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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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AFA Transitional Local Council 35 Virgin America Officer Appointments

Pursuant to the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws Article III.A.2 [Local Councils and Local Executive Councils: Establishment of Transitional Local Councils for Newly Organized Carriers], International President Sara Nelson has appointed Temporary Transitional Officers to represent AFA Transitional Local Council 35 Virgin America. AFA solicited input from Virgin America (VX) Flight Attendants for names of potential appointees and each potential appointee must have received a minimum of two recommendations and signed a commitment to serve. President Nelson commends VX F/As for the level of interest and engagement regarding the two positions, and she sincerely thanks all those who were willing to represent the newly formed council.

Melissa Osborne has been appointed as Temporary Transitional Local Council president and James Ikehara as secretary.

Temporary Transitional Local Council President Melissa Osborne

Melissa Osborne has been a San Francisco-based Flight Attendant with Virgin America for nine years. In addition to her flying duties, she served in a variety of roles to include Inflight Instructor, Red Carpet Facilitator, Refresh Design Team, Inflight Team Leader and Air Transportation Supervisor. She came to Virgin America after enjoying 7 years at Aloha Airlines, which ended with the company going out of business in 2008. Based in Honolulu, Melissa also served as support to the grievance chair at AFA Aloha, which included contract research and participation in arbitration hearings. In addition to almost 17 years in the airline industry, she served as a public school teacher in Hawaii, California and Arizona. Melissa has been living in Phoenix for the last 5 years and spends free time with her three children and dog. She enjoys gardening, cooking, kayaking and working on home improvement projects.

Temporary Transitional Local Council Secretary James Ikehara

James Ikehara has been a San Francisco-based Flight Attendant with Virgin America for five years. In addition to his flying duties, he has participated in various activities of the Promo Team, and was a member of the A320 ETOPS Cadre. In May, he will also help to certify the A321 as a member of the A321 ETOPS Cadre. Prior to coming to Virgin America, he worked for Visa, Inc. at their Foster City headquarters for almost 21 years, with the last 10 years as their Director of the Executive Briefing Center. James lives in San Francisco and spends his leisure time playing in his violin and viola in the Bohemian Club orchestra at their city club, as well as attending their two yearly events at the Bohemian Grove in the Russian River.

Term of office, elections, membership drive and other engagement opportunities

Melissa and James will serve as Local Officers until AFA can hold an election to fill those positions. AFA will also be conducting a membership drive at Virgin America over the next 30-60 days. Every effort will be made to ensure at least 50% of the VX F/As become AFA members prior to initiating nominations and elections, which will occur no later than 60 days from today pursuant to Article VIII.C.1.a [Nomination and Election of Officers: Local Council Officers and CWA Convention Delegates].

Click here to download an AFA membership application >

Virgin America Flight Attendants who are interested in assisting with the membership drive or getting involved in any way should take a few moments to complete the volunteer interest form. Any other AFA Alaska members who are interested in volunteering may email vx@afaalaska.org.

Click here to access the Council 35 Involvement Interest Form (Virgin America only) >

Member of the Master Executive Council (MEC)

By virtue of office, the Council 35 president is now a member of the AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC). Each local president (15 SAN, 18 LAX, 19 SEA, 30 ANC, 39 PDX and now 35 VX) along with the MEC president, vice president and secretary-treasurer make up the MEC, which is the executive-level leadership structure at AFA Alaska. The MEC meets approximately monthly. Our next meeting is in Seattle this coming week: Tuesday-Wednesday April 25-26, and Melissa will be representing Virgin America Flight Attendants in that meeting.

Virgin America Flight Attendant Compensation

AFA is aware that non-represented employees at Virgin America typically receive wage increases around this time of year. We are very concerned that VX Flight Attendants have not received a wage increase in several years, which currently places VX F/A pay at the bottom of the industry. Consequently, AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to meet on Thursday, April 27th in order to discuss this and other subjects. Along with MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Council 35 VX President Melissa Osborne will also represent VX F/As in those discussions.

We know Virgin America Flight Attendants have many more questions. AFA is planning on additional communications in the coming days and weeks. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Congratulations to Melissa, James and all the Flight Attendants at Virgin America!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Your AFA International Officers – Sara Nelson, Deb Sutor and Kevin Creighan

AFA Now Represents Virgin America Flight Attendants

AFA confirmed as the collective-bargaining representative for Virgin America Flight Attendants

The National Mediation Board (NMB) has confirmed AFA as the collective-bargaining representative for Virgin America InFlight Teammates (ITMs).* Effective immediately, AFA takes over representation of Virgin America Flight Attendants from our sisters and brothers in the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU). We are the first union to achieve consolidated representation in the merger between Alaska Airlines and Virgin America.

