Committee Updates (July 2024)

FOQA Committee

Last week we conducted an internal audit of our safety programs with the assistance of Teamsters Airline Division Representative Patrick Holyfield. During this audit, longstanding vendor data handling and procedural errors showed that we needed to take corrective action as soon as possible. The Local sent a letter to Allegiant and we convened a meeting the next day to address the deficiencies. We are happy to report that the company was responsive and we anticipate that when we are able to confirm the changes to data access are accomplished the data analysis will resume per our FOQA MOU.

We would like to add that no data has been leaked outside the working group.

We are committed to ensuring our safety programs meet industry best practices.

Shawn Rials
FOQA Gatekeeper

Payroll Committee

Here are some recent trends and reminders from the Payroll Committee:

FAQs.

Our union website (http://www.allegiant-teamsters-union.local) now includes a FAQ section. Some of these include:

– In what situations would I potentially pick up a trip and “work for free?”
– I am PPSK’d. Can I double dip?
– How do I make ABG when on a composite line with ADD Days?

If you have a general question for our committee, we ask you reference the FAQs first. If your question is not already answered, submit your question on the provided form.

MULTI DAY TRIPS.

As we begin to get into charter season, note that crew payroll’s software is not accurately capturing pay when going past 11:59 p.m. into a new calendar day on RON trips. Once a trip has a 117 rest period, when it goes past 11:59 pm into a third or 4th calendar day it is eligible for an extra 4 hours placed on that 3rd or 4th day. 2:01 a.m. is specific to whether a pilot is eligible for a comp day and whether those 4 hours should be ABG or not.

– Example: LAS – SFB redeye pairing this summer is scheduled to off duty on day 2 or 3 at 11:59 p.m. If the pilots encounter a 1-minute delay and go off duty at 12:00 a.m., they shall receive an extra 4 hours. If the delay goes past 2 a.m. *into a day off*, the 4 hours is designated as ABG and a comp day is owed.

– The 4 hours min calendar day in this example is unique to this pairing and should not be merged with other pairings operating later the same calendar day after 117 rest. So if they went off duty at 12:00 a.m., had 12 hours of rest and flew a 4-hour day trip pairing in the afternoon, their pay shall be 4+4.

– Additionally, be wary of crew payroll software merging 2 min days into one 8-hour day. This can cause issues particularly if crossing months. For example, a pilot is below guarantee one month and above the other month, or in premium one month and not the other. It has also caused issues with a same day VFN conflict “greater of” rules. Due to the complexity, reference the RON GSA on the union website or feel free to reach out to payroll@apa2118.org for guidance!

JIRAs.

Please forward all questionable JIRA replies (any in which they did not fix as directed) to us for triage and we will either fix if crew payroll is wrong, provide clarity as to why crew payroll is correct, or provide guidance for a grievance if it is a contested issue. Attach a copy of the latest Tableau pay report.

LEAVES.

When taking partial unpaid leave for the month, note that your Tableau report will be inaccurate until about the 8th of the following month, when Crew LOA reports to crew payroll. Check your pay report on this day and ensure the “guarantee credit” matches what you received for guarantee on your last two paystubs and that it is properly prorated for the month (e.g. if you took 15 unpaid leave days in a 30-day month, you should have 35 as a line holder). Additionally, ensure that PCH is rolling to ABG at this reduced guarantee.

DTO.

If a pilot DTOs (uses sick time for dropping) a reserve day and then later designates it as a gold day, crew payroll’s software loses the DTO coding and issues a drop to guarantee (DTG). They claim they are unwilling to fix this because “pilots change their mind about DTO” when designating a gold day. Doesn’t make sense to us, but open a JIRA if this happens and the DTO will be restored. Crew payroll is now including a statement in their monthly JIRA reminder email about this flaw.

VFNS MISAWARDS.

We are frequently seeing VFNS granted with conflict to a more junior pilot because the senior pilot is “more conflicted.” The CBA states that when two pilots are both conflicted, it should go to the more senior pilot. Please submit a grievance if you are told this.

As always, please reach out to us via the FAQ feature or Payroll@APA2118.org if you have any questions. We usually answer within minutes.

