Rumor Control Update

December 12, 1999

New reserve rest rules are effective today.

Management has made a unilateral decision to impose the following procedures which violate several provisions of the pilot Contract:

1. Management will assign the PT or "Protective Time" .... this circumvents a reserve pilot's seniority. ALPA has taken the position that a reserve pilot should bid for, rather than be assigned a posted rest period.
2. Regular Reserves are not permitted to volunteer for 9V or 4V .... this circumvents a reserve pilot's seniority. Management's new procedures do not include PT periods for Regular Reserves. The ALPA Scheduling Committee has suggested that Regular Reserves should be permitted to bid for a PT. This would allow those Regular Reserves who wish to fly trips on short notice to continue the practice.
3. Reserves are expected to check VRS for updates .... a reserve pilot cannot be required to monitor the VRS system while on Protective Time.

ALPA will continue its work to correct these problems. If you have any questions regarding your compliance with the F.A.R., please call the ALPA hotline at 1-800-USAIR-MEC.

Here is a review of some helpful information. The new rule requires that when a reserve pilot completes any duty period, that pilot must be able to look back 24 hours and find a nine hour period which had been designated as a protected rest period.

• Example- Reserve pilot Smith has a protected rest period which begins at 2200 on Monday and ends at 0700 on Tuesday. At 1015 on Tuesday morning, pilot Smith is called by daily scheduling to fly a three day trip. The first duty period of the three day trip is scheduled to land in MEM at 2100 on Tuesday evening, therefore, pilot Smith is scheduled to be off-duty in MEM at 2115. Looking back 24 hours from 2115 Tuesday, pilot Smith finds that he has received a protected rest period of 9 hours (2200 Monday thru 0700 Tuesday). Pilot Smith can accept the flight assignment.

The legality of a flight assignment is based upon scheduled times. In actual operation, if the flight is delayed for reasons beyond control of the Company, then the reserve pilot may fly past the 24 hour point as long as the pilot received at least 8 consecutive hours of rest in the 24 hour period following the beginning of the last rest period.

• Example- While on the assigned trip, weather becomes a factor and delays the last flight to MEM. Because reserve pilot Smith began his most recent protected rest period at 2200 on Monday evening, pilot Smith knows that after 2300 on Tuesday he will no longer be able to find at least an 8 hour rest period in the 24 hour period beginning at 2300 on Monday evening. To stay legal, pilot Smith must land in MEM by 2245 which will place him off-duty at 2300.

During a protected rest period, the Company may call the reserve pilot one time, however, the reserve cannot be required to answer the telephone or pager. It is permissible for the Company to reduce a rest period from 9 hours to 8 hours, but the message must be conveyed to the reserve pilot prior to starting the rest period (or) during the rest period if the Company can make contact with the pilot. Compensatory duty breaks of 10 hours will apply to reserve pilots when rest is reduced from 9 hours to 8 hours. This compensatory duty break must begin within 24 hours of the beginning of the reduced rest. It is also permissible for the Company to extend a rest period, but a rest period may not be extended after it has expired. It is also permissible for the Company to contact the reserve pilot during his rest period to extend that rest. Again, the Company may make one call and the pilot cannot be required to answer the telephone.

Scheduling Chairman Jeff Edwards reports that Management is reviewing the ratio of R lines to S lines. It is possible that once the full impact of the new rest rules are determined, some Short Call reserves may be contacted in seniority order to determine if they would be interested in having their short call reserve line changed to Regular Reserve status.

The MEC will meet in Washington, DC beginning on Tuesday, December 14. The MEC will be considering a grievance settlement on contract section 25(F) - Rescheduling. The MEC will also be considering a Letter of Agreement which would allow the Company to code-share with American Eagle in several western states.