| ACARS |
Aircraft Communication and Reporting System. A method for sending information between the ground and United Airlines aircraft. |
| ACI |
Automated Check-In system. An application within Apollo for checking in passengers. |
| Actual time (also referred to as hard time) |
The actual flight time accumulated on a block-to-block basis. |
| ADDQUE |
An electronic memo sent to a SW teamleader regarding a FA. |
| AFA |
Association of Flight Attendants. The flight attendant’s union. |
| ALPA |
Air Line Pilot Association. The pilot’s union. |
| ANP |
Authorized No Pay. FAs may drop a trip or reserve day and receive time off without pay. |
| APOLLO |
United Airlines computer reservations system. |
| ARTEMIS |
An application used to manage the daily operation. It provides a method for schedule recovery in conjunction with SAG. |
| BALOF |
Bid Award Line of Flying. The monthly FA schedule bidding process. |
| Block time |
The official time that a flight arrives and departs the gate. This is based on setting or releasing the aircraft brakes. |
| Buddy bid |
A bidding process that permits two or more FAs to bid the same schedule. Identical lines are awarded based on the most junior FA. |
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| Calendar |
A line of flying (LOF) is a monthly schedule calendar. |
| CATS |
Crew Advisory Telephone System. An automated voice response system that enables FAs to receive schedule information via telephone. |
| Cert |
Pay Certification. A record of a FA’s flight and non-flight activity. This information determines a FA’s monthly pay. |
| Check-in |
Scheduled report time or the start of a duty period. |
| Charter |
A non-scheduled flight. Charters are flights that are contracted for sole use by a specific group (i.e., sports teams, cruise companies, etc.). |
| City pair |
The combination of two cities, the origin and destination (i.e., BOS-IAD). |
| Call-in reserve (CLLR) |
A reserve FA that receives their assignment by 1900 the night before the scheduled reserve day. |
| CMS |
Crew Management System. A part of Unimatic that manages crew scheduling activities. |
| Co-terminals |
Airports that are designated by the contract as valid starting and ending points for trips (i.e., BWI/IAD/DCA). |
| Credited flight time (FTM) |
Time that is credited toward a FA’s monthly and quarterly pay. Also referred to as “soft-time”. |
| Crew planner |
Staff member responsible for building and awarding monthly FA schedules. |
| Crew scheduler |
RSC employees responsible for maintaining the daily crew operation. |
| CRUTRN |
A CMS format that identifies crews that are “turning” or transiting a specific station. |
| CSR |
Customer Service Representative. UA airport or contract employees that support the passenger check-in process. |
| Current period |
Period during which individual records for flights (IIVENT) and trips (IDs) are available. This period is designed to support current day operations. |
| Deadhead |
A non-working FA that is being positioned to work a flight or return to their home domicile. |
| Decision |
Pending departure status of a flight. |
| Designated reserve |
The most senior FA at a domicile that may be awarded a reserve line. |
| Diagnostic code |
A code in the LOF or ID that the FA may or may not be qualified or legal. |
| DIS |
Display Information System. A series of Unimatic computer information pages. |
| Diversion |
A station used as an alternate facility when an aircraft is unable to land at its scheduled destination. |
| DNF |
Did Not Fly. A code used in the LOF when the FA did not fly a trip or was unavailable for reserve. |
| Domicile |
A geographical area designated by the company as FA bases. |
| DOT |
The U.S. Department of Transportation. |
| Downline |
Generic description of a flight’s next scheduled arrival station (i.e., downline station). |
| Downtown layover |
A layover hotel that is downtown or “downtown-like” for crews scheduled for a layover of more than 12 hours. |
| Drafting |
The act of assigning a lineholder to a trip on their day off or from a scheduled trip to cover an open ID when there is no other FA coverage available. |
| DSL |
Domicile Schedule Letter. A combination of flight segments and layovers labeled with a reference number. DSLs are trip pairs in the scheduled or non-operational mode. |
| DSP |
Displacement. The act of a SW teamleader flying a FA’s trip. FAs are pay protected although they do not fly the trip. |
| Duty time |
The report or check-in time. Also the time of release. |
| Duty period |
