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Union Update September 18, 2022

18 Sep, 2022

Dear Norse Cabin Crew:

This Union Update will discuss the following issues.

1. Company Update--Winter Schedule

2. Part Time and Trip Drops

3. Individual Trip Swaps (still not allowed)

4. October Rosters

5. Proper Terminology for Assignments

6. Lead Flight Attendant Position

7. JFK Crew hotel

8. Updated Pay Calculator

9. Travel benefits?!?

10. CBA changes and voting

11. Deadline to work for Norse (Pre-Hire List)

12. Zoom meeting discussing the financial “future” of the Company

1. Company Update--Winter Schedule

At this week’s Althing, Bjorn Tore talked about the reduction of the Winter Schedule. The decision to reduce the winter schedule was decided by the Norse Management Team after looking at our load factors as we head into the winter months. The cuts to the winter schedule have not yet been finalized. We expect to hear about the final cuts by the time our November Rosters are published. Norse Management said that despite the cuts, they will not be furloughing any crew members.

2. Part Time and Trip Drops

Cutting flights and grounding aircraft while not furloughing any crew will result in there being an excess amount of crew members. The company already sent out a survey to all bases asking if the crew would be interested in part-time, though it was only meant for LGW and OSL based crew. It’s not decided if they will offer part-time to the US crews just yet. The AFA expressed that US crew would like to have a part-time roster option. Meanwhile, the AFA did negotiate “trip drops” with the company, where crew will be able to drop single or multiple assignments from their rosters. The agreement will be finalized by the end of the month and the procedure is expected to be in place by November when the rosters are expected to have substantially less hours.

The trip drop policy can be summarized as follows: if you choose to drop a trip, reserve, or standby days, you will have the assignment completely removed from your roster and your monthly guarantee will be reduced three (3) hours for every day in the assignment or block of reserve/standby that you requested off. For example, if you requested to drop your 4-day trip, you will have the trip removed from your schedule and your new guarantee for the month will be 48 hours.

3. Trip Swaps (still not allowed)

Many of you have been asking Crew Control and Planning to swap trips. The Union previously sent out communication saying that trip swaps are not currently allowed—only whole roster swaps are allowed. Please stop emailing planning and crew control to ask to swap trips. If you need time off, please email Beate and Gine and tell them that you need time off. Swapping trips and bidding for schedules is a TOP priority for the AFA and every time we meet Management we express our extreme disappointment that neither system has yet been implemented. One a positive note, Management and the Union are listening to presentations by bidding vendors this week.

4. October Rosters

The October schedule didn’t suffer a cut in flights, so our schedules have the same number of flights as before. There is a problem with the October schedules where crew only have one day off in between trips. While 1-day off in between trips is still legal under the Regulations, it’s not a good practice for crew working long-haul trips where we traverse 6 time zones and have only one day off.

The day after the roster release on the 15th the Union asked Management to re-do the rosters for October. Management responded today that they would look into the problem tomorrow (Monday, September 19th). At this point (4 days later), we are skeptical that Management will agree to re-do the October rosters. If this is the case, we will propose other solutions for the crew who only have one day off in between trips. We will let everyone know about any changes or agreements that are reached regarding the October rosters.

5. Proper Terminology for Assignments

To ensure cabin crew, crew control, and the union are all on the same page when describing scheduling-related activities, the Union and the Company are working to standardize terminology. Many of us incorrectly used industry terms to describe the type of flying we did at Norwegian. At Norse, we continue to use these incorrect terms. One of the terms that many of us are using incorrectly is the one to describe when we fly one leg to Europe, overnight, then work one leg back. Many of us incorrectly refer to this type of trip as a “turn.” In the airline industry, a turn is 1-day trip that flies to one destination and returns back to the origin city on the same day. The correct terminology to describe a trip we currently do is a “3-day trip” or to be more specifically, a “2-leg 3-day”. An example of an actual turn is OSL-LGW-OSL where we leave and return in the same day. Another term that we are using incorrectly is “W-pattern”. In the airline industry, a true W pattern describes a trip where you leave base to a non-base city, onto to a 2nd different non-base city, then to a 3rd different non-base city, then finally back to base. An example of an actual W-pattern would be JFK-BER-LAX-OSL-JFK.

6. Lead Flight Attendant Position

Instead of Base Chiefs, Management will soon be recruiting “Lead Flight Attendants” to assist our Chief Cabin Crew, Joseph Gabriel. The Lead Flight Attendant Role is intended to be a “support” role for all cabin crew in their base. The Lead Flight Attendant will be sharing the workload with the Chief Cabin Crew and because of this, they will be considered Management positions. Lead Flight Attendants will not be on the seniority list, but they can return to the seniority list when they leave the Lead Flight Attendant position and return to being “cabin crew”. The Lead Flight Attendant Position should be published in the near future.

