With bidding for June scheduled to begin next week, we know many of you are anxiously awaiting news on what the future holds for each of us. The reality is that COVID-19 has severely impacted the demand for air travel over the past few months and into the foreseeable future. As such there is no denying that we are dealing with the largest surplus of Cabin Personnel in our history.
We can advise you that as per LOU60 the following options will be offered in the following order:
- Resignation Program with C3 Travel Privileges as per Company Policy
- Special Leave of Absence Program with Leaves being offered for 24 months, 18 months, 12 months, and 6 months.
- Reduced Block Program
The Company will release a comprehensive document once mitigations and bidding tools are finalized and this is set for Monday, May 18, 2020.
In our current discussions VSP’s, Pension Bridging and financial separation incentives were sought along the lines of what Management and our Pilot colleagues received. The Company took this away to evaluate it and came back advising this was not something that would be attainable due to the financial crisis and liability the company currently has.
We will continue to examine this from all angles to find any other avenues that we can pursue to assist in the transition for our members that will be affected.
In terms of bidding for June flying schedules, this may not start as scheduled on Monday evening so please wait for further information. The Company is working to adjust the schedule based on the planned mitigation.
Please note, the Union has been in discussions with the employer over the continuation of the CEWS program. We again are reviewing this and will continue to have discussions on this front.
We know this news is not what any of us were expecting. Please know we are working through this, and your Local Presidents along with your Component Officers are completely involved and moving the agenda forward.
We will ensure there is a further update, when there is more to say on the subject matter involved. The importance of these discussions is huge and the impact for our membership may end up being long term, therefore, we want to ensure all avenues are reviewed for us to move forward.
In solidarity,