Greg Harris and Brandon Wood
Payroll Committee

Scheduling Committee

Fellow Pilots,

Your Scheduling Committee volunteers work hard around the clock to help our pilots navigate all scheduling aspects of our CBA. This includes anything from vacancy awards to CBI bidding, reserve assignments, trip trades, open time use, reassignments, and an alphabet soup of TDYs, VFNs, ADDs, ROEs, RONs, etc. The nuances of the contract can be difficult to understand at times and we are here to guide our pilots through that process so you can better plan your valuable time away from work.

In addition to assisting pilots directly, the committee also analyzes and compiles scheduling data for use in negotiations, arbitrations and various other needs of the local. These functions are often the most important and time consuming of the committee’s responsibilities as they help to shape the outcomes for both current disputes and future contract provisions affecting the entire pilot group.

Some important notes for your consideration when consulting your scheduling volunteers: While we are able to assist in the interpretation of the CBA, the volunteers cannot directly engage the company to resolve personal scheduling issues. We will happily guide you through that process. When direct union action is required, we will involve your base steward leadership to assist. Also, part 117 questions generally fall outside the purview of the Scheduling Committee, as they are regulatory in nature and our expertise lies within our CBA.

Your engagement with the Scheduling Committee is extremely important to us. You are always the first to know when the company changes an interpretation of the contract. When you include us, we see the systemic changes immediately in the form of dozens of questions that we can address promptly. Even if you are able to resolve something quickly with the company that seems like a small error, we encourage you to CC or BCC scheduling@apa2118.org in your communications so that we can see the frequency of these occurrences. The strength of our union depends on the involvement of each and every member, and your Scheduling Committee is committed to defending our contract and improving the quality of life of our pilots.

Fraternally,

Your Scheduling Committee
Scheduling@apa2118.org

Neal Bodin, volunteer since Nov, ‘21.
737 Ca, SFB
nbodin@apa2118.org, 720-220-9127

Dave Jensen, volunteer since Mar, ‘23
737 Ca, SFB
djensen@apa2118.org, 407-902-8507

Stefan Clasen, volunteer since Apr, ‘24
A320 Ca, SFB
sclasen@apa2118.org, 407-412-2507

Instructor Committee

We are working with the company regarding the creation of an automated pay sheet processing system. If you have any issues with pay not being processed correctly for DTO events, deadheads or pickups, please let us know via email. If you have any questions regarding open time awards, please let us know and we can verify it was awarded correctly. The easiest way to reach us is by emailing: instructor@apa2118.org.

We are looking for additional help with the Committee. If you think you would be interested, be on the lookout soon for committee vacancy postings.

Kevin Kocken
Committee Chairman

Hotel Committee

Greetings from your Hotel Committee!

Things have been relatively quiet lately on the hotel front, so I only have a few things to mention.

SFB Hilton Garden Inn.

The hotel has begun its renovation project as of June. This will cause some disruptions, but the end result should be a much better product then we have seen there for some time. Travel has been using other hotels when possible, but if you are in the HGI and have any construction noise issues please reach out to the committee or the travel department.

PIE TDY.

In July, the PIE TDY hotel changed abruptly. This was not an issue caused by the company, but was due to an unforeseen management change at the property. The new owners as of now do not want the airline contract we had been using. The new hotel is a long stay Residence Inn, but it is about a 35-minute drive. It is on the beach as well, I am told. The other option was the Hilton Carillon Park, but the majority of feedback I have gotten from TDY crews has been they would prefer the longer drive if it means a long stay hotel. We will revisit this choice if the majority feels the drive is too much. As for short stays I have been told we will be using the Hilton when at all possible. The owners have agreed to give all crews free breakfast and those with Gold or Higher HHonnors status will also get the daily $15 food credit.

Travel/Union Relationship.

Since the beginning of the year, I have seen a marked difference with how the travel department has worked with your Hotel Committee. It is become a much more collaborative effort. Never before have we been asked to do hotel inspections and rarely were our primary choices even considered until now. I feel that we will be seeing better hotel options (at least for Non-IROP situations) for the foreseeable future. We still are severely lacking any hotel language in the current CBA though and, until that changes and the Hotel Committee gets veto power over hotels, this could change back to the previous ideology.

As always please reach out to me or Capt. Aaron Brown with any issues.

Matt Timpany
AAY Hotel Committee Chair