AFA Alaska

Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

Click here to report an issue to AFA
You are here: Home / Archives for 2024

Archives for 2024

Department of Justice Merger Decision Update

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced early this morning that they reached an agreement with Hawaiian and Alaska managements to extend the merger review process 10 days until August 15th.  

What does this mean? There is no way of knowing. In fact, the DOJ could not render a decision on August 15th and could further delay the review process. AFA International is monitoring the situation with the DOJ and we will continue to share any new developments or information with members. As a reminder, the Tentative Agreement (TA) was negotiated to position us to return to the bargaining table in the near term whether the merger is approved or not.

The Negotiating Committee is finishing up the TA roadshows in Portland and Anchorage today and tomorrow, respectively. We continue to welcome any questions from you during the ratification process.

AFA Alaska News in Review – July 26, 2024

In This Edition

TA Thursday Update – July 25, 2024

Originally posted July 25, 2024

In case you missed it, make sure to catch up on this week’s TA Thursday Update published yesterday! This week’s update included:

  • Virtual TA Roadshow Recordings Now Available
  • Full Text of the Tentative Agreement is Now Available
  • Resources
  • Upcoming Events

Read More >

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – July 2024

Originally posted July 26, 2024

On July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work representing Flight Attendants’ interests in lineholder scheduling. The Committee met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems Flight Attendants face with scheduling, pairings, and bidding. Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to assist with any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help!

Read More >

Next Week’s Events

Monday, July 29SFO TA Roadshow
Tuesday, July 30PDX TA Roadshow
Wednesday, July 31ANC TA Roadshow
Thursday, August 1Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)

See the MEC Event Calendar >

Find Us on Social Media

You can find the most up-to-date official information on our AFA Alaska social media accounts.  Click below and follow so you can stay connected!

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – July 2024

Scheduling Committee

  • On July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work representing Flight Attendants’ interests in lineholder scheduling.
  • The Committee met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems Flight Attendants face with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
  • Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to assist with any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help!

On Tuesday, July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons/Representatives met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, and MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz. 

The committee met with Managing Director of Operations Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Manager of Flight Crew Systems Support Sue Rawlings, Supervisor of Inflight Crew Scheduling Matthew Trujillo , Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

  • VO is view only. This code does not allow Flight Attendants to pick up the trip while scheduling works to resolve trip issues.
  • PO is pick-up only. This code is used on Sick leave make-up days. It should not be placed on trips.
  • AFA encourages crews to report safety concerns on any redeye flight where they feel fatigued or unsafe to drive home after flying. There are reports that some of these flights are delayed several hours into the early morning, and Flight Attendants are concerned about operating the flights. 
  • Flight Attendants continue to have issues with Crew Access and OpenTime. Management continues to investigate and question whether Flight Attendants use BOT programming. Using a third-party program or application is against company policy. 
  • If you are releasing from Deadheads, please request release before positioning. Flight Attendants are receiving points when they are not showing up as scheduled and performance is hesitant to remove points that are applied. 
  • Bidding for August was busy, with virtual drop-ins for PBS bidding assistance. Bid awards for August were smooth, with high coverage.
  • NAVBLUE expects another release for PBS bidding in the near future. 
  • September schedules: Management expects to decrease the block hours and have high vacation usage in the month. Budget talks for 2025 are underway. There will be no leaves in September. Flight Attendant pairing breakdown and statistics are being reviewed by management on their dashboards.
  • July sick leave tends to increase on weekends by around 14%, while during the week is 11%. Reserve utilization is still high every month. More premium pay on weekends and tend to see 2.0x rate of pay being applied. Management tracks year-over-year (YOY) and month-over-month (MOM) trends. 
  • Personal drops low. 
  • When Flight Attendants call in fatigued, their reports are reviewed, and the issues/concerns are addressed.  
  • JCTE update is expected on July 30, 2024. Communication from management on changes and improvements will be distributed.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. NAVBLUE. The PBS Subcommittee is seeking feedback on how they can improve their assistance to flight crews regarding bid awards and understanding results. They provided both in-person and virtual meetings for this purpose. The PBS Subcommittee is working with management on PBS base sit budgets.  Management has the committee keep track of how money is being spent to assist flight crews with their bidding.  We appreciate your participation in virtual and in person base sits. 
  2. Pairings Survey. There is a discussion of reviewing bidding data from NAVBLUE to see what kind of pairings Flight Attendants are interested in flying instead of sending out a survey. We will continue to review options. 
  3. Chime Communications. To reduce phone call volumes, Flight Attendants may soon be able to chat with Crew Scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams. The chat will be for Flight Attendant-initiated contact only. The function is currently in the early stages of development and still needs to be discussed with Labor Relations management and our MEC. Testing and implementation are continuing over the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation, which is still pending review. 
  4. Crew Scheduling. A monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covered various aspects such as reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and year over year), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
  5. Crew Planning. Like Crew Scheduling, there was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that covered subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items. Statistics around teaming continue to be reviewed. Crew Planning continues to maximize pairing construction and optimizing teaming strategies to minimize costs and ensure that crews (Flight Attendants) can stay together for multiple segments.
  6. ITS. Representatives from ITS joined the scheduling meeting to provide updates on NAVBLUE, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block2Block. These updates include performance reviews, data analysis, and information about future releases.

