End-of-Month 1-in-7 Conflicts for Reserves: If You Don’t Fix It, You Waive It!
MEC Reserve Committee
Whenever a Reserve is not scheduled with at least one (1) calendar day off at their home domicile in any consecutive seven (7) day period due to the convergence of monthly schedules, Sections 6.P.3. and 8.I.2. of the Contract provide the Flight Attendant with the ability to decide if and how they would like to resolve the schedule conflict. However, it is important to remember that this is one instance where if you do not take action to fix the legality, it is considered automatically waived! This must be done prior to the first day of the new schedule month in one of the following ways:
- Flight Attendants should contact Inflight Scheduling prior to the first day of the schedule month for rescheduling.
- Flight Attendants may move a day off from later in the month to resolve the 1-in-7 conflict. The Flight Attendant may indicate preferences as to which day off in the new month will be moved, and these preferences will be considered, if possible.
- For the purpose of complying with the 1-in-7 limitation, a Reserve may be released (RLSD) from a day of availability. However, this is employed only as a last resort.
- If the Flight Attendant will be a Lineholder in the new month, she/he will work with scheduling to adjust the schedule. If it is necessary to drop a trip to resolve the 1-in-7 conflict, the Flight Attendant’s preference as to which pairing is to be dropped will be subject to the concurrence of the Flight Attendant and Inflight Scheduling. In the event of a failure to reach agreement, the pairing to be dropped will be subject to the approval of the Crew Resource Manager/designee.
NOTE: A Flight Attendant who contacts crew scheduling and indicates she/he does not wish to waive the 1-in-7 must have the conflict resolved during that call. Flight Attendants should not be told to “wait” to resolve the conflict at a later date, that the “pool numbers” will not allow for a day off to be moved, or that there are “no legal trade options.” If you find yourself faced with these explanations, contact your Local Council Reserve or Grievance Committee for assistance in resolving this matter before the first day of the schedule month.
- Alternatively, Flight Attendants may “self-trade” to correct the 1-in-7 by trading days off either mutually with another Reserve or with the Reserve Pool during the Open Time trade windows. There is no requirement for Flight Attendants to first attempt a self-trade prior to contacting scheduling.
If a Flight Attendant would prefer to leave the scheduled days of availability as awarded, she/he may choose to waive the 1-in-7 legality by doing nothing. If the Flight Attendant does not contact crew scheduling before the first day of the new bid month, the 1-in-7 is considered automatically waived. Keep in mind that, even if the 1-in-7 Contractual legality is waived, the 24-in-7 FAR must still be satisfied with a 24-hour period free-from-duty in the consecutive seven (7) days. Unlike with the 1-in-7, the FAR can be satisfied by 24 hours free-from-duty at a layover point in both the domestic AND international operations.
NOTE: The 24-in-7 federal aviation regulation may not be waived by a Flight Attendant or the company.
If you have additional questions, please contact your Local Council office.