Questions and Answers

Following up on their initial announcement on May 12, 2014, United management today announced more definitive information on their intent to subject approximately 600 of our active Members to Surplus.  Effective for the October 2014 schedule month, the 200 most junior active Flight Attendants each in the DEN, LAX and ORD domiciles are subject to Surplus.

Management has indicated the following vacancies, but this information may change based on transfer activity and awards prior to the Surplus bid:

The approximate number of potentially affected and seniority is as follows:

Management has also informed us of the criteria they will use to determine the 200 active Flight Attendants from each domicile.

Flight Attendants who are not active and are within the same seniority range will be subject to assignment at a different domicile upon their return to work.  The locations to which these Flight Attendants will return will be based on where vacancies need to be filled at that time.

Section 22.J. of our Contract governs the procedures the company must follow in a Surplus situation.  Section 22.J.3. provides that all Flight Attendants on the System Seniority List, not just those subject to Surplus, have the opportunity to bid for posted vacancies.

The timeline for the Surplus Bid will be as follows:

*Flight attendants based in LAX, DEN, ORD who transfer as a result of the system bid on July 3 and July 10 will be eligible for a paid move. Only 265 flight attendants in LAX, 261 Flight Attendants in DEN and 279 Flight Attendants in ORD will be eligible for a paid move.

Flight Attendants at the locations where surplus exists may bid for each available location, however awards will be based on availability of locations during the Surplus bid award process based on seniority.  Transfers awarded during the system transfer process or resignations may reduce the number of Flight Attendants subject to Surplus.  Those who do not accept a transfer in the system transfer process may elect to stay in your current domicile or bid for any/all domiciles available. 

During the Surplus bid, you have the option to remain in your current domicile as one of your choices.  If you choose to do so, you should be sure to rank the other available domiciles in order of preference to cover yourself in the event that your seniority does not allow you to remain in your domicile.  If you do not rank all your available choices, and end up with an insufficient number of bids, you may be awarded at a domicile based on the company’s need instead of your preference.

Additional information is available in the AFA Q&A and the United Q&A as well as United’s S-UA Flight Attendant Surplus/Base Reduction Question and Answers Packet on our website.