In this Union newsletter we will discuss the following items:
1) Important announcement regarding FLL
2) Spirit Reciprocal Jumpseat Program DELAYED
3) Overbooking of flights
4) Rosters
5) PDC app
6) Crew Hotels
7) Zoom meeting
1. Important announcement regarding FLL
The Company has notified the Union of a Company announcement regarding FLL. We were assured that the announcement doesn't involve the loss of jobs. We have asked that the JFK based crew also be invited to the meeting. The meeting is scheduled tomorrow morning at 0900 and the invite to the meeting has been sent to your NORSE EMAIL. If you aren’t able to attend the meeting, the Union will hold our own Zoom meeting tomorrow evening to discuss the announcement at 1800 Eastern Time.
2. Spirit Reciprocal Jumpseat Program DELAYED
The reciprocal jumpseat program negotiated between Spirit and Norse is delayed—it will not go into effect June 1st. As you may guess, the problem is lack of implementation on our (Norse) side. As it is right now, Norse employees still cannot list on flights to/from the UK and some of us are still being asked to pay for checked and carryon luggage by the ground staff. In order to be in compliance with the reciprocal agreement we signed with Spirit, there cannot be any technological limitation that prevents Spirit crew members from listing on flights and they cannot be charged for luggage. Until these technical issues are resolved, we cannot implement the agreement. The AFA has vocalized to the Company our extreme disappointment in the delay in implementation and Management has promised to make this a top priority for us.
3. Overbooking of flights
On the last “Althing” meeting, Norse President Charles Duncan said that he is going to authorize the Commercial department to overbook flights due to the number of no-shows we have been experiencing at Norse. Many of you have complained that the overbooking of flights may make it difficult to utilize Staff Travel. Overbooking of fights is a standard practice in the airline industry—just about every airline does it and in most cases, it means the difference on whether or not an airline makes a profit. Being that our load factors have been nowhere near full, having full or close-to-full flights would be the best form of job security we could hope for. In the unlikely event that our flights are just so full that nobody can utilize their travel benefits, the unions will get together and come up with a solution. Until then, please hope for full flights—it’s the only guarantee Norse will be around in the long run.
4. Rosters
Our rosters continue to be awful despite the Company saying “things will get better.” The average block hours per CCM is still very low—nowhere near the promised 65 block hours. In the next 60 days, we are expecting the launch of several new routes. We told management that morale is low because of the poor rostering and if they don’t improve soon, they will continue to lose good employees. Planning is still trying to rearrange schedules due to the misplacement of trips to CCMs in the wrong AOC. Some CCMs rosters show “CTC” which stands for “contactable”. This means that you MAY be given an assignment but they’re not sure just yet. Lastly, the company cannot move your days off without your consent. You are not entitled to a bought day off payment if you voluntarily agree to move your days.
5. PDC CrewConnex app
The PDC app was created for the purpose of swapping trips. It has been in development for the past year; however, it is still not functional for trip swaps. In the meantime, we told the company to publish the PDC app so you can at least view your schedules and get used to using it. The company says they hope to have the swap function operational by the next roster release. To download the app on an iPhone, click here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pdc-crewconnex/id1626846035. To download the app on an Android phone click here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pdc.aviation.crewconnex
6. Crew Hotels
The Company has chosen the Hilton Dulles as the crew hotel for IAD. As you can guess, the hotel is located in the middle of nowhere and was chosen without any consultation with the Unions. The only good thing about this hotel is a 50% discount on food and beverage. We expressed to the Company that choosing another hotel without Union consultation is unacceptable and is a violation of our CBA. The Company has also informed us that effective June 1st, breakfast will no longer be included at any crew hotel. Even though breakfast is not specified in our CBA, the Union is looking into the possibility of filling a grievance over the breakfast issue and lack of proper consultation. The other unions have also expressed disappointment in these announcements and the Company has agreed to schedule a meeting with all unions on Thursday to further discuss hotel issues. We will provide another update after Thursday’s meeting.
