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MEC Employee Assistance Program/Professional Standards Committee Vice Chairperson Interviews – June 2024

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Our MEC thanks Elizabeth Dillon for the significant role she played in supporting Flight Attendants through her service as MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson.
  • MEC Committee Vice Chairperson Lisa Haugen will succeed Elizabeth as the new MEC Committee Chairperson, with the Vice Chairperson position becoming vacant.
  • Interviews for a new Vice Chairperson will be conducted at the June Regular MEC Meeting.

Our EAP/Professional Standards Committee has evolved incredibly the past few decades, thanks in part to the hard work and dedication of MEC Committee Chairperson Elizabeth Dillon. During her term, she helped develop new programs supporting and advocating for our Flight Attendants, such as the Flight Attendant Addiction Support (FAAS) program, while also coordinating the expansion of EAP and Professional Standards during the growth of our Flight Attendant group and the Alaska/Virgin America merger. We are grateful for Elizabeth’s service and commitment to our Flight Attendants.

As of this month, current MEC Committee Vice Chairperson Lisa Haugen will take over as the new MEC Committee Chairperson. Our MEC is confident that she will continue to provide strong leadership and support for our Flight Attendants. With the transition, this leaves the MEC Committee Vice Chairperson position vacant. Given this position’s significant role and the importance of continued representation, our MEC will conduct interviews for the position at the June Regular MEC Meeting.

Background

The MEC Committee Vice Chairperson of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee is responsible for assisting and working collaboratively with the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson to assist Members, their families, and partners with personal and work-related problems that could affect or are affecting their health and well-being, on and off the job. 

Additional Information from the MEC Policy Manual

  1. SCOPE
    • The Committee exists to assist any Flight Attendant in any area that affects professional performance by means of a personal discussion, and has a responsibility to those submitting reports, those voluntarily seeking assistance and those brought to their attention by their peers.
    • The Committee will assist members experiencing emotional / psychological, marital/family, alcohol/other drug related, legal or financial problems which are affecting their health and well-being on and off the job.
    • The EAP committee will also address the maintenance of Professional Standards of the airline and serve in an advisory capacity in handling all career-related problems of a professional and ethical nature.  The Committee shall understand Company procedures and encourage people to work through AFA-CWA channels.  The Committee will conduct investigation of problems brought to the Committee and recommend a course of action for the disposition of cases as required.  
  2. POLICY AND RESPONSIBILITIES
    • The MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee shall consist of the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson and the Local EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson from each council.
    • EAP/Professional Standards Committee members will function in accordance with International EAP/PS Committee guidelines.
    • The EAP Resource Manual and EAP Handbook are the written guidelines for Committee structure and functioning. 
    • All matters brought to the Committee’s attention will be handled with utmost confidentiality.
    • AFA-CWA EAP/PS will coordinate and promote cooperation with other employee-represented groups in attempting to resolve conflicts that may arise out of working relationships.
    • EAP/PS will be available to assist any Flight Attendant prior to, or following, a disciplinary process.  The MEC and International EAP/PS discourage a Committee Member from being present in any grievance hearing.
    • EAP/PS does not evaluate performance, accuse or judge, punish, preach nor threaten.
    • EAP/PS will help troubled Flight Attendants when problems affect their personal and professional lives, including referral to appropriate treatment resource or self-help group, and assistance in gaining necessary leave of absence.
    • EAP members are knowledgeable of health and welfare plans as pertains to medical and psychiatric benefits as well as substance abuse issues.
    • EAP members participate in CIRP crew debriefings and operational debriefings when EAP issues are involved.
    • The committee will conduct ongoing education of the membership as to the function, scope and operation of the committee.
    • Each Flight Attendant has a responsibility to exercise reasonable personal efforts to resolve a problem prior to contacting this committee for assistance.
    • Flight Attendants are expected and encouraged to go to EAP/PS to attempt resolution of a conflict through peer efforts, rather than to request action from management.  

