The Union is happy to announce that the Company has just advised us that there will be 141 recall notices going out shortly.  These notices will take effect with the September 2020 block month, however if you are interested in returning to work earlier that option will also exist. Please check your recall notice for more details.  The Company has also confirmed that these recalls are all for Air Canada Mainline positions. In addition, those recalled will be recalled back to their home base.

All members being recalled will be notified via registered letter.  Please note that due to COVID-19, there may be some delays in these letters reaching you. To compensate for this the Company will also be advising all those recalled via Company email and a courtesy phone call.

As a reminder the Collective Agreement says the following about recalls:

17.16.02  An employee on laid-off status shall be notified by the applicable company, of the first available assignment either at Air Canada Mainline or at Air Canada Rouge to which his/her seniority entitles him. Failure to advise the applicable company within seven (7) calendar days of the registered postmark date of his/her desire to be considered for the assignment shall disqualify him for the assignment.

Recall notice shall be sent by registered mail to the last address filed with the company.

The Company will reach out to you via registered letter to the last address you have listed with the employer.  You have 7 calendar days to reply to the employer, from the date the letter was post marked.  We have been advised that the letters will go out August 19, 2020.

What happens if I am due for training?
When you are recalled, you will be put into a training class.

Are we still able to bid for a September block?
Unfortunately bidding has closed for September. Recalled crew members will likely be awarded a reserve block.

Do I have to accept a position back to my home base?  Can I decline the recall coming back to where I was laid off from?
As per Article 17.16.04 the following is applicable:

17.16.04  If the employee is notified of a permanent assignment at the point of layoff, s/he must accept, and report for duty within fourteen (14) calendar days from the date notice was sent. An acceptance of permanent assignment at other than the point of layoff shall be optional for the individual concerned; however, should s/he accept, s/he shall report for duty within twenty-one (21) calendar days from the date of registered postmark. This time limit may be extended by Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge, as applicable, under extenuating circumstances.

Please do not hesitate to reach out for clarity on the process or any concerns you may have.

In solidarity,

The information below represents some of the issues we are addressing and will continue to keep you updated on.

Rouge Restart
There has been a lot of discussion about when and if Rouge will be restarting. According to the most recent information that we have, Rouge will be looking at starting in the month of October 2020. For the September 2020 block month, the Rouge flying will remain at Mainline and be operated on Mainline aircraft. The B767 aircraft are no longer in the fleet and therefore all Rouge flying will be operated on narrow-body aircraft when it comes back into operation.  Keep in mind that this information is the most up to date that we have however it is subject to change. We will update you if any new information comes available and will provide a full overview of the recall process once we aware of the actual Rouge restart timeframe.  The Company and the Union will have more information to share on what to expect if you go to Rouge regarding your working conditions, wage, benefits, and pension.  Letter of Understand 55 gives you the full details.

Hong Kong Testing
For those of you flying to Hong Kong (HKG) you are likely aware of the new procedures which include on-site testing at the Asia World Expo in HKG.  Effective July 29, 2020 all aircrew who arrive in HKG must have tested negative for COVID-19 within the 48 hours prior to boarding the flight to HKG from Canada.

All aircrew who are awarded an HKG flight will be scheduled, by Crew Scheduling, to have a COVID-19 test completed at an Air Canada YVR Medical Office at 5530 Miller Road in Richmond. Operating crew will be contacted by Crew Scheduling and advised of the testing appointment time.

The appointment will take approximately 15 minutes. All affected crew will receive 3 hours pay for the testing. If you have been scheduled to operate a Hong Kong cycle, you will have a Globe message with further information. We encourage you to reach out if you have any concerns or questions.

Some of our commuting crew members wondered whether they could get a COVID-19 test from an agency/clinic outside of the Air Canada network in order to make things simpler.  The Company has advised us that they were working on a process for those requiring testing from various stations however there was no guarantee from the other stations of a quick turnaround and the ISO certification of the other testing facilities was not necessarily accepted by the Hong Kong health authorities. We have had assurances that the company was working on a way to make this process easier however there are some hurdles to overcome. If there are any updates on this, we will provide them as soon as they come available.

In addition to the challenges faced by some commuters there is also a question about how back to back flying would be accommodated under the circumstances.  We were advised that if a crew member has a pairing conflict with the test period prior to their Hong Kong pairing, they will be displaced and pay protected and subject to reassignment if displaced from a multi-day pairing for the testing.

Component Officers Webinar
Your Component Officers hosted a live webinar on Thursday, July 30, 2020. The webinar was well received, and we heard from many of you. Retrospectively, we found it to be very constructive as we were able to answer questions that a lot of members had and some of them in real time. For those of you who were not able to participate we are planning to host a second webinar in the near future and will be recording this webinar. If you are flying or unable to attend, you could watch it at a later time.  Please stay tuned for information on our next webinar. We hope that we can engage even more members through this avenue.

Wearing Face Coverings Masks Onboard
Your Union has received much feedback on face coverings/masks onboard the aircraft and the failure of some passengers to comply.  We have raised these issues with the company and by now you will likely have seen new announcements requiring passengers to wear their mask at all times with certain exceptions.  In addition to this requirement there is a Transport Canada order entitled “Order Respecting Certain Requirements for Civil Aviation Due to COVID-19, No.5”. This means that every airline must catalogue and report each reported occurrence of non-compliance with mask rules.  It gives us as crew members the ability to report passengers who are failing to comply. Please note that by reporting such incidents, the company is obligated to keep track and is also required to inform the Ministry who will then be in a better position to assess whether further regulatory action needs to be taken.

For more information on this please consult our latest Coronavirus Update 24 found via our mobile app or the Air Canada Component website at www.accomponent.ca.

We imagine that this information may be repetitive however it is important that you are made aware and have all of the tools you need to deal with passengers who are not complying with your directions.

Mandatory temperature screening for crew effective July 30, 2020
Temperature screenings will be expanded to include the next 11 busiest airports in Canada through the months of August and September.  We will continue to monitor this carefully and will be continuing to communicate directly with Transport Canada about our concerns. Should you have any questions or concerns about this please let us know.  We want to hear from you about what your experience has been with this screening.

Deferred Salary Plan Payout
For those members who are awaiting their Deferred Salary Plan payout we have been advised that you should have already received them and if not, you will receive them by early next week. If you do not receive them, please reach out to us and we will follow up.

Drafting, Short Crewing and Recalls
As the September bids are being released, the company appears to not be recalling any members at this time.

For July we saw 33 short crewed flights, and to date 30 in August.

For July we saw 350 members drafted system wide and to date 84 members for August.

We met with the Company on August 12, 2020 for our scheduled UMHQ meeting and raised this, along with the fact that September may have challenges as we have been seeing.  We advised the company they need to ensure adequate staffing on board and available.

Each draft and short crew is reviewed by our Central Site Representatives and the Component Officers are notified daily.

We will keep pressing for recalls as the numbers, in our opinion, show the need.

In solidarity,

The Safer Skies campaign site is now live at saferskiesnow.ca. Please circulate and encourage your networks to sign a letter to the transport minister on the site.

There is also a web post available here explaining the campaign:

https://cupe.ca/canadas-flight-attendants-call-federal-government-make-safer-skies-priority-next-phase-pandemic

In solidarity,