Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Partnership Program award is complete. This is the first time this Contractual program has been implemented and it successfully achieved its intended goal; to work in conjunction with the Voluntary Furlough benefits to preserve the jobs of our most junior Members. In addition to the Voluntary Furlough award, a sufficient number of Flight Attendants bid for and were awarded a Partnership to cover the number of furloughs United management has determined are necessary.
The fact that not one of our Members will be forced into involuntary furlough is a testament to why we have a Union and a Contract. The active involvement of Senior Vice President of Onboard Alex Marren, along with efforts of Advance Schedule Planning, made possible an agreement that will avoid the need for United to involuntarily furlough any Flight Attendants by implementing the Partnership Program. Throughout the Voluntary Furlough and Partnership award we worked with Onboard management to carefully review the Company's actual manpower needs, which resulted in an overall reduction from the original announcement of 2,150 furloughs. We sincerely appreciate management's commitment to this process and genuine desire to work with us in an effort to avoid involuntary furloughs.
Not all bids for Partnership were awarded. The Company was not able to award all Partnerships bids on file. If you were not awarded a Partnership during this bid there is still a chance for award in the future. The Company will maintain a waiting list of Partnership requests and award additional Partnerships in seniority order based on the seniority of the senior Flight Attendant in the Partnership. Requests may be submitted at any time and will be awarded as the Company determines an additional need. It is also anticipated that the program will be extended beyond the original 6 month period which will provide another opportunity for everyone to bid and receive a Partnership award.
When this furlough was announced we said we would we confront the challenge together and take care of each other as we work to protect the jobs of our most junior Members. Everyone in this process, including the Company, played a critical role in our successful outcome. We appreciate the efforts of our flying partner volunteers who took part in getting the communications out to all of our Members and make personal calls to Members on Voluntary Furlough. We commend the AFA Officers and Committee members who were directly involved in oversight of the Voluntary Furlough award process and continued advocacy for the best outcome as Partnership was considered and manpower needs were reviewed. A special thank you to those who were able to avail themselves of the benefits afforded on a Voluntary Furlough and the Partnership Program while saving the job of a more junior Member. It truly was a community effort that we should all recognize as a great collective success.
In Solidarity,
Greg Davidowitch, President
United Master Executive Council