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Introducing the MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson

At a meeting held earlier this week, your Master Executive Council (MEC) interviewed candidates for the position of MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson.  In total, six candidates interviewed for the position (five Seattle-based Flight Attendants and one Anchorage-based Flight Attendant).  The MEC would like to thank those candidates for stepping forward in the spirit of Union service.  After much discussion, the MEC has appointed Jake Jones to the position.

About Jake

Jake Jones is currently serving a second term as vice president of AFA-CWA Council 19 Seattle.  Jake is a Seattle-based Flight Attendant and joined the company in 2006.  Recently, he served as a Negotiating Committee Member for the past three years on our new collective bargaining agreement.  He holds an AA in Business Administration and Management.  Prior to working for Alaska Airlines, he was in the banking industry for seven years.  His partner Jeff is an Alaska CSA and they live in Auburn, WA with their two dogs Shanti and Houston.

Local Scheduling Committees Forming Soon

More opportunities for involvement are coming up, as Local Scheduling Committees will be forming soon within each domicile.  If you are interested in serving on the Local Scheduling Committee, contact your LEC President.  You can find contact information for your LEC President through the Local Councils page of the AFA Alaska website at http://afaalaska.org/locals.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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Travel While on a Medical, Maternity, or Workers’ Compensation Leave of Absence

Our contract provides the ability to use on-line travel benefits while on a medical, maternity, or Workers’ Compensation leave of absence.  In order to use these travel benefits, you’re required to provide a doctor’s release that states that travel will not adversely affect your ability to return to active service.  This requirement is spelled out in section 15.J.1 of the contract:

A Flight Attendant on a leave of absence who wishes to secure on-line travel passes will coordinate such travel through Inflight management. In the case of a medical, maternity or Workers’ Compensation leave s/he must provide a doctors release specifying such travel will not adversely affect the Flight Attendant’s ability to return to active service. 

Due to the contractual requirement that you provide a doctor’s release in these instances, AFA recommends that you obtain a doctor’s release to travel when you go out on any of these types of leave if you intend to use your travel benefits and your doctor is comfortable providing such a release.

For more information about this requirement or travel while on a leave of absence, please contact your Local Benefits Committee or one of your LEC Officers.  You can find contact information at afaalaska.org/benefits.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt and MEC Benefits Committee Chairperson Terry Taylor

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AFA Alaska MEC Pairing Analyst Interviews

After ten years of service in his position, Portland-based flight attendant Jeff Stein is retiring from his position as AFA Pairing Analyst. Consequently the Master Executive Council (MEC) is in search of qualified individuals interested in becoming the new AFA Pairing Analyst. This is in addition to the Scheduling Chairperson position previously announced several weeks ago (that is now closed and interviews scheduled for next week).

Background

  • The official title in the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual for the AFA Pairing Analyst is MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction. The Pairing Analyst is chairperson of the Pairing Construction Subcommittee. See below for additional information.
  • The pairings in our bid packets are “optimized” (usually for least cost) and built using a computer program designed by Jeppessen.
  • Currently our pairing building vendor Jeppessen produces pairings remotely in Montreal with input from Alaska Airlines and AFA. Efforts are currently underway to migrate pairing production “in house.”

Additional Background from the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual

4. PAIRING CONSTRUCTION SUBCOMMITTEE

a.Scope

(i)        The Pairing Construction Subcommittee will work with the company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to build Flight Attendant pairings

b. Policy/Responsibilities

(i)        The Pairing Construction Subcommittee shall consist of the MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction.

(ii)       The Subcommittee shall:

(A)       Regularly communicate with and provide updates to the MEC Scheduling Chairperson on the activities of the subcommittee

(B)       Meet on a monthly basis with the Company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to review problems and suggested resolutions regarding construction of Flight Attendant pairings and monthly lines of flying.

(C)       Maintain a permanent file for all local schedules for the use of the MEC Scheduling Committee.

