Stand-By (ONSB)

BACKGROUND

Which type of reserve are you: one who looks forward to stand-by assignments as a chance to relax, read, balance your checkbook, do some computer work, watch TV, and still get paid five hours for the privilege?

Or are you like me and most other reserves who start climbing up the walls out of boredom after the first thirty minutes and thinks it is an incredible waste of time and talent as a trained safety professional to sit around an airport all evening?

Whatever the case, most reserves have a pretty strong reaction one way or the other when they receive a stand-by assignment. However you may feel about it, it is part of your job to know your contractual rights and responsibilities whenever you report to work, whether to fly or to sit airport stand-by. And believe it or not, there are rules that apply to stand-by, just as in any other type of assignment.

Reserves often wonder why there are so many stand-by positions, and why AFA can't do something to reduce them. Management considers stand-bys as vital to maintaining the integrity of the operation, and has steadfastly maintained the right to have as many stand-by positions as they want to. For our part, AFA has negotiated many protections for stand-bys: specific procedures for assigning them; five hours pay and credit if they do not fly; pay credit for time spent on stand-by if they do fly; and 12 hours legal rest (and eight hours free from phone contact) after being released from stand-by. Stand-by may be almost a way of life at the larger hubs. Though we do have some contractual protections governing stand-by assignments, there are also quite a few areas that are in dispute between AFA and management. This article will focus on the contractual rights we have and explain the areas of dispute.

STAND-BY ASSIGNMENTS FROM HOME

To begin, how are reserves assigned a stand-by position in the first place? Stand-by assignments are treated like any other reserve assignment: they are assigned in check-in time order from the appropriate day of availability list to reserves in time-accrued order within that list (Section 10.G.2., p. 84). It is AFA's position that stand-by assignments in OPNTRP in time to be assigned to call-in reserves (CLLRs) should be assigned to call-in reserves as part of the 1900 CLLR assignment process. If the stand-by assignment is made after the CLLR assignment process has begun, the stand-by should be assigned to a ready reserve. However, management has taken the position that they do not have to assign stand-by positions to CLLRs even if it is in OPNTRP in time enough to do so; and that they can assign such stand-bys to ready reserves the next day at their discretion. This is currently in dispute and is the subject of an MEC grievance (MEC 12-02).

Management determines what day of availability category the stand-by position will go in-- that is, how many days the stand-by position is for. It will then be assigned to a reserve in that day of availability category. In addition, the reserve will have to be legal for the assignment in terms of their monthly maximum. If the stand-by position requires 15 hours of availability, reserves with less than 15 hours left to fly in the month will be skipped over.

STAND-BY ASSIGNMENTS AT THE AIRPORT

Upon arrival at the airport, the time accrued / day of availability principle continues: Sections 10.C.9. and 10.G. state that once at the airport, stand-bys will be placed in time accrued order on the appropriate availability list, and given flight assignments in that order. For example, if there are two stand-bys at the airport, both good for two days, and a two-day trip becomes open, it is AFA's position that it should be assigned to the two-day stand-by with the least time accrued (assuming no other legalities or issues are at play). However, currently the crew desk assigns the trip based on check-in time of the stand-bys-- i.e., first in, first out. AFA does not agree with this practice and the issue is currently in dispute.

Except during a drafting situation, any flight assignment given to a stand-by must be scheduled to depart (at the time of assignment) no later than five hours from the time the stand-by reports for duty (Section 10.G.1.a., p. 84). If there is a creeping delay, as long as the posted departure time was less than five hours from the start of the stand-by period at the time the flight was assigned to the reserve, the reserve must stay with that flight until their actual maximum duty time will be violated.

A stand-by reserve should not be given an assignment to board a flight until the delayed outbound crew shows up. However, Section 9.M.3.b. (p. 70), does allow the crew desk to make provisions to protect a flight when they have reason to believe an inbound crew may misconnect. It can happen that stand-bys can be told to go work a flight, be in the middle of boarding, and the original crew shows up to work. Section 9.M.3.b. allows the original crew to take their flight. This is legal as long as the original INTENT was to have the stand-bys work that flight (instead of just boarding the passengers), and it later turns out that the original crew was not as late as expected. This is why it is so important to always get a hard copy of your line, FLTLOF, and ID when assigned a flight-- to prove that there was some sort of intent to work the flight and not just board it. Even if a stand-by is being told to hurry to the gate, reserves always have the right to obtain a hard copy of their ID, and an updated LOF showing that ID in it. Don't give up this right!

