Programs may be considered based on domicile need and cost effectiveness of the program in the aggregate.

39. Can one partner opt while the other partner does not opt?

Yes, unless both partners agree to opt to the same level, do not opt in the bid process. Instead each partner should notify the Company of intent to opt after the line is split.

40. Once a reserve line has been split, will each partner receive reserve assignments considering their individual TMAC?

Yes. TMAC will reflect the activity of the individual Flight Attendant.

41. If one of the partners is required to be available for 12 days in a 30-day month (two blocks of six reserve days) where the value of the reserve days equals 52:00, what is the Flight Attendant's maximum for the month?

The Flight Attendant's opted maximum will 52:00, in this instance.