From: Elines

The recent release of the Bidding and Award Guide has generated some questions about the process by which position bidding, as provided for in Section 7.B.7. of the JCBA will be accomplished.  More specifically, we have been receiving questions on how position bidding will work when the pairings and lines of flying contained mixed aircraft equipment types. As published in Section F. of the Bidding and Awards Guide,

When bidding a line, you have the ability to specify a bid position, which will determine the type of work you will do on the aircraft. These positions include:  International Purser, Purser (PUR), Language Qualified (LQ), galley and aisle. These positions will vary depending on the type of aircraft and market. Each bid position will carry with it all assigned duties for each aircraft, such as: which jumpseat you will occupy, what your responsibilities will be during boarding or whether you will work in an aisle or galley position, etc. The Cover Letter of the Bid Packet will provide your location-specific work assignment and position details to the bid positions for each aircraft.

IMPORTANT NOTE:There are Lines of Flying and pairings with mixed equipment. Therefore, work positions associated with your bid position may not always be the same. It is important that you review Lines of Flying and corresponding pairing numbers in the bid packet closely to determine if work positions change.

As a matter of emphasis, if you position bid a line of flying that contains mixed aircraft types, it is possible that the position you may work may vary from aircraft to aircraft, i.e. widebody to narrowbody.  You are strongly encouraged to become familiar with the work positions of all aircraft as well as to develop an understanding of how lines/pairings with a mixture of aircraft types can change your work position from flight to flight.

Additionally, our JCBA specifies theminimumnumber of Flight Attendant bid positions by aircraft types and this includes those positions placed in Open Time at the start of the Trip Trading process. (Section 7.A.10.)  While the number of domestic & international bid positions for bid may change from month to month based on the flying schedule of the airline and passenger loads, specific information for the current month’s positions can be found in the Cover Letter.

Additionally, the company’s established staffing guidelines (ESGs) will be published in the Flight Attendant Policy & Procedure Manual and the company will make a reasonable effort to monitor and staff flights consistent with the ESGs. (Section 7.G.)

In addition to the ability to bid specific work positions, Flight Attendants will also have the ability to bid a Line of Flyingwithoutspecifying a work position by selecting“any”.Biddinganyindicates you are willing to work whichever position is available at your seniority/qualification during the bid award process. The Cover Letter in the bid packet for your Domicile will contain the positions available to bid, depending on aircraft type.