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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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Much Improved Sleeping While in Uniform Policy!

AFA advocated very hard on your behalf in regard to the recent changes to the sleeping while in uniform policy. Collectively we were successful in getting management to reconsider the policy. Inflight just published Bulletin #2015-0272 “Sleeping While in Uniform” that establishes a much-improved policy.

 

The bulletin outlines that a flight attendant “may not nest in any public area where customers gather at (a) terminal”, which “includes laying down on (the) floor or on seats inside public areas of (a) terminal” (sic). Essentially this means we may use our discretion to close our eyes as long as we’re not lying down.

 

Of course a flight attendant may never sleep or give the appearance of sleeping while in uniform when customers are present on the aircraft—except when assigned a customer seat such as when deadheading or commuting.

 

The bulletin contains an additional clarification that break rooms are acceptable locations even though they may not be appropriate sleep locations for other work groups.

 

The Master Executive Council (MEC) sincerely thanks Alaska Airlines management for developing a more sensible sleeping policy for the flight attendants. We also thank our members for their resolute support in getting the policy reconsidered!

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC ASHSC Chairperson Seth Heiple

AFA Alaska

More Open Time Trading Tips

AFA and management have set priorities to resolve issues with Open Time

 

AFA and management have set priorities to resolve issues with Open Time. At this time a work request is pending with Jeppesen and we are waiting for an estimated time of delivery for the fixes to eMaestro. In order of priority the items pending include:

 

  1. Net 40 TFP calculator visible in eMaestro
  2. No need to recall your trip before being able to trade with OT
  3. Correct coding of trips – programming the TX code (i.e. non TO/CP/DD coding)
  4. Codes displaying on trips in eMaestro
  5. Single trip trading for another trip of a greater number of days and covering the same dates even if not sharing the same date of departure

 

AFA’s position is that the Open Time trial of 12 months is still pending until we are able to fix issues #1 through #4 above. Once the trial begins we will be submitting a monthly survey to Flight Attendants on feedback regarding the new trading system.

 

In order to assist you with the new trading system we have provided helpful OT trading tips below. Additional information can be found in a previous AFA Alaska communication from October 14, 2015: “Open Time Trading Tips.”

 

Picking up a SIP

There are many four day trips in Open Time and you will have to be quick, but you can pick up a trip, SIP it, dump back the portion you don’t want to keep back into OT as long as the day remains open and someone else does not drop while you are processing your SIP.

Example: I see a 4-day starting on the 5th, but I want the MCO 2 day on the 7th and 8th. I pick up the trip, I go back to drop it to open time, I click on the SIP, I give away the top half (because the day is open (because I picked it up and the TSN dropped below the threshold which allows me to drop it quickly back as long as it remains open) and process. The 2-day MCO stays on my schedule.

Again, you have to be quick and only wanting to keep the bottom portion of the SIP while giving back the top portion of the SIP to OT.

Month End Overlap

When you are dropping a trip on the last few days of the month that carries over into the subsequent month, the TFP in the current month will count towards the current month. The additional TFP dropped in the subsequent month will also count towards that month’s net 40 drop.

Example: On Oct 31st I have a 4-day pairing and I drop it into OT. The first day on the 31st is worth 4.0 TFP and takes my 40 TFP net for October down to 36 TFP. The trip dropped also covered November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd which totaled 20 TFP. My net drop for November is now only going to allow 20 TFP in the month of November when I get my next schedule for the subsequent month, unless I pick up more flying from Open Time that overlaps into November.

“Process” button

When processing transactions you must click once and only once on the “Process” button. If you click more than once, the system will process the trade “approved or denied” and then boot you off the system. You will get a duplicate session and have to click “Reset,” then log back on. Click “Process” only one time, let the transaction process, and then go onto the next transaction. Please realize there are many transactions taking place nearly simultaneously on Open Time trading day and that you will need to allow the server time to complete the entire transaction.

Downtrading

Once a day is “limited,” you can still downtrade a trip that operates on the same date of departure as the trip on your schedule.