* Going forward, AFA will refer to Virgin America ITMs as “Flight Attendants” unless there is a need to distinguish between the two. This is in order to maintain consistency in the AFA family of over 50,000 Flight Attendants at 20 carriers.

Transitional Local Council 35 Virgin America Officers to be appointed very soon

The Master Executive Council (MEC) expects AFA International President Sara Nelson to appoint a Transitional President and Secretary for the newly formed AFA Transitional Local Council 35 Virgin America SFO-JFK-LAX very soon. Pursuant to the AFA Constitution & Bylaws Article III.A.2 [Local Councils and Local Executive Councils: Establishment of Transitional Local Councils for Newly Organized Carriers], President Nelson has been soliciting input from VX F/As for names of potential appointees. The deadline for submitting potential appointees ended this past Wednesday, April 11, 2017.

Each potential appointee must have received a minimum of two recommendations and signed a commitment to serve. (The commitment to serve statement was included in a linked electronic recommendation form that was distributed to Virgin America F/As via company email.) The appointed Transitional Officers will serve as Council 35 leadership for a period of approximately four to six months until elections can be held to fill those positions.

Click here for more information >

Compensation

AFA is aware that non-represented employees at Virgin America typically receive wage increases around this time of year. We are very concerned that VX Flight Attendants have not received a wage increase in several years, which currently places VX F/A pay at the bottom of the industry. Consequently, AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to meet in order to discuss this subject at our earliest opportunity. Once appointed, the AFA Transitional Local Council 35 President will also represent VX F/As in those discussions.

Virgin America Flight Attendants: Sign Up to Get Involved!

Involvement is one of the key hallmarks of AFA.  As a member-driven Union, the more people who get involved, the better off we are. We are “Stronger Together, Better Together.” If any Virgin America (VX) Flight Attendants are interested in getting involved in AFA and Council 35, we want to know!  If you are a VX F/A, please take a few moments to complete the volunteer interest form, and let us know how you might be interested in getting involved.

Click here to access the Council 35 Involvement Interest Form (Virgin America only) >>

Vacancies for two Virgin America Merger Representatives and one Joint Negotiating Committee member will be posted soon

In the coming weeks, the Master Executive Council will be soliciting applications from Virgin America Flight Attendants to fill vacancies for two Merger Representatives to serve in the Seniority Merger Integration Committee and for one Joint Negotiating Committee member. The MEC will review applications and interview final candidates prior to filling vacancies.

 

For additional information regarding the duties of a Merger Representative in the Seniority Merger Integration Committee, click here >

 

For additional information regarding the duties of a Joint Negotiating Committee member, click here >

 

If you have any further questions, contact your LEC president; Virgin America F/As may email vx@afaalaska.org.

 

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Custom Uniform Safety Standards

Alaska Air Group management has been working with operational leaders, third-party safety consultants, labor leaders, workgroup and union representatives, and the uniform supplier (to be announced later) in order to develop a new safety standard for the upcoming custom uniform program. AFA is very pleased to report that management has made a commitment to certify the primary uniform pieces in the custom uniform to an industry-leading safety standard: the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX®. (OEKO-TEX® is pronounced “eco tex” like “eco” in “eco-friendly” and “tex” like the first syllable in “Texas”.)

There may be a need and/or desire to source non-custom pieces from a third-party vendor in some instances, in which case the Company will first seek suppliers that adhere to the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) Restricted Substance List (RSL) or another safety standard of equal caliber. Based on all the information we have been given so far, AFA anticipates that the Flight Attendant custom uniform will be composed almost exclusively of pieces certified to the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX®.

AFA and Alaska Airlines management had originally discussed the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® during our investigations into textile sourcing and manufacturing safety resulting from Flight Attendant health concerns with the TwinHill uniform. AFA pushed for adopting the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX®, but management deemed the standard as too expensive to achieve at that time. By partnering with the custom uniform supplier, Alaska Airlines is now able to implement this robust safety standard more cost effectively than was previously possible.

