LETTER OF AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
UNITED AIRLINES, INC
AND
THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS
IN THE SERVICE OF
UNITED AIRLINES, INC.
AS REPRESENTED BY
THE ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS, CWA

THIS LETTER OF AGREEMENT is made and entered into in accordance with the Railway Labor Act by and between UNITED AIRLINES, INC. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) and the ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS, CWA (hereinafter referred to as the “Union”.)

WITNESSETH:

WHEREAS, during the negotiations leading to the Restructuring Agreement, dated May 1, 2003, the Company and the Union agreed to a Preferential Bidding System (PBS) subject to the terms contained in that Letter of Agreement. During subsequent discussions and prior to the implementation of such a PBS system, the Company has identified certain technically necessary modifications of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (“Collective Bargaining Agreement”).

NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby mutually agreed that the implementation of the Preferential Bidding System (PBS), hereinafter known as the Flight Attendant Bidding System (FABS), will be contingent on the successful acceptance testing defined as an award compliant with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Collective Bargaining Agreement and all terms and conditions provided therein shall continue in full force and effect, except as modified in this Letter of Agreement. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the terms of this Letter of Agreement are intended to pertain to the FABS schedule construction process only, and do not pertain to ID construction and/or to scheduling in the operation.

LINES OF FLYING

1. Schedules must be legal and produce a valid award in seniority order in accordance with the operating parameters of the system as governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
2. To insure a valid FABS award in seniority order there will be a monthly maximum of:
   1. Two percent (2%) open time for the system.
   2. Two percent (2%) open time per domicile or modified co-terminal.
   3. Five percent (5%) or three (3) open positions starting on any day, whichever is greater, per domicile or modified co-terminal.
      
      The open time, if any, will be the least desirable IDs as determined by Flight Attendant preference and the operating parameters of the system as governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
3. Sufficient IDs will be assigned at each domicile or modified co-terminal to provide lines of flying for all lineholders. The sum total of the hours assigned to a domicile or modified co-terminal must be able to be flown by the Flight Attendants assigned to such domicile or modified co-terminal.
4. Line of Flying averages will be calculated inclusive of vacation.
5. Vacation days will be paid and credited at the rate of two and eight-tenths (2.8) hours per day.
6. The Company will print and make available in adequate quantities the bid cover letter and key pages in accordance with Sections 9.C.4.b. and 12.H.
7. The Union Central Schedule Committee (CSC) in consultation with the Union Local Schedule Committees (LSC) will determine the default bid for each domicile or modified co-terminal. The default bid will be used when there is no bid submitted nor any standing bid on file by a Flight Attendant. The Company will publish the default bid in the bid cover letter.
8. Established line construction buffers will be identified in the bid cover letter.
9. The Company will provide printers at all domiciles and modified co-terminals for printing bid preferences.
10. Flight Attendants will be able to submit up to thirty (30) bid preferences. It is understood any single preference may include up to ten (10) IDs by date or date range.
11. Buddy bids may consist of a maximum of three (3) Flight Attendants.
12. Parameters for the monthly schedules in FABS will allow lines to be awarded between sixty-five (65) hours and the monthly and quarterly maximums for individual Flight Attendants. A Flight Attendant who has not opted will not be forced into a line of flying with more than ninety-two (92) hours or her/his quarterly maximum, whichever is lower.
13. The Company and the Union will jointly determine regions of the world for each domicile or modified co-terminal, taking into account factors that influence rest, including but not limited to: time zones, geographic location, similar flying direction, trip length and the window of circadian low (WOCL). With the concurrence of the Union Schedule Committee, multi-regional trips will be assigned to a region during the Union DSL review. International schedules will be awarded taking into consideration these regions of the world as follows:
    1. Flight Attendants may, either voluntarily or for scheduling need, transition between regions once per month. Notwithstanding the above, there may be an additional transition at the conjunction of two months.
    2. For schedule transition purposes, whenever a transition between regions occurs an extended legal rest will apply.
    3. The minimum extended legal rest (ELR) will be sixty (60) hours, unless, the flight/deadhead time in both the last duty period of the ID before the transition and the first duty period of the ID after the transition is eight (8) hours or less, in which case the minimum extended legal rest (ELR) will be twenty-four (24) hours.
14. FABS will minimize the number of lines containing flying from different co-terminals.
15. FABS will minimize the number of lines containing all-night flying. For the purposes of FABS, all-night flying is defined as an ID containing a segment(s) operating any portion between 0200 and 0230 home domicile time (HDT).
16. FABS will be programmed to comply with the Settlement of MEC 6 – 97. Any dispute over the application of the Settlement in the operation will be submitted to expedited arbitration. This agreement shall not prejudice either the Company or the Union position.
17. The qualified purser schedules will not mix F and B positions. If as a result of the aircraft schedule FABS cannot build complete lines for qualified pursers (F and/or B), the Union Schedule Committee will identify the IDs necessary to complete a line(s) of flying consistent with Section 3.N.2 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This information will be published in the bid cover letter.
18. If the number of qualified IDs assigned to a domicile or modified co-terminal is greater than the number of lines that can be built for the qualified Flight Attendants in the domicile or modified co-terminal, as determined by the award feasibility study run after bids close, then the qualified IDs that are not preferenced will have the qualification removed and be awarded based on Flight Attendant preference and award feasibility.
19. Consistent with current practice, vacation periods beginning beyond the schedule month being awarded, will not be considered when awarding overlap IDs. A Flight Attendant will be allowed, at her/his option to move the vacation in order to fly the ID that overlaps into the vacation. For example, a Flight Attendant bidding in January for the February schedule and having a vacation in March, may be awarded any ID overlapping into the vacation in March and may elect to slide the vacation to fly said ID.