Example: The 4th is limited and there is a 1-day turn. I have a 4-day trip that originates on the 4th. I can trade down my 4-day, for the 1-day as long as they both operate on the 4th when the day is limited and provided I have not exceeded my net 40 TFP drop.

Recall Trip

If you have a trip posted for pick up, you must recall the trip in order to drop it to Open Time.

* * *

 

We’ve definitely heard there are concerns with multi-day trading and other functions that changed between the old and new system. We appreciate the feedback and will continue to review all suggestions and concerns. If you have questions regarding trading, dropping or picking up please contact your LEC Scheduling Chair.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC — Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC Scheduling Chairperson Jake Jones

AFA Alaska

Open Time and Vacation Open Time Update

 

eMaestro not able to adequately handle the amount of users

 

Over the past few months the Master Executive Council (MEC) and the AFA Scheduling Committee have been actively working with management to help ease the transition during implementation of the new Open Time system. The reality of the situation is that eMaestro is not able to adequately handle the amount of users accessing the system at one time. This is why Open Time crashed in September when Seattle OT trading began.

 

User capacity increased in October, but…

 

To help remedy the issue, management agreed to increase the user capacity in October. This action did appear to soften the blow during Open Time. However, there were still reports of Seattle flight attendants continuing to experience accessibility issues.

 

eMaestro has just about reached maximum performance given its limitations

 

The changes in the contract to the Open Time system are designed to help enhance trading options for flight attendants. Unfortunately, it appears that management did not fully understand the capabilities, or lack thereof, of the eMaestro system during negotiations. Management continues to work with Jeppesen and the Information Technology (IT) department to tweak the system for maximum performance given its limitations. Unfortunately these adjustments have returned about as much improvement as we’re probably going to get.

 

AFA has the daunting task of finding workarounds

 

This leaves AFA with the daunting task of finding workarounds to ensure all flight attendants have the ability to exercise their contractual rights to trade with Open Time. Once the new Jeppesen Crew Tracking Enterprise (JCTE) program is in place the issues will subside. During negotiations management estimated that JCTE would be implemented at the end of second quarter 2016.

 

Seattle Open Time trading moved to the 16th at 0900 PT

 

One workaround in effect during November Open Time for December trading is Seattle flight attendants’ Open Time moved to the 16th at 0900 PT.

 

  • Posting of trips for trade: 14th at 2000 PT.
  • Open Time trading & FA to FA trading:  15th or 16th (see below)
  • Out of domicile trades, pick-ups and give-aways: 17th  0900 PT

 

Trading/Open Time start times for each base:

 

  • SAN:  15th at 0900 PT
  • PDX:  15th at 1000 PT
  • ANC:  15th at 1100 PT
  • LAX:  15th at 1200 PT
  • SEA:  16th at 0900 PT

 

The Threshold Sequence Number (TSN) for ANC, PDX and SAN is 3 trips per day.  For LAX, management has agreed to increase this to 4 trips per day on a trial basis.  For SEA, the TSN is 11 trips per day. For more information, see Inflight Required Bulletin #2015-0210.

 

The MEC believes moving Seattle trading a day later will help offset the problems with capacity overload for all bases when their respective Open Time trading begins. We will continue to monitor Open Time and work with the AFA Scheduling Committee to find solutions to problems if they occur.

 

Update on the upcoming fixes for Open Time Trading

 

There are four items that will be fixed in the coming months:

 

  1. Net 40 Calculator being visible in Maestro
  2. No need to recall your trip before being able to trade with OT
  3. Correct coding of trips – programing the TX code
  4. Codes displaying on trips in Maestro

 

We will keep you posted on the progress of these fixes, but please know they are on the list and actively being addressed.  Once the coding is corrected, this will allow you the ability to trade a trip on your line with a trip in OT coded other than DD (direct drop to OT), TO (open trade with OT) or CP (coupon drop) (e.g. TX, SL, ML, UB, CB, etc.) for a different report date as long as you are covering the same days of flying or greater. Remember, trips coded with DD, CP or TO cannot be traded in this manner although they can be traded down based on day of departure only.