We Want to Hear From You!

Whether you have feedback for the Committee, concerns to share, or items you’d like brought up with management – don’t hesitate to let us know. Your Local Scheduling Committee is here to be your voice to management. You can easily open a support ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or directly contact us using the information provided on the Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

AFA Alaska News in Review – July 19, 2024

In This Edition

Supplemental Ditching Training Update

Originally posted July 17, 2024

Our Grievance Committee is pleased to let you know we strenuously negotiated and settled the open SDT issues with management to the benefit of our Flight Attendants. Most Flight Attendants will receive 5 TFP for completing the SDT drill, plus an additional 1 TFP for completing the SDT CBT and watching the video in the June 13, 2024, required bulletin bundle. The training must be completed by July 31st, if the Flight Attendant has duty in the remainder of July; the training can be done at many different times. You can select which option works best for you.

Read More >

TA Thursday Update – July 18, 2024

Originally posted July 18, 2024

In case you missed it, make sure to catch up on this week’s TA Thursday Update published yesterday! This week’s update included:

  • Register Now for an In-Person Tentative Agreement (TA) Roadshow
  • Update on the Full Text of the Tentative Agreement (TA)
  • Resources
  • The Real Deal
  • Upcoming Events

Read More >

Next Week’s Events

Monday, July 22SEA TA Roadshow
Tuesday, July 23SEA TA Roadshow
Tuesday, July 23Monthly Scheduling Committee Meeting
Wednesday, July 24Tentative Agreement (TA) Voting Opens
Wednesday, July 24LAX TA Roadshow
Thursday, July 25SNA TA Roadshow
Friday, July 26SAN TA Roadshow

See the MEC Event Calendar >

Find Us on Social Media

You can find the most up-to-date official information on our AFA Alaska social media accounts.  Click below and follow so you can stay connected!

Supplemental Ditching Training Update

Grievance Committee

Supplemental Ditching Training Update

Dear Flight Attendants,

We wanted to take a moment to remind and encourage all of you to complete your Supplemental Ditching Training (SDT) as soon as possible but by July 31, 2024. The SDT drill requires completion of an in-person hands-on drill, completion of the SDT CBT, and to watch the video in the June 13, 2024, required Bulletin Bundle. This is FAA-required training. Please remember instructors are Flight Attendants first and have really stepped up to the plate to help.