Qualifications

  • Current EAP/Professional Standards Committee Member or Chairperson.
  • Adherence to EAP policies, procedures, and standards of ethical conduct.
  • Ability to maintain confidentiality of sensitive and personal information.
  • Strong computer skills. Excellent working knowledge of Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. Ability to use and manage cloud-based telephone platform for call routing and answering.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to write communications, respond professionally to internal and external e-mail, prepare reports, and take meeting minutes.
  • Ability to meet deadlines, delegate tasks to others as needed, and follow up on assigned tasks.
  • Ability to participate in all required conference calls and video meetings.
  • Ability to attend meetings and in-person activities as required.
  • Ability and willingness to plan, coordinate, participate in, and provide active leadership for committee meetings and training activities.
  • Ability to attend AFA International and other required training as needed.
  • Ability to remain publicly apolitical on internal AFA matters.
  • Maintenance of member-in-good-standing status.
  • Ability to remain in good standing with the company.

Duties

  • Coordinate with the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the Committee. Collaboratively create and execute a plan that ensures full coverage and equitable distribution of all committee duties and responsibilities on an ongoing basis.
  • Perform the duties of the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson when requested or in their absence.
  • Act on and follow through on directives as established in the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws and AFA Alaska MEC Policy & Procedure Manual. 
  • Working with the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson, ensure that Local Committee Chairpersons’ responsibilities are fulfilled. Coordinate with applicable LEC Presidents to provide necessary support, resources, and tools to enable them to perform their duties effectively.
  • Communicate regularly with the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson to provide status updates. Prepare and send a monthly activity report to the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson for inclusion in the monthly committee report to the MEC.

Time Commitment and Flight Pay Loss Reimbursement

  • This position is eligible for up to 75 TFP per month of Company Business (CB) Flight Pay Loss (FPL) reimbursement, per the contractually negotiated allocation for the MEC EAP Chair/designee (§27.P.3.a).
  • This role involves sharing the responsibility for administrative tasks of the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee with the MEC EAP/Professional Standards Committee Chairperson on a rotating basis. When on call as the MEC EAP/Professional Standards designee, 24/7 availability and responsiveness are required. Most work can be accomplished remotely.

Working Relationships

With Local EAP/Professional Standards Committees

Frequent interaction with the Local EAP/Professional Committee Chairpersons and Committee Members.

With AFA International EAP

Regular interaction with the AFA International Director of EAP and staff.

With The Master Executive Council           

This position reports to the Master Executive Council. The designated MEC Officer responsible for the committee is the MEC Vice President.

Term of Appointment

The selected candidate will serve the remainder of the unexpired term coinciding with the MEC Officer election cycle, beginning immediately upon selection and concluding on December 31, 2025.

Expressing Interest and Interview Scheduling

The MEC will hold interviews of eligible candidates during the June Regular MEC Meeting on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. If you’re interested in interviewing, plan to bid around this date or adjust your schedule accordingly to accommodate. All interviews will be conducted in person or using Google Meet videoconferencing at the candidate’s discretion.

Interested candidates should submit an expression of interest and resume using the online expression of interest form. The deadline for submissions is 5 PM Pacific time on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. After the submission deadline, an MEC representative will contact eligible candidates to arrange a specific interview time.

Please note that to submit an expression of interest, you must have a Google account.  If you do not have a Google account, you can create one for free at https://accounts.google.com/signup.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the position itself or any of the associated duties and responsibilities, please contact MEC Vice President Brian Palmer at mecvp@afaalaska.org.

If you have any questions about the expression of interest form or interview process, please contact MEC Secretary-Treasurer Linda Christou at mecst@afaalaska.org.

After Relentless AFA Advocacy, Alaska Management Finally Takes Initial Step To Protect Against Injuries From Dangerous Coffee Makers

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC)

  • Alaska Airlines management has directed that older-style B/E Aerospace coffee makers must not be used without a Brew Shield.
  • The action follows months of advocacy by the AFA ASHSC, Inflight Service Committee, and MEC, highlighting ongoing injuries to Flight Attendants from the coffee makers.
  • Our Committees and MEC continue to call for a complete suspension of the older coffee makers until the issue is fully resolved to ensure the safety of both crewmembers and passengers.

After months of relentless advocacy by our AFA Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC), Inflight Service Committee, and Master Executive Council (MEC), Alaska Airlines management has finally taken the first step towards meaningful action to protect crewmembers and passengers from injuries related to scalding hot coffee and grounds spewing from the brew basket of older-style B/E Aerospace coffee makers. Effective immediately, management has directed that older-style B/E Aerospace coffee makers must not be used to brew coffee under any circumstances if a Brew Shield is unavailable. In such cases, alternate coffee makers must be used to brew coffee; if no other coffee makers are available, coffee will not be served. If a Brew Shield is available, it must be installed and used. Flight Attendants should refer to Special Edition Bulletin #2024-0045 (April 17, 2024) for specific procedures, instructions for reporting missing Brew Shields, and other essential information.