A FA’s working day. A duty period begins at a designated time before the departure of the first flight and ends when a FA is released from duty at a layover point or at the home domicile. A trip may contain one or more duty periods. |
| Duty rigs |
The amount of time a crewmember can legally be on duty. |
| DWOP |
Day-at-a-time vacation. A day of accrued vacation that is “borrowed” from the next year’s bank. The FA is paid at a standard rate for the borrowed days. Additional time dropped is considered WOP (without pay). |
| E-Note |
A Unimatic electronic note or mail system. (See ENMENU in Unimatic for a list of features.) |
| End of Month conflict (EOM) |
A conflict between the end of the old month and the start of the new month. Problems may include the overlap of IDs or other legality problems (i.e., 24-in-7). |
| Enroute sick leave (ENSL) |
A FA that becomes ill mid-trip and is unable to finish an assignment. |
| EQP |
A 3-character equipment or fleet type indicator. |
| ESUB |
Equipment substitution. The change of scheduled aircraft. |
| ETA |
Estimated Time of Arrival. |
| ETD |
Estimated Time of Departure. |
| EXO |
Former designation for UA executive office, now WHQ. |
| Extra section |
An unscheduled flight that is operated to provide additional service or lift. |
| E/Y |
System of designating cabin work positions for FAs. |
| FA |
Flight Attendant. |
| FAA |
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. |
| FAC |
Flight Activity Certification. A paper or computer request for special FA pay items (i.e., understaffing, premium, holding time, etc.). |
| FAD |
Flight Attendant Data. Computer record containing information about flight attendants. |
| FAIS |
Unimatic Flight Attendant Information System. |
| FAR |
U.S. Federal Aviation Regulation. The portion of the Code of Federal Regulations that apply to aeronautics and space. These regulations supercede AFA Agreement rules. |
| Ferry flight |
A flight that does not transport revenue passengers. Provided the flight is not being ferried for mechanical reasons, FAs may deadhead. |
| Field stand-by |
A FA assigned to standby at the airport for a potential flight assignment. |
| FIFO |
First-In First-Out. The order of reserves used at the beginning of a schedule month. |
| FLIFO |
Flight Following. Detailed flight information in Apollo and Unimatic. |
| Flight record |
Flight from origin to destination within an effective and terminating date range of operation. |
| Flight or Segment |
Any portion of an ID which is designated by a given flight number. |
| Flight time |
The moment an aircraft moves from the blocks under its own power or under tow for the purpose of flight, until the time the aircraft comes to rest at an unloading point. |
| FLT |
Abbreviation for flight. This code may be used in an ID to correct flight schedule anomalies. |
| FRY |
Abbreviation for a ferry flight. |
| GS |
General Services. United Airlines computer mainframe. Contains current and archived operational information. Also referred to as GSCC (General Services Computer Center). |
| GWOP |
Guaranteed With Out Pay. Authorized no pay used by FAs to drop trips or reserve days. By contract UA will award 1% of the domicile GWOP per day in SW seniority order. FAs are allotted 8 GWOP days per year. |
| Holding time |
The amount of time FAs spend on the ground, with passengers, beyond the scheduled ground time. FAs receive extra pay when holding with passengers. |
| Home |
A FA’s assigned domicile. |
| Housekeeping |
Computer processes that remove and update FA information. |
| HUB |
Major UA stations that allow for passenger and crew connections (i.e., DEN, IAD, LAX, ORD and SFO). |
| IBS |
Inflight Briefing System. A computer generated briefing sheet for flight attendants. |
| ID |
Two or more flight segments that are combined together with scheduled connections and labeled with a reference number. Also referred to as a pairing, trip, trip pair and DSL. |
| IRROPS |
Irregular operations. Flight and schedule operations that deviate from the original plan. |
| ISC |
Inflight Service Coordinator. |
| Jumbo (JUM) |
Wide-body aircraft, B747, B767, B777 or DC10. |
| Jumpseat |
A seat on the aircraft for authorized flight personnel. |
| Junior FA |
This is the flight attendant with the highest SW seniority number. |
| Key Position |
FA work position with extra responsibilities that generates premium pay. |
| Language |
A LOF or FA designated to cover a language- speaking requirement. |
| Layover point |
A location where flight activities end and a rest period begins. |
| LEC |
AFA Local Executive Council. |
| Legality |