Resolution of SDT Issues

AFA is pleased to let you know we strenuously negotiated and settled the open SDT issues with management to the benefit of our Flight Attendants:

  • Most Flight Attendants will receive 5 TFP for completing the SDT drill, plus an additional 1 TFP for completing the SDT CBT and watching the video in the June 13, 2024, required bulletin bundle.
  • The training must be completed by July 31st, if the Flight Attendant has duty in the remainder of July; the training can be done at many different times. You can select which option works best for you:
    1. The Flight Attendant may begin the training no sooner than :30 minutes prior to scheduled check in provided they call Crew Scheduling to verify their legalities and obtain approval; or
    2. The Flight Attendant may start the training at, but not before, scheduled check in time (Departure-60), without calling Crew Scheduling; or
    3. The Flight Attendant may complete the training during a sit time without calling Crew Scheduling; or
    4. The Flight Attendant may complete the training following a duty period, provided they call Crew Scheduling prior to the training to verify their legalities and obtain approval; or
    5. The Flight Attendant may complete the training on a day off provided they call Crew Scheduling to verify future legalities and obtain approval; or
    6. If you are scheduled for recurrent or requalification training from June 17th through July 31st (or before your return from leave of absence), the training will be included and you will receive the 5 TFP plus 1 TFP for CBT/video on top of normal pay for recurrent/requalification.
  • If you have no duty or are on a leave of absence from July 17th -July 31st , you must complete the training before your first flight back in August. You will receive 5 TFP plus 1 TFP for CBT/video.
  • If you have duty from July 17th -July 31st but fail to complete the training by July 31st, you must complete it before your first flight back in August. However, you will only receive 2 TFP plus 1 TFP for CBT/video.
  • Since Flight Attendants must call Crew Scheduling and obtain approval in a, d, and e, above, prior to the SDT drill, there should be no instance where a Flight Attendant will obtain pay for over duty or under rest, etc., per §8.E-M, or additional TFP per §11.B.4.a-b, unless Crew Scheduling approves the SDT drill, thereby resulting in such an event. However, if Crew Scheduling does approve the SDT drill in violation of such contractual legalities, then the provisions in §8.E-M, and §11.B.4.a-b, and any other applicable contractual provisions will apply.
  • Flight attendants who completed the training on July 4th will receive double time on the TFP for the 5 TFP, excluding 1 TFP for CBT/video.
  • Flight Attendants who were awarded a reserve line in the month they did the training will receive the 5 TFP and the 1 TFP for CBT/video above guarantee.
  • Open houses may be held from 3-5pm, although the dates and locations are yet to be confirmed. Management will post required bulletins with this information.
  • There will be no Q3 CBT.

Questions?

There are more details in the Letter of Agreement, which will be sent to your IMD soon. Please reach out to your LEC President if you have any questions.

Election Notice: Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Officer Elections

The term of office for our current Alaska + Hawaiian Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers will conclude on December 31, 2025. The voting members of the MEC (LEC Presidents) will elect new MEC Officers at the November Regular MEC meeting. This communication serves as notice of the election in accordance with the MEC Policy and Procedure Manual. […]

SEA Domicile Negotiations – September 2025 Update #2

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants Negotiations Update Our SEA Domicile Negotiating Committee met with the company on September 11 to review their response to our September 5 proposal.  We feel that it is important to acknowledge the challenges within our company as Alaska management is struggling to understand our Collective Bargaining Agreement […]

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Thursday, September 11, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Conner Gallager (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN). Also present […]

Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month

September 15 marks the start of Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month in the United States, a vibrant celebration dedicated to honoring the rich contributions and diverse cultures of Hispanic-Latinx Americans. Spanning a full month, this observance—also known as National Hispanic Heritage Month—has its roots in Hispanic Heritage Week, which was established by legislation signed into law by […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Monday, September 8, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met in person in Seattle to receive an update about current layover hotels and transportation providers and discuss concerns with management. Representing you at the meeting were Dori Marron (ANC), Jarod McNeill (SEA), Ila Christy (PDX), Hilary […]

Recent Posts

News By Month

News By Category

AFA News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/HA Merger AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX Council 19 SEA Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights & Equity Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Membership Committee Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee

Want To Stay In The Loop?

Stay up-to-date on AFA Alaska news and information by signing up for our email and text message updates. Click a button below to get started or update your preferences if you're already a subscriber.
Sign Up for Emails
Sign Up for Text Updates