Note: Management refers to the older-style B/E Aerospace coffee maker as the “B/E Classic Coffee Maker,” also identified as Coffee Maker #1 in the FAM. It has five square buttons that include the “COLD WATER” option and does not have a paddle on the hot water spigot.

Management’s recent action is a step in the right direction, but it should have been taken long ago when our ASHSC first raised this issue. It’s unacceptable that several months have passed, and more Flight Attendant injuries have occurred due to the continued use of older-style B/E Aerospace coffee makers. Our AFA ASHSC and Inflight Service Committee have been vigilant in putting management on notice that they were knowingly placing the physical safety and well-being of employees and passengers at risk by continuing to allow the use of these coffee makers. We have advised management that the temporary procedures implemented to mitigate the hazards are inadequate and unrealistic given the working environment that Flight Attendants face onboard the aircraft. The ineffectiveness of management’s mitigations has become increasingly evident as Flight Attendants continue to be injured by coffee makers spewing scalding hot coffee and grounds. 

Management’s action may have been overdue and necessary, but it still does not address the root cause of the hazard through physical mitigation. Our ASHSC, Inflight Service Committee, and MEC firmly believe that the only responsible action for management to take is to completely suspend the use of the older B/E Aerospace coffee makers until the issue is resolved. We continue to call on management to “own safety” by removing these coffee makers from service immediately. The safety of both Flight Attendants and passengers must not be compromised. It’s our right to work in a safe environment, and we demand that this right be upheld.

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – March 2024

Scheduling Committee

  • On March 26, 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!

On Tuesday, March 26, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz, and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones.

The committee met with Managing Director Inflight Operations & Crew Scheduling Allen Thieman, Managing Director Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Managing Director Ops Staffing & Resource Mgt Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Director of Crew Planning Mike Ostler, Director of Crew Staffing Nicholas Giles, Manager of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning/Crew Scheduling.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on April 23, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed several items both during internal AFA-only conversation and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

