This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants
September: Council 47 Officer Update
Aloha LAX and SEA Flight Attendants,
As we enter the busy holiday travel season, we hope you are all doing well and taking care of yourselves as travel begins to pick up.
Below is our November Officer Report, which includes important reminders, contractual provisions, and updates on union matters and developments affecting both of our domiciles. We encourage you to take a few moments to review the information and stay informed on the issues affecting our membership.
As always, mahalo for your continued support and engagement.
In Solidarity,
Josh, Paul and Beth
Council 47 Officers LAX/SEA
Association of Flight Attendants – CWA
47@afahawaiian.org
SEA Pulse Form (anonymous)
LAX Pulse Form (anonymous)
Council 47 SEA Committee Contact Roster
TL;DR
- Doctor’s Note Requirements: Required for absences exceeding seven days and designated holidays, with certain exemptions.
- Holiday Pay: Double pay for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day, with a three-hour minimum for qualifying duty.
- MEC Retirement Chairperson: Applications are open through December 1, 2026.
- Scheduling Clarifications (SCR): The Grievance Committee monitors SCR responses and will notify members when follow-up is necessary.
- Uniform Points: Use your remaining 2026 points by December 31. Unused points do not roll over.
- Trip Requests: Monitor FLICA for awards and cancel outstanding requests you no longer want.
🌴 LAX 🌴
- LAX Membership Meeting: December 3, featuring an Empower representative and legacy Council 47 retirees. SEA members are welcome!
- California Timekeeping: IMD clock-in/clock-out requirements are expected in January 2027 despite AFA’s opposition.
🏔️ SEA 🏔️
- Return to Domicile: No automatic return after 18 months. Guaranteed return provisions begin upon JCBA ratification, with additional rights at combined flying.
- SEA ASHS Committee: Welcome Hena Baldomero, our new SEA Safety Committee Member!
Doctor’s Note Requirements
With the holiday season approaching, we want to remind Flight Attendants of the contractual requirements for providing a doctor’s note when calling in sick. [SEC 19.G.2.a.]
A doctor’s note is required for:
- Sick absences exceeding seven (7) calendar days.
- Sick occurrences on designated holidays: Super Bowl Sunday, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and the three (3) days before and after Christmas Day. Christmas Day itself is not included in this requirement.
Important Exception: Flight Attendants who are not on the Sick Leave Monitor Program and have not had a sick occurrence in the preceding six (6) months are exempt from the holiday doctor’s note requirement.
Submission Deadline: When required, a doctor’s note must be submitted upon returning to work or within ten (10) calendar days of the first day of the sick occurrence, whichever comes first.
Holiday Pay Reminder
Flight Attendants on duty on New Year’s Day (January 1), Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day (December 25) receive double pay (2x their hourly rate) for all hours credited on the holiday. [Section 3.L.]
Flight Attendants who report for duty on a designated holiday, or who are away from base with no flying on the holiday, are entitled to a minimum of three (3) hours of holiday pay with no credit.
Important: Holiday pay begins and ends based on the local time of your domicile, not the local time of your layover or flight location.
MEC Retirement Committee Chairperson
The Hawaiian MEC is seeking applicants for the position of MEC Retirement Committee Chairperson. Flight Attendants interested in serving in this role are encouraged to review the position responsibilities, qualifications, and application instructions.
Additional details are available in the MEC Retirement Committee Chairperson announcement.
Key Details: Applicants must be current Hawaiian Flight Attendants in good standing, with knowledge of retirement benefits and strong communication and organizational skills. The position begins January 1, 2027.
Application Deadline: December 1, 2026, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. Interested members must submit an expression of interest and resume. Interviews will take place December 8 and 9, either virtually or in Seattle at the AFA MEC Office.
Scheduling Clarifications (SCR) Update
Your Council 47 Grievance Committee receives copies of all Scheduling Clarifications (SCRs) submitted by members, along with the Company’s responses.
As a reminder, Section 11.E.4. requires Crew Scheduling to make every reasonable effort to investigate and respond to an SCR within seven (7) calendar days of receipt.
The Grievance Committee monitors SCRs to ensure timely responses and reviews the Company’s findings to determine whether further action is necessary.
Members can expect to receive a communication from the Grievance Committee under the following circumstances:
- Overdue Response: If the Company has not responded within seven (7) days, we will notify you that a reminder has been sent to Crew Scheduling.
- SCR Closure: If we agree with the Company’s response, we will notify you that your SCR is being closed and no further action will be pursued.
- Further Action: If we disagree with the Company’s response, we will notify you that we are reviewing the matter for further action.
- Additional Information Needed: If we require further details or documentation from you or the company to determine our position, we will reach out directly.
Our goal is to ensure that SCRs are properly reviewed, contractual rights are protected, and members remain informed throughout the process.
Uniform Points Reminder
We want to remind Flight Attendants to use any remaining 2026 uniform points before December 31.
Under Section 6.C.2, eligible Flight Attendants receive 650 uniform points annually, equivalent to $650, to purchase replacement uniform items and Company-approved optional items.
On January 1, 2027, eligible Flight Attendants will receive their new annual allotment of 650 points. Unused points from 2026 will not roll over into 2027.