Even with the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® certification, it is impossible to guarantee that all Flight Attendants will remain free from reactions to the custom uniform pieces. In fact, research indicates it is likely that five to ten percent will experience some form of dermal reaction as a result of cutting over to new uniform pieces. However, AFA appreciates that management has taken proactive steps to improve the safety of our uniforms and reduce the possibility of more serious health effects by adopting the Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX® and the AAFA RSL into our custom uniform program.

Based on behind the scenes progress so far, we are very hopeful the custom uniform program will be well received and the cutover in 2019 will go as smoothly as possible.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; AFA Uniform Committee Chairperson Bob Moore; and AFA ASHSC Chairperson Seth Heiple

Important Information Regarding Open Time

A message from your AFA Scheduling Committee

In preparation for Open Time this Saturday, some changes to Crew Access have been made to help minimize the spinning propeller issue that occurred last month.

If you should encounter the spinning propeller, Jeppesen suggests that you continue to submit any additional trades, even if the propeller is still there. They are working on a permanent fix for this issue but want you to maximize the opportunity to manage your schedules in the meantime.

Reminders

  • Check your Published Roster for the most accurate roster information. Hamburger Menu > Reports > Reports on Demand > Published Roster
  • Print your pairing by clicking the blue pairing number in your Roster View
  • Flight Loads are now available approximately 5 days before your trip. To view Flight Loads. FA Website > Schedule & Bidding > Flight Loads
  • When picking up a SIP, verify your report time. Trips may show the report time as the same time as departure. You must report 1 hour before scheduled departure.
  • When using the Filter “Show only premium pay trips” it will show all the trips that had premium pay associated with them. For example, a FA picks up a premium pay trip, then Advertises it for Grab. It will show in the filtered trips using this Filter, but premium pay will NOT follow the sequence. Section 9.E.3.

How to Split/SIP a trip

In the example below, the Flight Attendant would like to Advertise SEA-DFW, DFW-SEA as a SIP for Grab.

1.  Add the trip to your Trade Cart
2.  Select Split activity
3.  Select the flight, in this case AS719 SLC-SEA, before the portion of the trip wanting to be sipped.

4.  Select After (In this case the F/A wants to sip the portion of the trip after SLC-SEA.)
5.  Select the trade option and complete the advertisement

You will see ½ of a green line next to your trip in your Roster View once your trip has been successfully advertised.

Please review the training video for additional information about Splitting a Trip. FA Website > Schedule & Bidding > Crew Access Help > Tutorial Videos & Guides

Recurrent Training

Recently, you may have seen the addition of FRS2 for recurrent training in Seattle. There is not a difference between FRS1 and FRS2. You may trade and pick up either one. So, if you are awarded a FRS1 and you want to trade into another date that has FRS2, your trade will be approved. You may also click on the grey triangle on the top right to see the list of flight attendants who will be attending that class.

Once dual recurrent trainings are offered in Seattle, FRS2 will be used to indicate an afternoon recurrent training.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact your Local Scheduling Committee.

AFA Welcome Message to the Virgin America InFlight Teammates

[Note: The following email was sent to all Virgin America InFlight Teammates at 9:30am PT on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.]

To: Virgin America InFlight Teammates

From: Jeffrey Peterson, AFA Alaska Master Executive Council President

Reply To: vx@afaalaska.org

Welcome to the AFA Family, Virgin America InFlight Teammates!

We look forward to the National Mediation Board (NMB) certifying the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA) as your collective bargaining representative, and we expect that certification around April 14th or shortly thereafter. The 50,000 Flight Attendants from 20 airlines in AFA are very excited to include you and strengthen our union with your participation.

Sign Up for AFA Communications

Alaska Air Group management has allowed AFA to utilize the Virgin America email system in order to contact you. Going forward, we will steer away from using company email, so we encourage you to sign up for AFA communications using a private (non-Company) email address by following this link: http://afanewsletters.org/subscribe/.

Representation from your Ranks

As AFA members, you have the right to representation from your Flight Attendant ranks at Virgin America. Shortly after each of you signs an AFA membership application, we will begin elections for union officers. It is critical that you complete a membership application right away so that you can vote for your union officers.

We encourage all Virgin America InFlight Teammates (ITMs) to learn more about what it means to represent your flying partners and serve as an AFA leader. Your resources include the AFA International and AFA Alaska websites as well as the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws.

In the meantime, the AFA International Officers will appoint two Virgin America ITMs to serve as Transitional President and Secretary of your new AFA Transitional Local Council at Virgin America.