  • The popularity of 2-day DCAs and their new integration into 3-day trips.
  • Advocacy for fewer red eye flights from certain locations and more 2-day non-red-eye flights.
  • Questions about the efficiency of splitting certain flight legs into separate operations.
  • The desire for an increase in co-terminal turns and more productive 2-3 day trips.
  • Requests to reduce the number of 4-day trips and specific connections.
  • Issues with Crew Scheduling and open segments related to pre-cancellations for like assignments. Open legs are reviewed in all domiciles.
  • Concerns about the process of resolving issues with pay analysts.
  • Flight Attendant confusion regarding accrued sick leave and its availability for use.
  • Questions about the transportation of sick family/sick child calls on overnight stays.
  • Challenges with internal AFA OS tickets and restrictions on advertising.
  • Clarification needed on how screenshots work for combining and breaking apart trips. See labor memos related to screenshots on AFA website.
  • Request for CSA to meet the plane instead of other company employees (Flight Attendants/Pilots).
  • Increase in reassignments for line holders at report, impacting planned layovers.
  • April Bid awards were quick and had no issues, published the following morning.
  • Light April bid protest, one violation of junior line bidder seniority honored.
  • NavBlue discussions about meetings, including weekly pilot calls and management calls.
  • NavBlue future updates discussed, including transition to Red Hat 8 and AWS transition.
  • NavBlue UAT testing and install of version 23.7.10 to PROD contingent upon bug fixes.
  • NavBlue planning for password reset changes and removing IT from NavBlue logins.
  • Mention of NavBlue future releases 23.8, 24.1, and 24.3.
  • Discussions about pairing selection, analytics, and collaboration with crew planning monthly.
  • Challenges with pairing construction and optimizing for quality of life.
  • Request for improvements and review of Jeppesen’s optimization capabilities.
  • Navblue released an update, no problems reported from users at this moment.
  • JCTE release March 26, 2024, with Buddy Roster, screenshots to be published after implementation.
  • Trade analysis shows increased trades in March, performance remaining steady for Crew Access.
  • Database reindex scheduled for April 9, 2024 to improve trade analysis.
  • June JCTE release will include historical data of processed transactions and ability to advertise for work.
  • B2B tap to pay implementation coming soon, training sandbox in progress.
  • Outage message to be sent regarding JCTE update and for future updates at the request of Flight Attendants.
  • Christopher joined Inflight Crew Planning from Flight Ops, brings experience in aviation and used to work for JetBlue. Some management employees have expressed interest in retirement over the next year and assisting with integrating new members on the team.
  • Block hours are increasing significantly in May, with LAX showing a reduction.
  • Targeting 79.69TFP line average and 20.1% reserves for reserve staffing, we expect peak month in July for staffing.
  • Trip length distribution remains consistent, some more commutable trips.
  • SEA/ANC have best commutability for Flight Attendants, SFO/PDX most challenging.
  • 5 MAXs mitigated in latter part of Spring, potential risk to reduce schedule.
  • May bid month frequency to destination changes reviewed, Mexico flights shifting to Alaska and Transcon.
  • E-175 stage length reduced, Mainline overnights added to park aircraft in outstations due to limitations in some of our domiciles.
  • Remote parking/hard stand issues in Seattle, coordinating with wheelchairs and special services.
  • Concerns with pre-cancellations, PBS bidding, and FCR when trips release into subsequent day.
  • Absence rates increasing, Crew Scheduling goal to clean out Open Time daily utilizing reserves.
  • Waived pay causing a burden on the rest of the Flight Attendant population, reassignments increasing. Crew Scheduling reports that Flight Attendants are waiving pay for alternative assignments but not picking up and this sometimes causes a ripple effect on the operation to cover the remaining open segments. 
  • Reserve utilization at 82.2-92.9% January to March, month over month increases.
  • Fatigue reports in March increased. Total of 42 fatigue calls with several days remaining till month end.
  • Attrition seeing 5 ½ – 8 years of service, 50/50 commuter versus in domicile.
  • Payroll to attend scheduling meetings, communication and response clarity needed on processes and inquiries.
  • Quick reference guide requested for Inflight webpage information filtering for rainmaker and timelines to complete pay and query responses. There is a lot of information available but we don’t believe Flight Attendants are accessing the documents.

What the Committee is Working on

  1. NavBlue. The PBS Committee is seeking feedback on how they can improve their assistance to flight crews regarding bid awards and understanding results. They provided both in-person and virtual meetings for this purpose.
  2. Pairings Survey. There is a discussion about conducting a survey on pairing construction, and there is a possibility of organizing a virtual session or town hall. A meeting with management occurred June 5, 2023, with a follow-up meeting to be arranged. However, there is no update or estimated time of arrival (ETA) at the moment.
  3. Chime Communications. Flight Attendants may chat with crew scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams to reduce phone calls. Flight Attendant-initiated contact. Early stages of development, to be discussed with AS Labor Relations and AFA. Testing and implementation to occur in the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation. This is still pending review. 
  4. Crew Scheduling. There was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that covered various aspects such as reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and year over year), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
  5. Crew Planning. Similar to Crew Scheduling, there was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that cover subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items.
  6. ITS. Representatives from ITS joined the scheduling meeting to provide updates on NavBlue, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block 2 Block. These updates include performance reviews, data analysis, and information about future releases. 

We Want to Hear From You!

Whether you have feedback for the Committee, concerns to share, or items you’d like brought up with management – don’t hesitate to let us know. Your Local Scheduling Committee is here to be your voice to management. You can easily open a support ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or directly contact us using the information provided on the Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2024

Reserve Committee

  • Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, March 14 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent and advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants.
  • The Committee also met with management to review a number of specific concerns that were brought forward by Flight Attendants.
  • Your Local Reserve Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any reserve related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

On Thursday, March 14, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Brandi Urban (ANC), Teran Eason (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN). Also present was MEC Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton and MEC Reserve Committee Vice Chairperson—New Hire & Probation Jarod McNeill. 

The committee met with the Director of Inflight Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Manager of Inflight Crew Scheduling Goose Hlaingmyint, Director of Payroll Leah Ables, Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke and Managing Director of Operations & Crew Scheduling Allen Theiman.