We encourage you to check your remaining balance and place any necessary uniform orders before the end of the year.
Uniforms can be ordered at the Affinity Apparel Website. To order wings, gloves, aprons and luggage, one should fill out the Uniform Order Form.
Trip Request Reminder
Bid Flight Attendants and Reserve Flight Attendants requesting additional flying on their days off through the Trip Request Folder in FLICA are responsible for monitoring their requests and checking their schedules for awarded trips.
Crew Scheduling will not call to notify you if a requested trip has been awarded and added to your schedule. Flight Attendants should check FLICA to confirm whether a trip has been awarded.
Important: If you submit a trip request but later pick up a different trip on the same footprint of the requested trip, your original request remains active unless canceled. If the originally requested trip becomes available during the awarding period, Crew Scheduling will remove the trip you picked up and replace it with the trip you originally requested.
If you prefer to keep the trip you picked up or no longer want the requested trip, be sure to cancel any outstanding trip requests in FLICA to avoid an unintended schedule change.
🌴 Los Angeles 🌴
LAX Membership Meeting
Our LAX End-of-Year Membership Meeting is coming up! We encourage members to join us for updates on local, MEC, and joint negotiation matters, along with an opportunity to ask questions and connect with your Council 47 leadership.
Meeting Details:
- Date: Thursday, December 3, 2026
- Time: 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
- Location: Jame Enoteca, 241 Main Street, El Segundo, CA
- Registration: Click here to register
An Empower Retirement representative will also be present to provide information about our retirement plan and answer your questions.
We have also extended invitations to our legacy Council 47 AFA members (retirees), several of whom have already confirmed their attendance. We look forward to reconnecting with those who helped build and shape our Council over the years.
Although this meeting is being held in LAX, Council 47 SEA-based Flight Attendants are also welcome to attend if you happen to be in town!
California Time Keeping
LAX Flight Attendants will soon be required to clock in and clock out using their IMDs, a process that applies only to California-based Flight Attendants. This requirement has already been implemented for Alaska Flight Attendants.
According to the Company, this process was introduced in response to multiple California lawsuits involving wage and hour violations and is intended to reduce the Company’s legal exposure related to timekeeping.
The Alaska-Hawaiian MEC has strongly opposed this additional requirement, maintaining that existing systems already provide sufficient documentation of Flight Attendant duty time. We believe this process places an unnecessary administrative burden on Flight Attendants and have continued to push back against its implementation.
Despite our objections, the Company is moving forward with the process. Hawaiian LAX Flight Attendants should expect additional communication from the Company, with implementation anticipated in January 2027.
AFA will continue advocating against this requirement and provide updates as more information becomes available.
🏔️ Seattle 🏔️
Return to Domicile Clarification
We want to address a rumor that has circulated on multiple occasions regarding Flight Attendants who transferred to Seattle. There is no provision that automatically allows Flight Attendants to return to their previous domicile after 18 months.
This may be a misunderstanding of the 18-month provision in Section 5.B. “Flight Attendants shall not be eligible for more than one (1) Company-paid move in an eighteen (18) months period”. This provision relates to eligibility for Company-paid moving expenses, not the right to transfer between domiciles.
For example, if you transferred to SEA and received Company-paid moving expenses or the flat rate allowance, then transferred back to HNL ten months later, you would not be eligible for another Company-paid move under the 18-month provision.
Flight Attendants are not required to remain at a domicile for 18 months before transferring. Transfers may be requested without an 18-month waiting period through vacancy bids, mutual transfers or hardships.
Separately, it is important to understand that the guaranteed return-to-domicile provisions negotiated in the SEA Domcile Letter of Agreement (LOA) do not take effect until ratification of our Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA).
Under B of the Letter of Agreement:
- Upon JCBA ratification: The first 30 return-to-domicile positions will be offered in accordance with the negotiated provisions.
- Following JCBA ratification: Additional return-to-domicile rights will not take effect until combined flying. The time between JCBA ratification and combined flying is not fixed and may vary.
These provisions and timelines were communicated to Flight Attendants before their transfers, including during the virtual town halls conducted by the SEA negotiating team.
Furthermore, new-hire Flight Attendants who were assigned SEA as their initial domicile upon completion of training are not eligible for the Return-to-Domicile provisions negotiated in the SEA Domicile LOA.
We encourage members to review the SEA Domicile LOA for the specific terms and conditions. If you have questions or need further clarification, please reach out to your Council 47 Officers after reading the LOA.
SEA ASHS Committee Member
We are pleased to welcome Hena Baldomero to the Council 47 leadership team as our new Seattle-based Air Safety, Health and Security (ASHS) Committee Member!
Hena will work alongside our ASHS Committee Chair, Kahea Alvarez (LAX), to address safety concerns and advocate for a safer working environment for our Flight Attendants.
Hena brings a strong passion for workplace safety and advocacy, and we are excited to have her join our team. Having dedicated ASHS representation in Seattle is especially important as our Flight Attendants operate different routes, aircraft, and service procedures. Her firsthand experience will help ensure that safety concerns specific to SEA operations are identified, communicated, and addressed, while supporting proactive measures to protect our members.
Please join us in welcoming Hena to the Council 47 leadership team!
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