Originally Posted by greenpau

Yes, they will get paid for the original flight they were awarded to fly as part of the "line" award given during the bidding process each month. The pay is protected, but the FA is subject to reassignment to an alternate flight, as needed. For February, this meant that FAs already awarded a China line of flying were reassigned to flights where a Reserve would normally be called in to fill the spot.

FAs are guaranteed a minimum of 71 hours of pay per month. With the reduction in flying, the average number of flying hours per "line of flying" awarded for March was right at this level - in fact, some lines were even less (64 hours, as an example), but would still come with 71 hours of pay. If you compare that to a normal month in SFO, for example, lines are built around the 90-100 hour mark. Reducing to around 71 hours ensures that every FA has the opportunity to secure some hours, but it is at a low level. For junior flight attendants on Reserve, they need to fly a decent number of hours in order to get by as their hourly pay rate is less than half of an FA with 20+ years of service.

Bidding begins at the start of the month prior to the month being flown - for example, bids are due around the 10th of the month, and awarded around the last week of the month. Flying then begins a few days later.

The announcements this week to cut back more Asia flying have delayed getting the new bids out, because all of the lines for April are being rebuilt to account for the reductions. Again, 71 hours of pay is guaranteed, but for many that is not enough to pay bills. The company is again inviting FAs to go on company leaves of absence for 1, 2, or 3 months to see how this progresses. When you are on COLA you don't get any pay, but keep all of your benefits active.