7. JFK Crew hotel

Management sent out an email to the crew earlier this month letting us know about an occurrence at the JFK crew hotel where crew were “subject to a bad experience.” To make a long story short, LGW-based crew left a bar in Kew Gardens sometime in the middle of the night and were verbally threatened to the point where they had to take an Uber back to the crew hotel. While the incident didn’t happen at the crew hotel, Management has decided to look for a different crew hotel in NYC. We will keep the crew updated on the search for a new hotel in JFK.

8. Updated Pay Calculator

Many of you have asked how to calculate your pay. JFK CCM Lincoln McMahon has created a pay calculator for us to use.

Guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IPZEAQ_I82Y3C9g7W0egnOLmnHvb1xzzcPauxCuqwoA/edit?fbclid=IwAR1ec3asNdGD0yZvCBxSlcKzI4cJzx0hBdQ5nPo24VPpfSrOPpqLdnDITFE

Calculator:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nl1iF3WfrSwTnRFOz1tiqQVH6iLQ4cTPcWkicg1gyjE/edit?fbclid=IwAR2gLjSN8XPeZktRoXuJy-9dnm6CNQhnXsTWWQCL-vzYiddeuHLw1fB3tqs#gid=531169001

9. Travel benefits?!?

Travel benefits on Norse are still expected on September 30th, though we have not received any update from Management. Travel benefits on other airlines will not be in place until next year due to technological limitations. You read that correctly—NEXT YEAR!

We expressed our disappointment with Management about how long things are taking in regard to travel benefits. Because of this, Management has agreed to let us enter into reciprocal jumpseat agreements with other airlines as soon as our own Norse benefits are in place. This means that once the Norse system is up and running (after September 30th), Norse will allow crew from other airlines to ride on Norse (and vice versa) subject to technology. In order for this to work, we have to 1) find an airline that can utilize the system Norse chose to use for employee travel; and 2) get the airline to agree to enter into a reciprocal agreement with Norse. We cannot promise anyone with an exact date of when this will happen, but we want to assure you that the AFA is making this a top priority right now and is working EVERY DAY to make sure this becomes a reality for all crew.

10. CBA changes and voting

The AFA and the Company are working to clarify several items in the Tentative Agreement that benefit both the Union and the Company. One of the most important items involves job protections for the crew—to ensure that we do not perform the work of other airline employees. Other changes involve fixing a loophole involving sick and personal days whereby crew trying to secure more than 1 day off will be required to use more than one personal or sick day. As soon as the clarifications are finalized, we will be sending a final version for everyone to review. Once everyone has reviewed the changes, we will be voting on the entire agreement for your approval. We expect ballots to be mailed by the end of the month and voting to be finalized sometime in October. If you have not yet filled out your AFA Membership paperwork, you will not be eligible to vote on the CBA, nor will you be eligible to vote in union elections, which follow right after the CBA vote.

11. Deadline to work for Norse (Pre-Hire List)

Even though we are currently overstaffed and will continue to be throughout the winter, Management has agreed to hold one (1) additional training class just for those on the pre-hire list who have not yet accepted a training date. The deadline for those on the pre-hire list to work for Norse and maintain their position on the seniority list is December 31, 2022. Even if the training class is delayed (until Jan, Feb, etc.) you will still maintain your spot on the seniority list as long as you respond NOW that you want to enroll in the next training class (most likely in JFK). If you are on the pre-hire list and want to work for Norse, please email [email protected] and copy the union at [email protected]. Again, you must email Beate and the Union now to let us know you want to attend the next training class to ensure you aren’t removed from the seniority list. Please note that if you express intent to attend a training class and decide later to not attend or no-show for training, you will no longer be eligible for preferential hiring at a later date. After December 31, 2022 when we can account for everyone who has been hired with Norse from the pre-hire list, the Company will publish a seniority list.

12. Zoom meeting discussing the financial “future” of the Company

We are going to hold a Zoom meeting on Tuesday morning (September 20th) at 0900 Eastern (US) Time 1500 Central European (Norway/Germany) Time to discuss the financial future of the Company. We will talk about the many challenges the Company is facing. We will talk about the things the crew can do to better the company’s finances, namely, limiting crew consuming or taking items meant for sale. We will also talk about what the crew can expect in the coming months for those weighing whether or not to stay with the company long-term.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/5085594903

Meeting ID: 508 559 4903
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