fezzington

I will say, I'm surprised at how the discussion has panned out so far here on FT. Some quick answers, apologies if I missed someone.

The 2012 Joint Agreement covers it to some extent. Full PDF is at https://unitedafa.org/contract/ -- A quick glance of page 58 shows that the minimum bid positions per fleet type closely mirror the FAA minimum crew. I've been told that negotiating higher minimum bid positions would have been immensely difficult, and would have cost quite a bit in terms of work rules.

There is currently a variable staffing model, where most widebodies will have 5/6 FAs in Polaris, and the variable staffing in the back is calculated with load factor triggers.

The 76L is going to be a disaster, and I fully expect the 45th person (after the pilot rest seat is accounted for) to be served well after the 1st person is done with their entree and ready for desert -- no matter how fast you're going, there's just no way to serve that many people with the current service flow (even if the entrees are preplated)

I won't do the whole plane, but here's what the eliminated premium position does every flight (in addition to safety checks/breifings/cabin coverage/etc):

1. Prior to customer boarding, counts entrees in their galley and confirms special meal orders. (This is the only time that more food can be requested and realistically expected to show up in time for departure)
2. During boarding, Checks for service items (3 tiered carts, glasses, mugs, plates, dessert cart setup, etc)
3. Arranges ovens to accommodate the actual items needed to be cooked, including breads/nuts as well as plates/mugs (those are heated in an oven since they've sat in chilled carts for hours) -- the galley packing is currently horrid, and requires extensive rearranging or things will be inaccessible at times you need them.
4. Sets ovens as the last thing prior to takeoff.
5. Immediately after FAs get up, helps the two aisle FAs to set up their drink carts, passes them the nuts, linens, & hot towels.
6. while aisle FAs are serving drinks, the galley is getting two appetizer carts ready with bread -- a good galley is also taking off the plastic covers from every part of the tray setup (as an aside, there's a ton of waste plastic every flight). Also helps by running out things the aisle FAs run out of (commonly, glasses) or don't have on the cart (chapagne flutes)
7. When aisle FAs return with the drink cart and take appetizer/tray setup cart out, begin building the desert carts and have galley area ready for entree prep.
8. Aisle FAs finish tray pass out, tray carts get broken down. Aisle Fas begin collecting appetizer dishes
9. Plate all entrees for B Zone. Entree plating begins as soon as first row of that zone is ready (app dishes cleared out).
10. As plating winds down, finish prepping for desert. have fudge and caramel warm, sundae toppings ready, and coffe and hot water in the carafes.
11. Clean up the mess

Then, during the cruise part of the flight, the B zone galley coordinates pilot meals on some aircraft.

I'm much too lazy to type out the pre-arrival meal service, but the galley person is still very much the quarterback of that three person team. Also, only two or three of those steps are saved by pre-plated entrees. Someone still has to do all the other stuff.

What's the total load like? Also, there are some rumblings of those figures being cherry picked and not totally accurate information. I haven't flown AA in some time, so I can't tell.