1. The Company shall notify the MEC/LEC President(s) in writing immediately upon deciding to open or close a base.

2. In the event of a reduction in force as a result of a base closing, the Company shall take the following steps:

a. Post the number of anticipated furloughs due to the closing of the base;

b. Request voluntary furloughs system wide;

c. Those Flight Attendants who do not request a volunteer furlough in the base that is closing, shall be able to bump into any domicile which their System Seniority will allow them to hold;

d. Those Flight Attendants who are affected by the furlough (e.g., only those people who will be displaced from their domicile as a result of the base closing) shall be able to bid and displace into another domicile;

e. Those Flight Attendants who are not senior enough to bump into another domicile shall be involuntarily furloughed; and

f. The standing bids for all Flight Attendants affected by the base closing both directly and indirectly Paragraphs A.2.c. and A.2.d., above, shall be processed simultaneously.

3. In the event of a base opening, the openings will be posted and all transfer requests on file shall be processed in accordance with Paragraph B. below. If vacancies still remain and there are no Flight Attendants on furlough, the vacancies will be filled by internal transfers or external recruitment.

1. Openings that are anticipated to be sixty (60) days or less in duration shall be considered to be temporary vacancies and will be filled in accordance with Section 23, TDY. Openings that are anticipated to be sixty-one (61) days or longer in duration shall be considered to be permanent and shall be covered by this Section.

2. All vacancies covered by this Paragraph shall be awarded according to Flight Attendants' transfer requests based on Flight Attendant System Seniority. Any remaining vacancies shall be filled by internal transfer or external recruitment.

3. The Company shall process and award vacancies from the transfer request forms on file at the time the vacancy occurs.

a. A Flight Attendant who wishes to transfer to another base shall complete and file a transfer request form with Bid Administration.

b. A Flight Attendant has the right to refuse the transfer to a specific base when offered, but such refusal shall nullify the transfer request for that base.

c. Transfer requests shall remain active until awarded, withdrawn by the Flight Attendant, or nullified as set forth in Paragraph B.3.b above.

d. A Flight Attendant on probation shall not be permitted to transfer bases until her/his probationary period has ended unless furloughed, displaced or her/his base closes.

1. A Flight Attendant who wants to "swap" bases shall be allowed to do so annually with a transfer effective date of June 1^st, provided that the transfers/swaps are granted in seniority order. Mutual base transfers shall be awarded from transfer request forms on file with Bid Administration as of April 1^st.

2. In the event the Company incurs additional costs for an individual’s meals and lodging during recurrent training as a result of a base swap, the Flight Attendant whose swap caused such increased costs shall be responsible for repayment of these expenses only for the first year. Nothing herein shall prevent an individual Flight Attendant from making her/his own lodging arrangements in which case, she/he shall not be charged for lodging or meals. A Flight Attendant who is subject to this Paragraph shall not be paid for deadheading to training, but the Company shall provide the Flight Attendant with a "positive space" round trip pass.

3. A Flight Attendant on probation shall not be permitted to swap bases pursuant to this provision until her/his probationary period has ended.

4. An approved base swap shall be final and binding for up to six (6) months, unless the exceptions stated in Paragraph D.2. below apply.

5. A Flight Attendant who moves under the provisions of this Paragraph shall be responsible for paying her/his moving expenses and for arranging unpaid time off to complete her/his move.

1. Vacancies shall be posted in the Flight Attendant mail room and shall be published in the Inflight briefing as soon as said vacancy is known. The announcements shall contain the following information:

a. Number of vacancies projected per domicile(s);

b. Bid closing date(s) and bid award date(s);

c. Projected date that Flight Attendant must report for duty; and

d. The number of projected regular, relief, and reserve lines in each domicile as of the award date (for information purposes only).

2. Once a vacancy has been awarded, a Flight Attendant shall be ineligible to bid on another vacancy for six (6) months from the date of transfer. "Date of transfer" is defined as the first date the Flight Attendant is available for duty at the new domicile. The following exceptions to this six (6) month rule shall apply:

a. A Flight Attendant who exercises her/his right under Section 21. Furlough, Paragraph B.4.a.

b. If a vacancy exists and a Flight Attendant is unable to exercise her/his preferential recall rights into her/his original domicile due to the completion of training replacement Flight Attendants, every attempt shall be made to return the Flight Attendant to her/his original domicile at the earliest opportunity. No other transfer request into the Flight Attendant’s original domicile shall be processed, nor shall the Company recruit externally, prior to the processing of preferential recall rights.

c. Flight Attendants transferring to open a new domicile.

d. At its sole discretion, the Company may approve a request for a release.

e. A successful bidder will be responsible to cover her/his own moving expenses, except in the case of a displacement or the opening or closing of a domicile, in which case the Company shall pay the moving expenses as provided in Section 24, Moving Expenses.

f. In the event that no bid is received on posted vacancies and a domicile(s) exists with excess Flight Attendants, such vacancies will be filled by said excess Flight Attendants in inverse seniority order. If vacancies still remain, and there are no Flight Attendants on furlough, the vacancies will be filled through internal transfer or external recruitment.

1. The vacation of a Flight Attendant changing domiciles shall be determined as provided in Section 13, Vacation, Subsection E.
2. All vacancies properly awarded under the terms of this Agreement shall be binding for up to six (6) months.