A problem related to AFA or FAA crew legality rules. |
| Legal rest |
The amount of time necessary before a FA may begin another duty period. |
| Lineholder (LH) |
A FA with a line contained a series of scheduled trips. |
| Lineholder under guarantee |
The amount of time below the guaranteed monthly pay. |
| LOA |
Leave of Absence. Extended periods of time off to accommodate medical, personal or family issues. |
| LOF |
Line of Flying. Lineholders are given a planned sequence of IDs and intervening days off. Reserves are given a sequence of scheduled days of availability and days scheduled to be free from availability. |
| LOF month |
The date range for a line of flying. The LOF month may or may not match a calendar month. These months are defined prior to a new year and distribute |
| MarkeTrak |
Survey used to measure statistical and opinion related information from external customers concerning UA’s products and services. |
| MEC |
AFA Master Executive Council. |
| MER |
Modification Evaluation Request. Request for an enhancement to an existing computer application. |
| Meter |
An electronic message sent via Unimatic to a specific pnemonic address or addresses. A meter may be manually or programmatically generated. |
| MFTR |
Monthly Flight Time Record. A record of a FA’s monthly flight activity. |
| Misconnection |
Crews that do not connect to their scheduled flights. |
| Mishap |
A situation that necessitates locking out records from general user population (i.e., hijacking, accident, etc.). Access to locked records is available to a very limited audience. |
| Month |
30 or 31 day period that defines a monthly FA schedule. |
| Move-up |
The practice of trading outbound flight segments of two crews legally, to avoid a lengthy crew delay. |
| Narrow-body (REG) |
Other than wide-body aircraft (i.e., B727, B737, B757, A319 and A320). |
| NSI |
No Stop Inbound. An enroute decision to over-fly a flight’s original destination. The flight then continues to the next planned destination. |
| NSO |
No Stop Outbound. A pre-planned over-fly of the segment’s original destination. The flight continues to the next planned destination. |
| OA |
Other Airline. Code used in an ID to show a FA deadheading on another airline’s flight. |
| OCC |
Operations Control Center located at WHQ. |
| ONSB |
On Stand-By. A reserve FA at the airport awaiting a potential flight assignment. |
| OPB |
Operations Planning Base. Cross-operational employees at WHQ maintaining the daily flight schedule. |
| OPBSK |
A group of operational management employees at WHQ. This group performs system functions relevant to the scheduling of flight attendants. |
| Open flight |
A flight segment not adequately covered by flight attendants. |
| Open flying |
Uncovered IDs in the open trip file. |
| Open trip |
An unassigned ID. |
| Operational ID |
A trip pair (not part of the published trip schedule) that is built to cover open flights. |
| OPNFLT |
A Unimatic format that displays information about flights in need of crew coverage. |
| ORC |
Organization Resource Counselors. This organization publishes a survey of cost-of-living expenses in various categories for worldwide locations. The survey is used to establish the per hour allowance for international layover cities where the relative cost of living is higher than the U.S. These allowances are used to calculate additional pay for FAs on layover in those cities. |
| Over-duty |
Term applied to crews that are scheduled to exceed their maximum allowable duty time. A “D” diagnostic code appears in the ID when over duty, but within limit. An “E” diagnostic code appears when a FA exceeds the actual limitation. |
| Pairing |
A series of 2 or more flight segments combined together with scheduled connections to create an ID or DSL. |
| PAM |
Planning Advisory Message. An Apollo message to advise concerned departments of impending irregular operations at a station or region. This message carries over into Apollo FLIFO displays. |
| PID |
Position Identification Number (Unimatic). The associated address for a CRT or printer. |
| PNR |
Passenger Name Record. A reservation’s record built in APOLLO. |
| POS |
Crew position (i.e., FS is the first FA or purser position). |
| Primary LOF |
Lines awarded during the first award. The relief award follows this. |
| Pseudo award |
A “paper” line award for FAs on payable leaves of absence. |
| PTO |
Personal time off. Also see GWOP. |
| Qualification |
The training, certificates and documentation required by the company or government agencies for flying various assignments. This includes emergency, equipment and services training. Also passport and visas. |