TRAINING

20. Flight Attendants will bid and be awarded required training concurrent with the lines of flying with the following understanding:
    1. In the award of required training all legalities will be satisfied.
    2. All such training shall be paid pursuant to Section15.A.
    3. Should it be necessary as a result of required training to award a line below sixty-five (65) hours, the Flight Attendant will be pay protected by the sixty-five hour minimum line guarantee.
    4. Consistent with current practice, when bidding Recurrent Emergency Training (RET) lineholder Flight Attendants will be able to bid in their “may” and/or “must go” month and will not be assigned until their “must go” month. Should a lineholder be unable to attend in her/his “must go” month she/he will be able to bid in the “grace” month and will be assigned if the bid is unsuccessful.
    5. Lineholders, whether they bid or are assigned, will be allowed to trade training dates with another lineholder or open seats.
    6. In the event the vendor cannot program the above bidding requirements without an exceptional increase in cost, the Company and the Union will meet and agree on an alternate solution that, in the line award phase, precludes schedule conflicts with training.

RESERVE

21. FABS will dynamically construct reserve lines based on coverage needs and Flight Attendant preferences. Reserve targets and parameters will be developed to maximize coverage and allow for a variety of solutions. Consistent with current practice, the recommendations of the Union will be considered.
22. The Company will publish in each bid cover letter the projected Senior Designated Reserve based on an assessment of the reserve need for the location.
23. All reserve lines will have 12 days off.
24. HNL 29-78 will not have an application in the construction of the new schedule and all reserve lines will be built with 12 days off.
25. On any weekend day, a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of reserves will have the weekend day off. A weekend day is defined as a twenty-four (24) hour Saturday or Sunday, home domicile time (HDT).
26. A minimum of five percent (5%) of reserves will have four complete weekends (Saturday and Sunday) off.
27. Each vacation day in a reserve line will be paid and credited at the vacation rate of pay.
28. The Company and the Union will develop a co-terminal preference system for reserves in locations with co-terminals.
29. In constructing dynamic lines, FABS will consider end of the month assignments and any required legal rest after the assignment, precluding schedule conflicts. Known absences within the month will be considered during the schedule construction process.

Exception: FABS shall allow a reserve to be awarded a single day of availability on the last day of the month. A reserve may also be awarded a single day of availability at all domestic domiciles and modified co-terminals and at international domiciles with a one day ID in the DSL for that month, only if:

• It is the first day of availability following an inbound segment from the previous month, or
• It is the first day of the new schedule month and the last day of the previous month is a day of availability, or
• At an international domicile the combination of the last day(s) of the previous month and the first day(s) of the new schedule month equals the length of the shortest ID in the DSL for the previous month.
  
  
Under all above conditions, reserve coverage profiles at each domicile must be satisfied.

30. The initial reserve move up lines will be created five (5) to seven (7) days before the start of the new month.
31. The Company and the Union will develop and implement an Aggressive Pick-Up (APU) program that will enable reserves to:
    • Pick up IDs within a specified period of time before assignment.
    • Pick up an ID based on days of availability or days of availability minus one.
    • Pick up prior to the call-in reserve assignment period.

IDs will be awarded based on seniority.

UNION

32. MEC 3-04 will be submitted for expedited arbitration.
33. The Union shall be entitled to all information and data necessary to verify FABS’s compliance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, including but not limited to access to secured lines of flying.
34. The Company will provide FABS Planner training for members of the Union Central Schedule Committee (CSC) upon request of the CSC Chairperson.
35. The Company will provide all information pertinent to the allocation, assignment, scheduling of flying and reserve profile for the monthly DSL review between the Company and the Union as provided for in Section 3.N.
36. The Central Schedule Committee (CSC) may observe and provide input on the FABS runs. The recommendations of the Union will be considered.  CSC will review the FABS line of flying award prior to publication.
37. If the Union files a grievance alleging that FABS failed to award a contractually compliant solution, that grievance shall be subject to expedited arbitration at the request of either the Union or the Company.

IMPLEMENTATION

38. Flight Attendants will attend mandatory one-day training, including computer based training, before FABS is implemented at their domicile or modified co-terminal and will receive the training hourly rate of pay.
39. All the terms of this agreement are effective when FABS is implemented at the first domicile.

This letter shall remain in full force and effect concurrent with the Agreement and shall be subject to the provisions pertaining to duration and amendment contained therein, however, this Letter of Agreement and all of its terms shall be null and void if FABS is not implemented, or if FABS is discontinued after implementation.

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