Update on how to bid for 2026 vacation weeks & hotel news for YYJ (Victoria B.C.)

Vacation Bidding

It is that time of year again Vacation bidding for 2026! You can find information in regard to vacation bidding in the contract Article 11:  page 123. 

All available vacation periods for bid at each Domicile for 2026 will be posted electronically no later than October 1, 2025.

Round 1 bidding opens Oct. 1st @ 9am and closes Oct 21st @ 1700 (Pacific Time) via eCrew.

Round 1 Vacation awards will be posted no later than1700 on November 1st @ 5pm 

AFA will be hosting video chats on a Google platform on the dates below; all times are PST and will be held for one (1) hour.  If these times do not work for you, please reach out. 

Oct 4 -1pm  meet.google.com/qou-dhvt-ddf

Oct 8 -8am meet.google.com/gpq-ntmu-vhn

Oct 15 -6pm meet.google.com/kdy-gvcj-xiq

Oct 19 -9am meet.google.com/zxr-bxkz-cgx

Allowable carryover:

5 years and under - 78 hours 

5-20 years - 117 hours 

20 and over - 142.5 hours 

Full time accruals:

5 Years or less - 2.1666 hours 

Between 5 and 20 years - 3.25 

Over 20 years - 3.9583 

Reduced Credit accruals:

5 Years or less - 1.0833 

Between 5 and 20 years - 1.625 

Over 20 years 1.9792 

How to calculate your total vacation weeks available:

 1.      Look at your paystub. How many vacation hours do you have available.  

 2.      Do you have any weeks booked for the rest of 2025? Each vacation week is worth 17 or 2.43 per day. 

 3.      Are you a full-time or a part-time status Flight Attendant?

 4.      As of September 5th we have 7 paychecks till the end of the year.  Depending on your seniority, your accrual will determine how many hours you can add to your amount listed on your paystub. 

Let’s do an example:   Jimmy is a 18 year, full time Flight Attendant with an accrual rate of 3.25.  We know from above that there are 7 paychecks left in 2025. (7x3.25) Which equals 22.75 hours. Jimmy’s last paystub had a total of 103.88 hours and has 2 weeks of vacation booked for the Holidays. 

103.88+22.75=126.63

However, we must subtract the weeks booked for 2025. Each week is worth 17 hours. 

126.63-34.00=92.63

Then we divide by 17 to get the total weeks available to bid.

92.63/17=5.44    

Jimmy will have 5 weeks to bid in 2026!

If you find yourself over the allotment on Dec. 31st; One week of vacation; 17 hours will be paid out on January 20, 2026.  After the 17-credit maximum payout, all vacation that is still above the allowable carry over may be forfeited to the company as unused.   

Example: If you have a total of 140 vacation hours and your max carryover is 117 then 17 hours will be paid out on Jan 20th and 6 hours may be forfeited back to the company. 

Notes:

• No less than 60% of the annual accrual, per base, will be put out for bid (Improvement from 40-50% in years past)
• Probationary Flight Attendants may bid for any weeks after their end of probation period. Please reach out to a supervisor to verify this date. Any slots that are bid for in error will be removed after each round of bidding (Improvement from only those FAs that were off probation in October and November of the current year were able to bid for next year’s vacation slots. Also added additional slots to the vacation bid.)
• Payout if Over the Accrual/Carryover Amounts Listed Above - FAs may qualify for the pay out of any vacation that would previously have been forfeited. To qualify, you must bid your full accrual and bid for all available slots in Round 2. Please review the Vacation Settlement for full details. (Improvement from a forfeiture of anything over the 150% plus the 17 hours)

·       A Flight Attendant who voluntarily transfers to a domicile in which there are insufficient weeks to replace vacation held in her/his pervious domicile may cash out all or part of any unused vacation.

·       Round 2 bids will be held in November and will close on November 22 @ 5pm PST

Please reach out with any questions. Happy Vacation Bidding! 

Jamie Moore 360-790-0039 [email protected]

Hotel and Transportation Commiitee Update

 ** Victoria Flying for Horizon - Good news, not so good news **

As of October, we have begun flying back to Victoria however, our crews are unable to stay in Sidney, BC.   With only 3 viable options in the town of Sidney (our primary hotel is full for other crew-allocated rooms until next Fall, one doesn't wish to take on crew business, one does not have rooms available during the month of Jan-Mar ) QX is left placing us in a non-compliant hotel, located 19 minutes south from the airport, halfway between Sidney and Victoria. While the hotel itself meets our required amenities, its location does not meet contractual standards due to the lack of accessible food options. As a result, AFA has filed a grievance on behalf of our members.  

In the meantime, crews can access the on-site restaurant where a 10% discount is currently offered. (AFA has requested that QX management pursue a larger discount, given the limited food options at this location. This request is pending) Additional dining options are available approximately 0.6 to 1 mile away at the Broadmead Shopping Center. (Romeo's Pizza, Fudo Japanese, Artisan Bistro, Alysa's Pho & Banh Mi, Starbucks,Mexigo, Poke Fresh, Baan Thai Wok) There is also a grocery store - Thrifty Foods - in the same area.   For those of you wishing to explore Victoria and its inner harbor, there is bus service available with a stop right by this hotel.

Transportation to the hotel will be provided by a 3rd party vendor.  Please check your IMD on MyCrewCare app for all pertinent information. 

We ask that you show the hotel staff and shuttle service the Horizon Heart by being patient as they make their way through this learning curve in working with crews.  

Safe flying,

 AFA QX Hotel/Transportation Committee