(D)       Keep the MEC informed on all activities relating to the pairing construction process.  When meetings or communications are due to unusual scheduling activities, a written report will be made.

(E)       Keep the membership informed of the results of the pairing construction process on a monthly basis throught the MEC Communications Committee Chairperson.

(F)       Solicit feedback from the membership regarding desired pairings, trip lengths, and types of flying through Local Scheduling Committees and advocate for such during the pairing construction process.

(G)       Discuss any problems occurring within the pairing construction process with the Local Scheduling Committee Chairpersons on a monthly basis and will provide any suggestions for remedy of problems to the MEC.

Skillset/Requirements

  • Strong computer skills are a must.
  • Ability to independently meet several deadlines throughout the month.
  • Potentially frequent travel to Seattle for training and meetings. However, duties may generally be fulfilled remotely.

Duties

  • Review, validate and comment on the monthly pairing solutions.
  • Write a monthly pairings report.
  • Correspond with flight attendants regarding pairing solutions and related concerns.
  • Advocate for flight attendants in the pairing building process.

Time Commitment

  • Estimated 20-30 hours per month, most of which may be accomplished remotely.
  • The time commitment for the position has varied between 10-21 hours/month in the past 6 months, with an average of approximately 16 hours/month. This is likely to increase for the near future.

Compensation

  • This is a paid position compensated by the Company under 27.P Company Business (CB) Flight Pay Loss with a 5% override and “A” pay. CB is compensated at 0.75 TFP per hour of work.
  • Flight Pay Loss for this position has averaged 12 TFP per bid month over the past six months. However, once pairing building is brought back in house, the process is likely to become more complicated and therefore time consuming for at least a period of time.

Reporting Structure

  • Directly reports to the Scheduling Committee Chairperson, who in turn reports to the MEC.

Interested?

  • The MEC will hold Interviews on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Bid around the interview date or arrange to adjust your schedule accordingly to accommodate.
  • Interviews will be at the AFA Alaska MEC office in Seattle. Our office is located in the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations and Training Center, Suite 280 at 2651 S 192nd St, Seattle, WA 98188.
  • Submit a declaration of interest and resume to MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch at yvette.gesch@afaalaska.org no later than February 20, 2015. Yvette will be able to provide additional information regarding transportation and booking of flights if necessary.

 

* * *

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

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[ATTENTION] PBS Committee Special Update – PBS bidding is temporarily suspended

Friday, February 6, 2015 @ 1030 PT

Incorrect pairings file requires a completely system shutdown and reload

 

Due to an inadvertent error, the incorrect pairings file was loaded into Navtech’s PBS. A complete system shutdown is required in order to load the correct pairings file. This is anticipated to take approximately two hours.

 

Bidding will not resume until at least noon PT and bids will close 12 noon PT February 11th

 

Bidding will not resume until at least noon Pacific Time, so the close of bids will be extended (from the normal 9am PT on February 10th) to 12 noon PT on February 11th. At this time the Joint PBS Committee is anticipating that bid awards will still be on time despite the 24-hour extension to the closing of bids.

 

Pairing numbers and/or layover cities will change in some cases

 

Because the pairings file will be a different file, some pairing numbers and/or layover cities within the same pairing numbers will change. AFA recommends that you take a very close look at your bid prior to submitting it—particularly if you bid by pairing number.

 

More information forthcoming on Company media outlets

 

Please check the Company media outlets (Navtech’s PBS, Inflight Splash page, bulletins and/or Outlook email) for more information as it becomes available.

Tell Congress: No Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

A Message from your AFA Government Affairs Committee

Tell Congress: No Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Would you ratify a contract with your employer without knowing, other than broad generalizations, what that contract contains? No? Well that is what Congress is being asked to do with U.S. Industry.

Corporate lobbyists are urging Congress to give the White House Trade Promotion Authority (aka Fast Track) in order to rubber stamp the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Fast Track is when the Congress cedes its Congressional obligation to review, amend and debate trade agreements.