The committee is next scheduled to meet on Thursday, June 13.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed a number of items both during internal AFA-only conversation and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

  • Plans for Initial Training classes for 2024. Class one started on March 18 and will be online May 1. Management is still unsure on the exact number of classes for the year. The specific number of classes and students in each class will be dependent on attrition.
  • Issues and glitches with Crew Access that are affecting Reserve Flight Attendants. Review where known issues are documented and newly added/ fixed issues.
  • Upcoming update to Crew Access software and associated fixes to current issues and other improvements prioritization for programming fixes.
  • Reserve utilization statistics – approximately 90.7% in all bases. Reserve coverage is anticipated to be at approximately 22-21% for Quarter 2.
  • Service flights will increase to two flights and service training will continue in Initial Training this year.
  • Reserve-related scheduling issues that have occurred recently.
  • Ongoing concerns with ISA. Please report these issues through theAFA Alaska Online Support Center so AFA representatives can follow up with management. 
  • Reserve-related issues that have been escalated to the Scheduling Review Board (SRB) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes.

What the Committee is Working On

  1. Assisting Probationary Flight Attendants Through the Reserve Buddy Program.   Answering questions from and providing support to probationary Flight Attendants through an expanded AFA Reserve Buddy program.
  2. Addressing Reserve Contractual Concerns. Researching and investigating reports from Reserve Flight Attendants and actively ensuring that management is compliant with our contract. 
  3. Developing Additional Tools & Resources for New Flight Attendants. Working to create a plan to provide more user friendly, easy-to-access resources about the CBA and other job-related information for new Flight Attendants.

We Want to Hear From You!

Do you have feedback for the committee, concerns you’d like to share, or items that you’d like brought up with management?  Please let us know!  Your Local Reserve Committee is your voice to management.  You can open a support request on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or contact us directly using the information on the Reserve Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Grievance Committee Update – 4th Quarter 2023, 1st Quarter 2023

Grievance Committee

  • Our Grievance Committee protects all Flight Attendants from arbitrary and unjust disciplinary action and upholds our collective bargaining agreement. This update briefly summarizes the committee’s work over the past quarter.
  • Management has issued discipline lately for a variety of reasons. Read on for more information about why management is disciplining and terminating Flight Attendants.
  • If you’ve faced a situation that you believe might be a contractual violation, please report the issue through the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. AFA Representatives review each report submitted and will follow up to help you determine options and a course of action.

Our Grievance Committee has been very hard at work ensuring disciplinary due process and contractual compliance on your behalf. The contract requires a minimum of 13 arbitration dates yearly to dispute discipline/termination cases and contractual issues. Termination cases are usually given first priority in order to return a Flight Attendant back to work as soon as possible; however, we seek a balance between discipline and contractual cases. AFA and management mutually decide which cases to arbitrate next based on many factors. 

Steps of discipline are confirmation of oral warning (COW), written warning (WW), suspension (varied number of days) to termination. COWs, WWs, and suspensions remain in a Flight Attendant’s file for 18 months, and then are removed. If a Flight Attendant is in a step of discipline and gets another violation, the new violation will build on the previous violation.  Management doesn’t always progressively travel up the steps of discipline. If management investigates a Flight Attendant for theft or abuse of sick leave, for example, management will terminate the Flight Attendant if there is evidence to support its findings; if there is no evidence, then the Flight Attendant will most likely be issued a record of discussion (ROD). An ROD is not considered discipline. There is no middle ground for certain violations.  

Many Flight Attendants are under the impression that if they’ve been an overall good employee, have no to low attendance points, good kudos, decent seniority, etc.… that they will not get disciplined. This is not the case, regardless of any good work qualities one may have, if management believes the Flight Attendant committed an offense, they will be disciplined.

If a supervisor or manager calls and asks questions pertaining to a flight, work issue, or disciplinary issue and no AFA representative is on the call, you should assert that you would like an AFA rep on the call.