We value your input and would be thrilled to hear from you by Wednesday, April 12th about who you would like to have appointed as Transitional Officers.

Please fill out this form to volunteer yourself or to recommend your flying partner for AFA Virgin America leadership > (Link removed.)

Transitional Officers serve for a period of approximately four to six months until elections can be held to fill those positions.

Compensation

AFA is aware that non-represented employees typically receive wage increases around this time of year. We are very concerned that ITMs have not received a wage increase in several years, which currently places your pay at the bottom of the industry. Consequently, AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to meet in order to discuss this subject at our earliest opportunity.

We anticipate the NMB’s certification of AFA as your representative as soon as April 14th, so the parties are tentatively planning to meet the following week. Your Transitional Local Council President will also represent you in those discussions, which is why it is so important for you to provide your input by completing the AFA Virgin America Recommendations for Appointed Leadership form. (Link removed.)

AFA Membership Application

The next step in continuing to build your strong Flight Attendant union is a membership drive. We will send an AFA Membership application to your mailing address on file with the company. Or, if you’d like to get a head start you may download and print the application from our website and send the completed form to the address printed on the application. We will send you an AFA pin and information about our union. Several of your flying partners and AFA officers at Alaska are helping with the membership drive by visiting the Virgin Villages and carrying membership applications and AFA pins to share with you as well.

If you would like to help with the membership drive and/or support AFA Virgin America in another capacity, please reply “I Want to Help!” to this newsletter.

Remember, you pay NO DUES until you vote on and approve a contract.

AFA Recognizes the Distinctive Culture at Virgin America

AFA recognizes the distinctive culture you have built at Virgin America, including the unique name for your role: Inflight Teammate. Going forward, AFA will be using the more traditional title of “Flight Attendant” in reference to our profession. Please know that AFA celebrates the culture at each of our carriers and will continue to do so throughout this merger between Virgin America and Alaska Airlines—and beyond.

Ask any question you may have and know that you are valued. We often remind each other in AFA: It doesn’t matter if you’ve been here for five minutes or thirty years. You are becoming a member of the Association of Flight Attendants and your union stands with you. We are Stronger Together, Better Together.

Once again, welcome to the AFA Family, Virgin America Flight Attendants!

In Solidarity,

Sara Nelson

AFA-CWA International President

Jeffrey Peterson

AFA-CWA Alaska Master Executive Council President

Once the NMB certifies AFA as the collective bargaining representative at Virgin America, we anticipate more merger-related activities to occur at a faster pace. The Master Executive Council (MEC) will continue to keep you updated on developments as they occur.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Navigating Acute & Delayed Stress As A Flight Attendant

Stress is an inherent aspect of the Flight Attendant profession, often stemming from the demanding nature of responsibilities and the unpredictable nature of air travel. It’s essential for Flight Attendants not only to understand the different types of stress they may encounter but also to recognize the warning signs of acute and delayed stress for […]

Protect Yourself From Potential Discipline on Social Media

Our Grievance Committee would like to provide background on social media, protected classes, and discipline. Federal protected classes include race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or transgender status), national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.  Alaska’s People Policy says: Personal Conduct22. Threatening, intimidating, or discourteous behavior, including abusive, profane, or obscene language, acts, […]

Human Rights & Equity Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2026

On Wednesday, March 25, our AFA Human Rights & Equity Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing activism to raise awareness and create positive change within our workplace and community. Your representatives attending the meeting included Louise Borras (LAX-pmAS), Bruni Agosto-Pinal (LAX-pmHA), Aaron Miller (PDX), Nyachan Chuar (ANC), and Yan Yan Teague (SEA). MEC Human […]

Pre-Merger Hawaiian Inflight Service Committee Update – March 2026

Editor’s Note: Our MEC Inflight Service Committee now represents both pre-merger airlines, but management still makes service decisions that affect each group of Flight Attendants differently. This update covers changes for both Hawaiian- and Alaska-branded flying, but is specific to aircraft flown by pre-merger Hawaiian Airlines crews. As the work of the merger progresses, we […]

Joint Contract Negotiations Session 13 – March 2026

Our JNC met this week for three days of collective bargaining with management. The JNC focused on clarifying questions about moving expenses and presented a proposal for Sick Leave, using feedback from Flight Attendants to guide improvements. The Committee is working to incorporate the strongest elements from both contracts to ensure better support for all members.

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