|
JIC Meeting-Crew
Scheduling Issues
We have heard many of your complaints
about the Crew Scheduling department. We know there are
some Crew Schedulers who conform to the contract,
however we also know there are many who don’t. We have
your reports of Crew Schedulers who are rude, lack
respect, and are not following the contract. We have
heard many similar complaints system-wide. We raised
your issues at our Joint Implementation Committee (JIC)
meeting with the Company in Dallas.
The following is a report filed by MEC
Grievance Chair, Deb Sutor:
In Attendance for the Union:
Veronica Tenerelli (MEC President),
Debora Sutor (MEC Grievance Chair), Armando Ramos
(Council 49 President), Richard Wrede (AFA Staff
Attorney), Carl Gautreaux (MEC Vice President)
In Attendance for the Company:
Cathy Jacobs (Vice President-Human
Resources); Linda Kunz (Vice President-Flight Service);
Doug Matalucci (Manager-Crew Scheduling); Tammy Coffey
(Regional Managing Director-Flight Service; Stephanie
Babish (Human Resources), Susan Piper (Regional Managing
Director-Flight Service)
We are happy to report that the In-flight
Department Management Representatives concurred with
the complaints that were raised from all bases. They
reported that In-flight Managers at every base
have been inundated with problems involving crew
scheduling. I've extracted the following bullet points
from my notes at yesterday's meeting:
· As of Monday, two schedulers let
go. Doug agrees that the learning curve is not the whole
problem. He recognizes this is a customer service job
and his people need to get better at it. He will
certainly pull any tapes that need to be examined if
there is an issue. He will attack any issue when it is
presented to him. Linda and Doug are setting up joint
meeting between their departments to see if anything can
be done to improve this situation.
· Union is concerned that the
information from the JIC meetings is not getting to the
schedulers. F/As have the right to challenge the
schedulers if they believe their contract is being
violated.
· Doug says that we have hit on
something with this. Schedulers don’t like to be
challenged. They are pressured and don’t always look at
it from a crewmembers point of view and they don’t
always know what is happening on a flight because they
are in DFW and not at the site of the flight. Doug says
they are planning a customer service training for
schedulers. Union asked if they could send someone to
the training. Doug does not have dates yet, but he
believes the training will be done electronically. Union
not sure what good an electronic training on customer
service will do. Need a more hands on training.
· Schedulers receive classroom
training that includes (FOS, Pilot and Flight Attendant
contract, company rules) also out on the desk
training (work side by side with another scheduler). A
total of month of training. They can go to a supervisor
if they have questions. They also have annual recurrent
training.
· If a fight attendant reports a
situation with a scheduler and if any scheduler exacts
retribution, they will be punished, as this is a
violation of company rules. Sideletters reached in JIC
are distributed in the scheduler’s mailboxes. They also
have a book that contains the letters. It is the read
and initial book. They are made to read the letters and
then sign the book. The info cards, developed by the
Union and approved by the Company are also very helpful
and they are distributed to the schedulers. They will
also be added to the contracts on the desks.
· There is a crew scheduling
reference guide that has not been kept up to date. They
have a new one that is being approved by FAA. It will be
contract size and will also be kept on the desks. It
contains computer entries, pilot & F/A sections, FARs,
company rules, etc. This will help because schedulers
have not been able to use an updated reference guide for
quite some time.
· This summer the scheduling
department will be audited by the AE safety department
and following that will be audited by the FAA. Part of
that audit will be to ensure that manuals are up to
date.
· Company is aware there is a
problem and they are working to try and fix it.
While we may be a way from completely
resolving the issues with crew scheduling, I wanted you
to know that your Union is addressing the problems and
working hard on your behalf. I encourage all of you to
write up any situation you encounter with crew
scheduling that may involve a contract violation, lack
of a representative at the crew desk, unacceptable
behavior, etc. These write ups will help us to help you.
In Solidarity,
Debora Sutor
MEC Grievance Chair
|
