Jul 11, 2025 | Education Committee, News
Every Friday, the TWU Local 556 Education Committee releases a Fast Fact Friday covering a relevant topic for the current time. With the announcement of Southwest Airlines’ intention to utilize the language in Article 10.4, Time Away Program (TAP), for the September 2025 bid period, we wanted to break down some language less frequently utilized, discussed, and questioned. Let’s take a look at the Time Away Program, a recently signed Letter of Agreement (LOA), other Article 10 Education Committee resources about voluntary time-off programs, and Article 27.2, which allows for deviations from the Contract language.
Jul 4, 2025 | Education Committee, News
Article 14.2.A of our Pink Contract requires that Southwest Airlines announce the timeline for vacation bidding during the first week of July. The Company announced vacation bidding for accrued 2026 vacation days in RBF 2025-51 on June 30, 2025. Because all four bid rounds are quickly approaching, our TWU Local 556 Education Committee wanted to re-introduce our Pink Contract resources associated with vacation bidding, pay, pulls, and more!
Jun 27, 2025 | Education Committee, News
During the busy summer months, we often see full overhead bins resulting in the need to check luggage, including deadhead and commuter Flight Attendant luggage! This week’s Fast Fact Friday (FFF) touches on quality of life procedures from our Flight Attendant Manual (FAM), which is also echoed in the Ground Operations Manual (GOM). Because the gate-checked baggage procedures are for deadheading and commuting Flight Attendants, we’ve attached our popular Contract 101 resources for Article 10.12 (Deadhead) and Article 33 (Commuter Policy) for an easy review.
Jun 20, 2025 | Education Committee, News
With RBF 2025-45 published on June 19, 2025, regarding the pre-emptive VJA being offered in July, your Education Committee put together some points to ensure our Members know what to expect.
Jun 13, 2025 | Education Committee, News
The safety and security of our Passengers, aircraft, and Crew Members weigh heavily on our shoulders. Because of this, not being fully functional (mentally or physically) due to fatigue is a risk not worth taking. Because TWU Local 556, Southwest Airlines, and the FAA take the health and well-being of our Flight Attendants first and foremost, contractual language and processes have been established to mitigate fatigue issues. Below you will find resources created by our Union to explain our fatigue policy, as well as how to report fatigue concerns in a less daunting and more simplified way.
Jun 6, 2025 | Education Committee, News
Summertime is not usually when we see voluntary leave options offered by Inflight Crew Scheduling and/or Inflight Crew Planning. During the past few weeks, however, TWU Local 556 Members have seen Daily Release Time (DRT) and Secondary Daily Release Time (SDRT) slots available. When you consider your voluntary time off options, it’s important that you know the difference between each of these programs, when they can be offered, and how the award process works. In this week’s TWU Local 556 Education Committee email, we dive into DRT, SDRT, and even break down the Advanced Notice DRT (AN-DRT) Letter of Agreement (LOA). Let’s look at Article 10.6 language and discuss how this quality of life language allows our Flight Attendants to adjust their schedules utilizing these contractual options.
