The Vacation Election period is now open as of September 23, 2023, and will remain open until October 15, 2023.
If you choose to participate in the optional Vacation Election process, select the “Proceed to Vacation Election” button located in the accrual letter page. You may also choose not to make any selections in the Vacation Election process and skip this step.
The vacation election screen will appear, and you will be able to make the following selections:
- Buy Back Vacation Days. Partially accrued vacation days are not eligible.
- Defer vacation days to your 401(k) or UK Stakeholder Plan
- Take Flex Vacation Days (paid or unpaid)
Vacation Buy Back:
We have negotiated in Section 12.D. of our Contract a vacation buy back option, which provides Flight Attendants with the opportunity to take pay in lieu of accrued vacation. Flight Attendants who elect to participate must opt to “sell” at least six (6) full days of accrued vacation where partial days are not eligible for inclusion in buy back. For the 2024 Vacation year, the company will be offering a 0.1% incentive payment that will be applied when the payment is made during the first quarter of the Scheduled Vacation year.
It is important to note Section 12.D.6. of the Contract provides that those participating in the Buy Back program may not participate in the Flex program during the same Scheduled Vacation year.
Annual Vacation Buy Back Overview:
Vacation days are “sold” back at a rate of three hours and fifteen minutes (3:15) per day multiplied by your hourly rate of pay, plus an incentive payment, which shall be determined and announced prior to the annual vacation bid. The rate of pay for Vacation buy back is based on your individual rate of pay as of 12/31/23. International Purser and Purser overrides are not included in your hourly rate of pay and are not applicable as part of your Vacation Buy Back payments.
Monthly Vacation Buy Back:
The Company may offer vacation buy back on a month-to-month or base-by-base basis. Vacation days are sold back at a rate of three hours and fifteen minutes (3:15) per day multiplied by your hourly rate of pay and the Company will determine whether to offer an incentive payment for month-to-month or base-by-base vacation buy back. In these instances, vacation buy back will be awarded in base seniority order.
Deferred 401(k) Contribution:
Flight Attendants may elect to contribute a minimum of seven (7) days and a maximum of fourteen (14) days of paid vacation accrued for use in 2024 into their 401(k) Savings plan account or UK Stakeholder Group Plan.
Flex Vacation Program:
Flight Attendants may elect to take an additional seven days of Flex vacation. Flight Attendants taking Flex vacation will either take the additional seven days as unpaid vacation or elect to have one hour and fifty-four minutes (1:54) pay deducted from their earnings each month to pay for the Flex vacation week.
- Flight Attendants who opt for paid Flex vacation will have the last seven days of their last awarded vacation period designated as Flex.
- Flight Attendants who opt for unpaid Flex vacation will have the first seven days of the first vacation period designated as Flex.
Once you have finished making your choices, a confirmation page will be displayed detailing your 2024 elections. It is recommended that you keep a copy of this confirmation page for your records.
At any time while the vacation election period is open you can return to the vacation election page and change/update your selections. Once the election period is closed, changes can no longer be submitted, and the last page submitted will determine your election.
Flight Attendants may contact the Vacation Team through (800) FLT-LINE, option 1, 9, 1 or by emailing FAVacationTeam@united.com. The Vacation Team will be available by phone by September 23, 2023, from 0830-1600, Monday-Friday and will not be available on Thanksgiving Day or the day after Thanksgiving, November 23 & 24, 2023.
A complete vacation guide is available on Flying Together. You may also tap the link for the comprehensive AFA 2024 Vacation Guide.
Below is a Vacation Timeline for your reference. For additional details on the 2024 Vacation Bidding Process, please visit our website.
Vacation 2024 – Vacation Accrual Letter
Vacation Accrual Letters have been prepared and are now available via the Vacation tab on the CCS home page. Flight Attendant 2024 Vacation Accrual Letters can be viewed by logging into CCS>Vacation>My Vacation. Flight Attendants will need to change the vacation year from 2023 to 2024.
The following information will be displayed:
- Your vacation accrual seniority date as of August 28, 2023.
- Your base vacation accrual is determined by your vacation accrual seniority date
- Your paid activity, by each quarter in the 2022 -2023 Vacation Accrual Year, to be used in determining your vacation accrual for the 2024 Vacation year
- Your 2024 vacation accrual, in days and hours
For newly hired Flight Attendants, quarterly paid activity will not be shown because new hire Flight Attendants accrue one vacation day.