Trip Trade Errors & How to Escalate 

The C9 Main number is monitored by your elected officers and members of our Grievance Committee. We do our best to answer all calls, voicemails and texts that come through. With over 2800 members in PHX and DEN combined (and yes, we are still growing!), our resources are limited, so we ask that before you call or text us with a trade issue/question, that you

• Please review the Trip Trade Rules (see below)

• Make sure it is a legal trade attempt

• Escalate it to Scheduling first

• If no resolution, then give us a text or call!

How to Escalate a Trade Issue 

To escalate a trade issue to FAST or Crew Scheduling, call 800 FLT LINE, follow prompts, and ask why the trade is being rejected and cite the error code from CCS. They should be able to explain or correct the error. 

Always get the name of who you talk to and if they are not able to assist you, you can escalate it further by asking to speak to a FAST or Scheduling supervisor and get their name as well. 

After you have done this, if you believe there is a contractual violation, call or text us and we can advise whether a dispute exists. We may direct you complete a Local Council Worksheet, which is the first step in the Dispute Resolution process. 

We are always available if still you have questions. Happy trading!

- Chris 

A Review of Trip Trade Rules

Date: February 6, 2019 (from unitedafa.org)

For more information on Trip Trading, go to Trip Trades and Adjustments Guide

Open time trip trade occurs monthly utilizing a staggered window time chart available in the cover pages of our monthly bid packets. Implemented in September 2018 we will outline the details of the contractual provisions for your review:

• If the operation permits, as determined by Crew Scheduling, an open time trade may be considered inside twelve hours (12:00) prior to check-in of the trip being picked up. 

• Trades involving two trips which both have scheduled departures less than one calendar day after the trade must be done on an exception basis by contacting Crew Scheduling and are subject to operational needs. 

• A trade between two Flight Attendants must be made in the computer up to four hours (4:00) prior to check in of the earliest trip involved in the trade. 

• Flight Attendants may straight pick up (i.e. no trading) open time via computer up to three (3:00) hours before check-in. 

• Trade requests on the same trip may be requested at check-in (with Crew Scheduling), even if it involves the Purser position. 

• Trip trade requests must be for trips originating in the same bid month. Month to month trades involving pairings which originate in different months are not allowed. 

• Only two Flight Attendants may participate in a trip trade. Three-way trades are not permitted.

• A single duty period which contains a flight segment that departs the base before midnight and a return segment that arriving back in the base after 0400 local time (“red eye turns”) will be considered as a one day pairing when trading. 

• Trip Trades with open time will only be allowed when there is sufficient reserve coverage. 

• If your trade will result in you exceeding your monthly maximum on a credit basis, you will be deemed to have automatically opted to a higher monthly maximum. For example: if your trade increases your credit time from 94:00 to 97:00, you will be deemed to have opted to a 100:00 monthly maximum. 

• Additionally, Open time trades involving an unequal number of days cannot cause a decrease of flight time of more than three hours (3:00) scheduled block time (not credit time). 

• Open time trades involving an equal number of days are not subject to the three hours decrease parameter.
  
  

Example of "uneven day" trade: Trading trips of uneven days is permitted, but limited. For example, you may trade a 3-day, 15:00 trip (with 12:00 block time), for a 2-day, 10:00 trip (with 10:00 block time). Although the difference in credit time is 5:00, the difference in block time is only 3:00 therefore, the trade is legal.

Carryover Pairings

https://unitedafa.org/news/2019/7/17/trading-carryover-pairings/

All trip trades involving carryover pairings will be handled pursuant to the rules of paragraph 7.N.7. of the JCBA. 

• The beginning Reserve Coverage for days in carryover trips occurring in the following bid month will be considered to be zero (0).

• When a Flight Attendant trades off a day in a carryover trip which occurs in the following bid month, the Reserve Coverage will be reduced by one (1).

• When a Flight Attendant picks up a day in a carryover trip which occurs in the following bid month, the Reserve Coverage will be increased by one (1). 

NOTE: Once open time trading for the new month begins, we can then attempt to trade out of days that touch the new month

🚫 No Trip Parking! 🚫

Parking trips on another Flight Attendants line to facilitate trading is NOT permitted.

Company and Union Joint Statement on Trip Parking

Date:September 18, 2023

In a Joint Statement issued today between the company and the Union, it was announced that the issue of “Trip Parking” has been addressed by a neutral arbitrator. The arbitrator has determined that Trip Parking is not permissible under the current Contract and may result in termination.

We encourage all Flight Attendants to review this Joint Statement.  A copy of the “Trip Parking – Joint Statement” is located on both the AFA and company’s websites.

• When Flight Attendants place trips on other Flight Attendants’ lines to facilitate trades they could not make otherwise, then reacquire the original trip they picked up, that is a classic case of “trip parking.”  In this scenario the flight attendant could not possibly have intended to fly two trips which overlap with each other.

• Trip parking can also include picking up and “parking” trips on another Flight Attendant’s line and illicit trip brokering when Flight Attendants obtain the trip for personal gain or in order to control that flying (“brokering”).  Be aware that while brokering may include some sort of payment or other incentive, brokering is actually just controlling flying without an intent to actually operate the pairing, with or without any type of incentive.

• Likewise, picking up trips to “save them” for friends or to keep “other people” from flying them is also not permissible.

Picking up on PTO Days

While we currently cannot have the "PTO" designator removed for the purpose of picking up pairings, remember that the restriction for trip pick up or trade on PTO days is only for those pairings/assignments that touch the "footprint" of the PTO pairing/assignment.

Example 1:

If you had a pairing/assignment or CQ on the 15th of the month, that ended at 1700 (including debrief time), and were previously awarded PTO for that pairing/assignment, you would still be able to pick up on the 15th provided the report time of the pickup was after 1700. (It is not the day that is "blocked", rather it is the time window or "footprint" of the pairing/assignment).

Example 2:

If the pairing that was dropped via PTO had a report time of 1600 on the 15th, you would be able to pick up a 2-day pairing on the 14th with a debrief up to 1600 on the 15th.

Whenever a PTO is awarded, your master schedule shows the report/debrief times of the dropped PTO pairing, which you can use for reference when picking up.

Return to Top