Q: Was there any attempt to increase vacation TFP?
We absolutely wanted to increase vacation TFP. We held to that until the very end at the National Mediation Board in D.C. Of course, we always want more. The Negotiating Committee understands that the 4 TFP daily seems low, not even 5 TFP like the Average Duty Guarantee.
However, it’s important to look at how vacation was historically paid out. In the time of line-bidding rather than PBS bidding, vacation was paid on a weekly basis. Contractually, on a weekly basis a Flight Attendant can work 5 days (unless they waive 48/7, in which case they can work 6 days).
With the average duty guarantee of 5 TFP, a 5-duty block is 25 TFP. A 6-duty block is 30 TFP. A 7-day block of vacation is 28 TFP. That is where the equivalency came from, for each week of vacation to be equivalent to what a Flight Attendant would be guaranteed for 5 days of work.
However, under our current system we can split vacation blocks into single days. A singular vacation day of 4 TFP does not seem to equate to a single day of work – because that’s not how it was originally calculated.This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to increase vacation – and we should. In this TA we eliminated the 960 requirement for the 6th week of vacation. Our daily vacation rate is close to the top of the industry and our total potential yearly vacation accrual is the highest – above the AA TA.