Q. VX retro pay – will this include my ITL override and my incentive pay?
A. Yes. The pay increases retroactive to January 1, 2018, will be applied to all incentive and premium pays.
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council
Q. VX retro pay – will this include my ITL override and my incentive pay?
A. Yes. The pay increases retroactive to January 1, 2018, will be applied to all incentive and premium pays.
Q. What does legacy mean?
A. Legacy refers to the “pre-merger” partition of either Virgin America (VX) or Alaska Airlines (AS). The terms we use are Legacy-VX (L-VX) and Legacy-AS (L-AS). This denotes the partition that a Flight Attendant was initially hired into, no matter when.
It is somewhat confusing, because we are all Alaska Airlines Flight attendants now that the FAA has granted the Single Operating Certificate (SOC). However, the Flight Attendant groups are kept separate for pay and work rules and flying. Management continues to hire on “both sides of the partition” and uses the term “Alaska Airbus Flight Attendant” to refer to L-VX Flight Attendants and “Alaska Boeing Flight Attendant” to indicate a L-AS Flight Attendant.
Terms for pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) FAs |
Terms for pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) FAs |
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Note: This JNC blog post was revised and updated. See Commuter Policy: Ground Commuting [JCBA].
Q: Will our hire/step date/rate be revised to this new date in the synch up so in other words, will it be the same date for all things?
A: For pmAS FAs, the new “synch-up date” will be the same date for competitive bidding seniority and Occupational Seniority.
Historically these have always been the same date for pmAS FAs, and we do not want to change that because of the merger. Although this has been long standing practice as required by our contract, it is theoretically possible that your competitive bidding date for bidding purposes could be a different date than your Occupational Seniority date for pay raises and such.
The JNC is anticipating that the Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) will be giving credit to pmAS FAs’ competitive bidding dates for time spent in Initial Training. The job of the SMIC is to merge the lists and to certify the Integrated Seniority List (ISL) in a fair and equitable manner consistent with the Merger Policy in the AFA Constitution & Bylaws.
The revised Occupational Seniority date will then align with the new competitive bidding date just like it always has for the vast majority of FAs. The new Occupational Seniority date will apply everywhere the current Occupational Seniority date does in the current CBA: for pay rate increases, Longevity PTO qualification, Longevity Premium, etc.
Additional background info: For FAs who were hired directly into Inflight as a Flight Attendant from outside the Company, your Occupational Seniority date (i.e. the date you were hired as a FA) is the same as your Company Seniority date (i.e. the date you were hired as a Company employee). For FAs who transferred into Inflight from within the Company, the two are not the same date.
Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, June 13, to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent and advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants. The Committee also met with management to review specific concerns that Flight Attendants brought forward. Your Local Reserve Committee is available to answer questions, clarify contractual language, or help resolve reserve-related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
On June 25, 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!
AFA has not agreed to any extra-contractual terms for the newly announced supplemental ditching training; discussions with management just started. Many management decision-makers are away at contract negotiations, delaying progress toward any sort of agreement. Our AFA Committees are committed to advocating for your rights and will address unresolved issues through the contractual grievance process if necessary.
Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week on Monday, June 17, and Tuesday, June 18, to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants. The MEC was supposed to meet with executive management and union leaders from other company workgroups but chose to skip the meeting in support of our Negotiating Committee. The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 9, and Wednesday, July 10.
Flight Attendants are facing technical issues with Crew Access and Open Time trading/dropping, causing stress and frustration. Management plans to resolve these issues with server upgrades in June and July and will monitor the system closely during July Open Time. Our Scheduling Committee has requested a meeting with management to discuss long-term solutions for the ongoing Crew Access challenges.