During layovers and sits, management can attempt to notify you during these times, but you are not required to acknowledge. They must make positive contact.                                                      

Your requirement to check CCS is once at check-in, after arrival of your flights, with the exception of your last flight (of the pairing) and upon cancellation of a trip, which also now automatically starts the four-hour reassignment clock. But during your sit time or layover, there is no requirement to acknowledge or respond to Notifler or CCS priority messages.

There is no change in the Tentative Agreement on contact during a layover from current practice. The current rule is Flight Attendants are required to be reasonably available on a layover.  This comes from a decision of the arbitrator of the System Board of Adjustment where the arbitrator ruled Flight Attendants must be “reasonably available,” which simply means if the Flight Attendants knows the company is attempting to contact them they will need to check their schedule.

On layovers, Flight Attendants are not required to answer the phone or acknowledge any particular electronic communication. The language in the Tentative Agreement states, as is current practice, the company will attempt to contact the Flight Attendant at their phone number on record and at the hotel.

As it is currently, management can attempt to contact you electronically prior to your trip but you are not required to acknowledge. If you do not acknowledge the call within 5 minutes after the final call, you will be considered notified of your new assignment. If you choose not to acknowledge the notification, you can wait until check-in to find out your new assignment as you can do currently.

We have established a clear rule and if they contact you less than 2:15 before your check-in time, your duty time will remain unchanged - in other words, your duty time will begin at the scheduled check-in time.  If notification occurs at least  2:15 before check-in,  your duty time may be revised but cannot start earlier than the original scheduled time.

A major improvement is the four hour clock for reassignment now starts at the time of flight cancellation.  Currently the clock starts only upon contact with crew scheduling which in irregular operations can take hours. Under the current process, the four hour clock can start long after the flight cancelation, allowing management extra time to reschedule Flight Attendants. Under the TA language, no more waiting for hours to contact crew scheduling in order to start the clock. If no reassignment after the four hour window closes, you are released with pay and no longer subject to reassignment.

The notification language is also much more clear, removing gray areas so Flight Attendants know exactly what to expect.

The current language on notification was written in the 1980s and 1990s prior to cell phones and other means of contact. In other Flight Attendant and Pilot negotiations, this language is being updated to address new realities of communication.

The committee's goals in this area were to preserve positive contact, limit contacts with crew scheduling, eliminate grey areas, and to reduce time spent on hold trying to get through to crew scheduling. Many members also expressed to both our union and the company that they prefer electronic notification. 

Our goal was to limit the requirement to check our schedule while we are between flights, eating, and using the time to contact family, exercise, or sleep. By limiting the requirement to check schedules to immediately following a flight (except for the final segment of a pairing), it removes any ongoing obligation to check schedules.