 

Example: You have a two-day trip on October 20/21 and you want to trade for a 3 day trip coded TX on October 19/20/21 in Open Time, the fix will now allow this trade to occur.

 

Vacation Open Time Update

 

Due to problems with vacation open time, the MEC has worked with management to make it easier for you to trade your vacation with vacation open time! Refer to Inflight Bulletin #2015-0268 for detailed information.

 

Vacation trading will start on October 28th

  • SAN at 0900 PT
  • PDX at 1000 PT
  • ANC at 1100 PT
  • LAX at 12:00am PT
  • SEA at 2:00pm PT

 

* * *

 

We know that is a lot of information! If you have any questions, contact a Local Executive Council (LEC) officer (ANC 30 | SEA 19 | PDX 39 | LAX 18 | SAN 15) or a local Scheduling Committee member.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC Scheduling chairperson Jake Jones

AFA Alaska

Alaska AFA Information At Your Fingertips

AFA Alaska news and information are now easier to access than ever with the recent launch of our new optimized mobile website.  Just visit afaalaska.org on your IMD or personal smartphone for easy access to AFA resources when you’re on the go.

There’s An App For That

If you’re using an Apple device, you can save the AFA Alaska mobile website as an app icon on your device’s desktop.  It’s easy; just follow these steps (or check out the screenshots below):

  • On your device, visit afaalaska.org
  • Click the center icon at the bottom of the screen (arrow pointing up inside a square)
  • Click “add to home screen”
  • Click “add” in the top right corner

The mobile web app will be available as an icon on your desktop an you’ll have easy access whenever you need it.  Please note that the AFA Alaska web app requires an active Internet connection to function.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your Local Council.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

IMG_9944

Step 1 – Click the center icon (arrow pointing up)

Step 2 - Click "Add to Home Screen"

Step 2 – Click “Add to Home Screen”

Step 3 - Click "Add"

Step 3 – Click “Add”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Enacting 8.S [Natural Disasters…] Due to Hurricane Patricia Affecting Puerto Vallarta

Out of an abundance of caution, Alaska Airlines management has made the decision to turn crews out of Puerto Vallarta (PVR) tomorrow in response to Hurricane Patricia. AFA and Alaska Airlines have agreed to enact the provision of 8.S [Natural Disasters…] in order to facilitate their removal. Management is working on providing additional communication that will be out shortly.

If you have any questions, contact your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers or Scheduling Committee members.

In solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Scheduling Chair Jake Jones

AFA Alaska

SEA Domicile Negotiations – October 2025 Update #2

This session was marked by the Negotiating Committee’s strong advocacy for protections and enhancements that would support the Seattle base as a viable option for transferring Flight Attendants. With insights from Ryan St. John, the Vice President of Finance, Planning, and Investor Relations for Alaska Airlines, the Negotiating Committee highlighted the necessity of combining data-driven strategies with hands-on experience and sufficient resources for long-term success.

Joint Contract Negotiations Session 8 – October 2025

During our recent negotiations, the Joint Negotiation Committee focused on key sections, particularly reaching a Tentative Agreement on Lodging and Transportation, which improves food availability and transportation safety. We also engaged with Council 19 to clarify negotiation processes and differences between contracts. Stay tuned for our upcoming session with management from November 18 to 20.

Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairperson & Representatives

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants We’re excited to introduce the next group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives for the upcoming MEC Officer term. They’ll begin transitioning into their roles over the next few months and officially start their terms on January 1, 2026. Below, you’ll find brief biographies that […]

Meet Our Merged MEC Committee Chairpersons & Representatives

We’re excited to introduce our next group of newly elected merged MEC Committee Chairpersons, who will begin their roles on November 1. These leaders are dedicated to representing the interests of our Flight Attendants as they coordinate activities across the merged committees of both airlines. They’ll work closely with the Local Committee Chairpersons from all […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – October 2025

On Monday, October 13, 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), Kelly Hepworth (PDX), Hilary Streem (SFO), Chris Cardenas (LAX), and Kanani Vallot […]

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