Scheduling Committee
Scheduling
The MEC Scheduling Committee acts as a liaison between crew scheduling, the flight attendants, and NWA AFA-CWA. Our contract allows the Committee "input and the opportunity to recommend changes or distribution of future flying." The Committee also addresses scheduling concerns with the director of scheduling and contract compliance during its meetings with the company.
To contact the MEC Scheduling Committee, please use the following email address: mecscheduling@nwaafa.org
An automated Crew Schedule Report is now available online. Provide as much factual documentation as possible when submitting your concerns. If you will be pursuing a grievance, contact your Local Executive Council.
If you feel you have been given an assignment or rescheduled outside the restrictions of the contract, remember to ask for a "review of crew orders," as per Section 6.F.
Carry Sections 5, 6 & 7 of the contract with you on all trips. Be prepared to give contractual references if you question assignments from crew scheduling. NEVER REFUSE A TRIP, as that may be grounds for termination, but KNOW YOUR WORK RULES AND LEGALITIES to defend your rights.
Fly safe and fly the contract,
MEC Scheduling Committee
Latest Scheduling News
PBS Implementation in September
PBS Going Live in August for September Bid Month
The joint PBS Implementation Team of AFA-CWA representatives and Northwest management has concluded that problems encountered during earlier mock bidding have been resolved. Live implementation of PBS will proceed as previously scheduled – in August for the September bid month.
The PBS bid deadline for all bases for live implementation will be Wednesday, August 13 at 0900 CDT.
AFA-CWA had officially requested to delay the implementation of PBS after Mocks 1 and 2 revealed many problems with the program. However, after reviewing the program in Montreal and the bid awards for Mock 4 and Mock 4.5, it appears that these problems have been remedied and that the program is now ready for live implementation. In addition, the Company’s contractual requirement to provide for two mock bids (parallel tests) has been met from at least the last few mocks: Mock 4, Mock 4.5 and Mock 5.
Although the “bid lock” will not be on during live PBS bidding – in other words, flight attendants will be able to enter a PBS bid without first entering a SLIC bid – the joint PBS Implementation Team has agreed that all flight attendants should enter a viable SLIC bid as a back-up in the unlikely event that PBS awards cannot be posted. In that event, the last SLIC bid entered by each flight attendant will be used for September bid awards. Please review your last SLIC bid and be certain to update it before the deadline.
After careful consideration, the Union and the Company have agreed to publish one bid deadline for both live PBS bidding and SLIC: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 0900 CDT. With just one deadline, it is less likely that flight attendants will inadvertently miss bidding for September, as was the case with mock bid deadlines during the PBS training period.
PBS Instructors will be conducting specialized seminars during July. A schedule is posted at each base and is available on the Scheduling Committee page of our website, nwaafa.org. Flight attendants may sign up for a PBS seminar at any base but should call the base Inflight office to confirm dates and times for each class.
PBS TO-DO LIST FOR SEPTEMBER FLYING:
- Attend a PBS seminar when offered (July seminars are on “Weighting");
- Read and save all PBS communications in ATLAS;
- Enter your September bid in PBS by 0900 CDT August 13;
- Review and re-enter SLIC bid by 0900 CDT August 13;
- From the left side of the ATLAS homepage, print a copy of your September PBS bid in the FA Audit Trail (listed in the audit trail as “WEB Monthly Schedule Bid") – check it to ensure your bid isentered correctly;
- From the left side of the ATLAS homepage, print a copy of your September SLIC bid in the FA Audit Trail (listed in the audit trail as “SLIC BIDDING")
PBS Weighting Seminars Scheduled
All dates/times subject to change. Please contact a PBS Instructor or FAM for confirmation of the below sessions.
Interested participants should register on the sign-up sheets at base.
DTW
(PBS Instructor Line 734-247-2529)
CBT training room near Inflight
July 7 to 17
1100 – 1300 daily
LAX
Training room, Baggage Claim Level
July 10 & 11, 14 & 15
1000 – 1100
August 6 & 7, 11 & 12
1000 – 1100
August seminars on “Reports”
MEM
Please call 901-922-8524 for time and location
Two sessions per day
July 11, 16 and 17 (original dates changed)
MSP
Southside conference room near computer room
July 8
1330 – 1530
July 10 and 11
1030 –1230
1330 – 1530
1830 – 2030
July 12
1030 – 1230
1330 – 1530
July 13 and 14
1330 – 1530
July 16 and 17
1030 – 1230 and 1330 – 1530
NYC
Call for exact time and location
LGA: 718-476-7414
EWR: 973-961-2828
Both sessions on July 10
SEA
Call 206-433-3715 for exact location
July 8 – 11
0930 – 1100 and 1230 – 1400
July 13
0900 – 1030
July 14
0930 – 1100 and 1230 – 1400
SFO
Airport Ops Training Room across from Inflight Lounge
Call 650-877-5069 for more information
July 12 and 14
1000 – 1200
PBS Mock Bidding for June Cancelled
Last week’s special PBS/Scheduling message stated that June Mock 3 PBS bidding had been delayed until May 15, and that the SLIC screen had been “unlocked” from the PBS test screen in the meantime so SLIC bids could be submitted.
While the PBS vendor did make an attempt to fix systemic problems by May 15, upon further investigation and discussion with the vendor, the decision was made to cancel June mock bidding. As a result, you will not be able to practice using PBS in May for June bids, nor will you be required to enter a PBS bid for June.
Mock 4 bidding will begin in early June for July flying, with the SLIC “lock” reinstated: you will be unable to use SLIC until you have successfully submitted a PBS bid.
Our union representatives on the PBS Implementation Team agreed that June bidding could not possibly continue when flight attendants would again be faced with many of the same problems encountered during Mock 2. The Company is still going forward at this time with plans to launch PBS in August for September flying.
We will continue to meet with Northwest and PBS vendor representatives to address our concerns about programming. Please contact (cc your Local Executive Council officers) with specific problems encountered while using PBS, as well as suggestions for improvement. Data is being compiled by special assignment flight attendants at the pbshelp address, who track and report trends directly to the Company. We will discuss these issues in our meetings with the Company and vendor programmers and will update you with additional PBS testing and launch information as it is known.