“Fast Track” legislation is expected to come before Congress in March. AFA-CWA, working with a coalition of more than 100 organizations, is fighting back and urging Congress to oppose Fast Track. AFA and CWA have are encouraging members to call Congress starting January 27 and through the remainder of the week to tell Congress that Fast Track must be stopped.

Why Is This Important To Flight Attendants?

Fast Track Authority, if granted by the Congresses, wouldn’t simply apply to only one trade deal – it would apply to as many trade agreements as can be negotiated by this White House or the next one. The next “big’” trade deal in the pipeline is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The European Union will be pushing for access to the U.S. domestic market and an increase to the allowable foreign ownership and control of U.S. airlines. This would be devastating to U.S. aviation, our job security and aviation security.

What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?

The TPP is a massive trade deal that has been mostly negotiated in secret by the U.S. and 11 other countries.

This trade deal makes it likely that service industry jobs will be eligible to outsource. TPP is specifically designed to guarantee and protect profits for corporations. If approved, corporations can sue a country if it raises its minimum wage, like Egypt did, or adopts regulations to protect the public health, like Australia.

TPP would make “Buy America” laws illegal. Right now the federal government gives preferential treatment to U.S. businesses when buying goods and services. TPP would make that practice illegal. Historically, corporations have taken advantage of any opportunity to pay foreign workers less and take advantage of local laws to cut costs.

Labor standards and working conditions overseas have a direct impact on air safety as more and more US-based airlines move their Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) work overseas.

Congress is now considering whether to allow the pending TPP trade deal – the largest in history — to be “Fast Tracked” through without the chance for them — our elected representatives to amend it.

What is Fast Track Authority? 

Fast Track authority means Congress will have to vote on 2,000+ page trade deals as written with almost no debate and no ability to amend. Fast Track supersedes the typical check and balance process of our democracy. Members of Congress will be voting to give the TPP this expedited approval without having actually read the TPP agreement! They will, in effect, be voting for the trade agreement before reading it.

Who wants Fast Track? 

Corporations want TPP because it puts profits over people by allowing Executives to challenge laws that may have an impact on their profits. It would facilitate the export of jobs to low wage countries.

Can Fast Track Be Stopped? 

YES! We have stopped it before. In 1998, Fast Track was voted down in a bipartisan vote (171 Democrats and 71 Republicans).

Many Members of this Congress do not support Fast Track either and are standing with us to fight back. Both Democrats and Republicans have announced their opposition to the push for Fast Track authority and more are signing on every day. We can win this.

Our coalition of more than 100 groups – including workers, people of faith and community leaders and more – is working together to Stop Fast Track and the TPP.

Call Your Representatives

Call 888-966-9836

Enter your zip code, to be you will be connected with your U.S. Representative.

Sample scripts:

“As a constituent, I expect you to stand up for America and oppose Fast Track for the TPP”

OR

 “As a constituent I am concerned that large scale trade agreements are being negotiated in secret. I wouldn’t vote for my employment contract without seeing the details and Congress shouldn’t either. I urge you to oppose Fast Track for the TPP.”

Do it Today

Urge Congress to oppose outsourcing.  Ask for a NO vote on Fast Track.

Use Twitter to Tweet:

#BarackObama Do the math: US jobs created by trade – jobs sent overseas 4 low wages = fewer jobs for US workers. #stopfasttrack #sotu.

On Facebook change your status to encourage your friends and family join the fight:

Tell the White House and Congress to stand up for US jobs!

Large-scale trade agreements are being negotiated in secret. I wouldn’t vote for my employment contract without seeing the details and Congress shouldn’t either. Urge your representatives in Congress to oppose Fast Track for the TPP.

For more information contact your AFA-CWA Government Affairs Committee.  You can find contact information at http://afaalaska.org/governmentaffairs.

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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 […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Election Results

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee positions to be elected for the upcoming MEC Officer term. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful […]

Merged MEC Committee Chairperson Election Results

During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of merged MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful consideration and deliberation, the following candidates have been elected: MEC Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee […]

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