| RDO |
Reserve Day Off. |
| Reassign |
Change a flying assignment due to a legality problem, misconnection, etc. |
| Regional FA |
Foreign national flight attendant. This is a non-AFA FA bound by different contract work rules. Regional FAs are based at BKK and SIN and fly only intra-Asia trips. |
| Relief LOF |
A scheduled LOF that requires a secondary bid and award cycle. Open trips left open due to vacations will be used to construct the relief lines. |
| Reserve |
A FA that has bid a schedule designating specific working days and days off. Open trips are assigned to reserve FAs in contractual order. |
| Reserve line |
A schedule line comprised of groups of reserve days and days off. |
| Reserve move-up |
Reserve lines converted to lines of flying created from open trips. Reserve move-up lines are awarded by request in seniority order. Once the move-up line is awarded, pay status is changed from reserve to lineholder. |
| RLF |
Relief line or lineholder. |
| RSC |
Regional Service Center. FA crew scheduling crew desks located at the DEN, LAX, OPB, ORD and SFO. The RSCs serve their own location and in some cases, other domiciles. |
| RSV |
The designation for a ready reserve. This code may be used generically when referencing reserve FAs. |
| RTB or RTBL |
Return to Blocks. A flight that leaves the gate does not take off and then returns to the gate. |
| RTF or RTFL |
Return to Field. A flight that takes off from the airport then must return to land at the same airport. |
| SAG |
Schedule Adjustment Guide. A Unimatic application that determines which flights to cancel during irregular operations. The cancellations take into consideration aircraft, passenger volume, FAs and FO for the least operational disruption. |
| SBU |
Acronym used to refer to Shuttle by United. |
| SCC |
Station Control Center. The cross-operational work center at hub stations that interface with the OCC workgroups in maintaining the system operation. |
| Scheduled ID |
Trip that was part of the base schedule load. |
| SIBS |
Scheduling Information Bulletins. Changes to interpretation of the contract based on grievance decisions. |
| Segment |
An origin/destination within a flight record. |
| Senior FA |
The FA with the lowest SW seniority number. |
| SFC |
Surface segment used in a similar as FLT. |
| SOCR |
Supervisor Onboard Crew Resources. |
| SOS |
Supervisor Onboard Services. |
| SK |
The company address code for Onboard Crew Resources. |
| SOC |
System Operations Control. A part of the OCC at WHQ. |
| SSR |
Special Service Request through Apollo. May include special meals, wheelchair requests, an unaccompanied minor or any other type of special requests. |
| Stand-by reserve |
A reserve FA that is required to stand-by at the airport for a potential flight assignment. |
| Surface |
Ground transportation between stations. |
| System Operations Control |
See OCC or SOC. |
| TDY |
Temporary Duty. Working at other than a home domicile for a company-determined period of time. |
| Trade |
FAs may exchange trips or reserve days off with each other and with open trips. |
| Transitional DSL |
Type of DSL load that will modify existing DSLs. Modifications may occur when impacted by schedule changes. |
| Trip |
Trip pair, ID or DSL. |
| Trip Pair |
A sequence of flight segments (working and/or deadheading) beginning and ending at a FA’s domicile. The trip may encompass one or more duty periods and overnight layovers. |
| Understaffing |
When a FA crew compliment meets the FAA minimum, but does not meet the minimum based on company policy or passenger loads. The entire SW crew is eligible to receive extra pay. |
| USM |
Unsolicited Message. Message sent via Unimatic message switching to a CRT. User must make an entry on the terminal in order to receive message (CTRL+U). |
| Variable staffing |
Process to ensure proper FA staffing of flights. Aircraft type, length of flight, passenger load and level of service are all factors in determining staffing needs. |
| WHQ |
Designator for UA World Headquarters located in Elk Grove, Illinois. |
| Wide-body (JUM) |
Wide-body or large aircraft, generally 2-aisles (B767, B777, B747 and DC10). |
| XIT |
Designates extra service complement for international flights. |
| XSC |
Extra Service Complement for domestic flights. |
| Year |
FA years are defined as calendar years for the purpose of PTO and vacation. |
| Zulu time |
Greenwich Mean Time of 0000. All 24 hour times are based on plus or minus from this time. |