During a drafting situation a stand-by may also be required to stay at the airport without a specific flight assignment beyond the normal stand-by assignment time limitations. If there are no other reserves available and the only alternative would be to draft a lineholder off her or his trip, then a stand-by may be assigned to a flight which is scheduled to depart more than five hours from the stand-by report time. In both exceptions, though, the actual maximum duty times apply, calculated from the stand-by report time. You cannot be assigned a flight that is projected to put you over your actual maximum duty times (based on the scheduled flight length as published in the key pages), even in a drafting situation or during irregular operations.

Reserves reporting to the airport for flight assignments may be assigned to stand-by after arriving at the airport if they have been taken off their original trip. However, reserves may not be assigned stand-by at an airport other than their home domicile.

MY FOUR HOURS ARE UP-- I'M OUTTA HERE

If a stand-by is not assigned a flight within four hours from checking in for stand-by, s/he must be released to go home and commence twelve hours legal rest (Section 10.G.1.a.). It is recommended that stand-bys print out a copy of their line at the four-hour mark still showing "ONSB" in the line before blocking out with the crew desk. And wait until the four hours is fully up-- to avoid drama, do it at 4:01 and not at 3:59. This will prove that you did not receive a flight assignment within the required four-hour period and will avoid the crew desk suddenly "finding" an ID for you right at the four-hour mark. An exception to this is if there is a drafting situation occurring, in which case you can remain on stand-by past four hours (more about this below).

If you are a call-in reserve on evening stand-by when the next day's call-in assignments are made, you should not be automatically converted for the next day when blocking out upon completion of your stand-by assignment. You should be released for the following day unless the projected number of ready reserves available is equal to or less than the projected number of flight attendants needed for the following day, in accordance with Section 10.C.6. (p. 78). It is advisable to print out a copy of OPNTRP, RSVFLY, and ASNSHO for the next day before blocking out to see if it looks like there is a shortage of reserves for the following day. If it appears that reserve coverage is sufficient and you are converted anyway, ask for an explanation.

PAY PROTECTIONS

Reserves who complete a stand-by assignment and are sent home without flying receive five hours flight pay and credit. Reserves who DO fly after reporting for stand-by assignments may still get extra pay for their time on stand-by. Stand-by is duty time, and stand-bys who end up flying receive one-half pay and flight time credit for the stand-by time in addition to any assigned flight time (Section 10.G.3., p. 85).

For example, a reserve reports for stand-by at 0700. She is given a flight assignment for a 1000 departure, flies 4:45, and is released from duty at 1700. The total time on duty (0700-1700) is 10:00, entitling her to 5:00 minimum pay and flight time credit under two-for-one duty time guarantee in Section 8.A.1. (p. 48). The check-in for the 1000 departure was 0900, so the total time spent on stand-by was 2:00 (0700-0900). One half of that is 1:00, plus the 4:45 flight time, is 5:45. The reserve will get 5:45 for the day since that is greater than the 5:00 two-for-one guarantee.

However, in some cases this protection will not kick in. For example, a reserve reports as a stand-by at 0700. She is given a flight assignment with a 1000 departure, flies for 3:30, and is released at 1800. The total time on duty (0700 to 1800) is 11:00. 11:00 duty time entitles the stand-by to 5:30 minimum pay and flight time credit. The 1:00 stand-by protection (one-half the 2:00, from 0700--0900, spent on standby) plus 3:30 flight time, equals 4:30. In this case, the two-for-one duty period protection yields a greater number, 5:30, so that is what the flight attendant will receive for pay and flight time credit.

Stand-by is not pleasant for most of us, but by knowing your rights as a stand-by reserve, it is a little more bearable. As always, if you feel your rights as a stand-by reserve are being violated by the crew desk, document everything, get names, try to make your case to them before you fly, and contact your local AFA office or Reserve Committee as soon as possible.

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