What Does It Mean To Be Reassigned?
As we all know, during the operation, flight schedules can fall apart, and while frustrating, reassignments are part of our job. To protect our rights during reassignment, the company is obligated to follow the provisions outlined in our Contract.
When United’s operation causes all, or part of our ID(s) to cancel, resulting in a misconnect, or becoming illegal for our scheduled trip; our Contract outlines procedures for reassignment. Sections 8.J. for domestic and 12.I. internationally apply when at your home domicile. Sections 9.I. and 9.K apply for reassignments away from home domestically, and 12.Q. and 12.R. for the international operation when away from home.
Section 8.J.1.
Such reassignments may be to any open ID(s) for which she/he is legal provided that the assignment does not interfere with the next scheduled ID, and further provided that the ID(s) to which such Flight Attendant is reassigned is scheduled to return the Flight Attendant to her/his home domicile no more than twenty-two (22) hours later than the original scheduled ID.
Any reassignment must ensure you remain legal for your next scheduled assignment. The reassignment must also comply with legalities including 35-in-7 and 8:30-in-24 domestically; and 24-in-7 and 1-in-7 for both operations. Additionally any reassignment must fall within your monthly maximum.
In the domestic operation you may not be reassigned to more than one ID. Internationally you may not be reassigned to more than one ID if the original assignment was four days or less, and to no more than two IDs if the original assignment was more than four days.
Reassignment priority should first be given to reassigning to an ID in the same operation, domestic or international, the same number of days, and the same number of hours as the original ID. However, if these preferences are not available, the company has the ability to make a reassignment to recoup the lost time and you will be paid the greater of the two assignments. If you are subject to reassignment when losing only part of the original ID, the crew desk should do everything possible to schedule a reassignment on the same day and avoid holding you for assignment on the following day. Keep in mind; the reassignment may not interfere with previously unassigned (sacred) days preceding vacation days.
Notification of any assignment or reassignment for Lineholders or Reserves must be accomplished in through direct telephone conversation. Flight Attendants in the Purser position are not responsible for informing the rest of the crew of a delay or schedule change; these notifications need to be handled by the scheduler. ACARS or other non-approved forms of notification are not acceptable for reassignments. ACARS messages may relay a request for you to contact crew scheduling upon arrival and if you receive the message you may contact the crew scheduler once you are able to do so.
When required to contact the company at a later time for a reassignment, you may be required to call back one time in the same day for an 8.J. assignment, at a reasonable pre-designated time. In addition, you can be required to contact the crew desk at a pre-designated time once per day on each day originally scheduled to work including the additional 22, 24 or 36 hours based on the operation to which you were assigned.
A reassignment may not be made in an attempt to recoup time lost earlier in the month. Additionally, a reassignment may not be made if there is no time to recoup. For instance, if you have a two 5 hour one-day IDs back to back, and the first ID turns into a 10 hour two-day ID, there should be no reassignment for the lost (second) one-day trip that you are out of position to work because there has been no loss of time.
Section 8.J.1.a.
After a Flight Attendant is aware of the reassigned ID, she/he will have the option to decline the reassignment if the number of Reserves available is equal to or greater than the projected number of Flight Attendants needed for the specific time period of the reassignment
Lastly, remember that you have the option to decline the reassignment if the number of Reserves is equal to, or greater than the projected number of Flight Attendants needed for the specific time of the reassignment. Keep in mind that the crew desk considers many factors in determining what adequate Reserve coverage means and declining a reassignment is ultimately based on operational needs. However, when you decline a reassignment, your line projection and guarantee will be reduced by the value of the original assignment or time lost in the ID. More information on reassignments, including examples, is available on our website.
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