Subject of Most Recent Discipline

  • Sick leave and FMLA abuse. Terminations are on the rise due to travel audits among other things. Anything written in the comments/remarks on posted trip trades and personal drops can be seen, even if eventually deleted. If management determines abuse it results in termination. If you’re not going to make it to work and you’re not sick and can’t get a management drop, your best option might be to simply no-show the trip. You should never call in sick unless you are actually too ill or injured to fly.
  • Theft. Removing anything from the aircraft other than an opened/used bottle of water, unused pilot crew meal or purchased food will result in termination.  
  • Timecard fraud. Examples: Intentionally delaying boarding door closure to obtain sit pay. Management has terminated for this violation.
  • Reserve “Roulette”. Not being within two hours of base for your Reserve Availability Period (RAP) and calling in sick only once given an assignment. The Company considers this a terminable violation. Management regularly reviews the trip trade postings and history related to sick calls. Even deleted trade history or postings can be seen by management.
  • Lying in an investigation
  • Drug/Alcohol violations
  • Harassment
  • Refusing scheduling revisions or ignoring requests to call Crew Scheduling.  
  • Reserves commuting during Reserve Availability Period (RAP) even if self-assigned a trip and/or not being in base for the entirety of reserve period. Management usually gives a two-week suspension on the first offense.
  • Social media violations including sending friend or follow requests to passengers on social media based on information gained from Block2Block.
  • Commuter Violations
    • Flight Attendant released from DHD and used D8Y home
    • Flight Attendant used D8Y when they picked up out of base
    • Flight Attendant used D8Y to/from incorrect cities
    • Flight Attendant used D8Y for pleasure travel.  
  • Commuter audits are conducted weekly.
  • Lost IMD or other required items
  • Failing to complete CBT—even if FA just forgets to hit the close out x at the top to switch it from in process to complete.
  • Uniform Issues—Flight Attendants can and have been pulled from working their flights without pay for uniform non-compliance.
  • Late to gate/flight delay

Reminder

CBA §32.C.5 says, “Short Sick Call, When a Flight Attendant calls in sick less than two hours (2:00) prior to scheduled check-in.”  If you intend to call in for a short sick call, but not get the 2.5 points, the call to Crew Scheduling must be after SCHEDULED check in, and not just after you check in per §32.C.6.

Recent Arbitration/Mediation

November 2023Disciplinary Grievance
December 2023Disciplinary Grievance
January 2024Disciplinary Grievance
February 2024Disciplinary Grievances

Recent Contractual Arbitration Awards

None

Recent Grievance Settlements

None

Grievances Recently Mediated 

None

Grievances Recently Granted by Management

None

Grievances Recently Withdrawn

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-40-19-Violation §25.B Failure to Provide a Safe and Healthy Workplace. This alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.B [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safe and Healthy Workplace], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to provide a safe and healthy workplace when it installed new bulkheads on the retrofitted Airbus (“Aura”) aircraft that effectively renders the aft assist handles near doors L1/R1 as unusable and unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-162-19- Violation of §12.C.1 Real-Time Trading Procedures Grievance 36-99-2-28-17 Mediated Settlement. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C.1 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedure], past practice, its mediated settlement of grievance 36-99-2-28-17 and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it agreed but failed to adhere to its July 5, 2017, mediated settlement of grievance 36-99-2-28-17: To have AFA and Alaska representatives meet with Jeppesen to explore the capabilities of the system and how to align the front-end with the “real time” experience of the back-end user. This is a continual violation as such meeting did not take place in a reasonably timely manner, and sufficient action was not taken to rectify the underlying system issues.

Grievances Recently Filed and Awaiting Management Response

None

Grievances Recently Filed and Denied

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-340-23-Violation of §11.E.1.c & §11.H.8. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.E.1.c [Reserve: Order of Assignment/Reserve Self-Assignment] and §11.H.8 [Reserve: Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades], and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it prohibited Reserve Flight Attendants who had been assigned sequences with the an Ineligible for Self-Assignment (ISA) code from giving such sequences away to another Reserve Flight Attendant or trading such sequences in open time or with another Reserve Flight Attendant.   

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-38-24-Violation of §8.M and Grievance Settlement 36-99-2-458-22 Violation of §8.D Check In and Debrief. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.M [Hours of Service: Domicile Rest] and Grievance Settlement 36-99-2-458-22 [Violation of §8.D Check In and Debrief], and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or around September 23, 2023, the Company refused to allow a Flight Attendant who had operationally-impacted reduced domicile rest (§8.M.2) to utilize the applicable contractual provisions of §8.M, which would have allowed the Flight Attendant to be removed from their subsequent sequence beginning September 24, 2023, without pay pursuant to §8.M.3, due to the domicile rest time between sequences projecting to fall below CFR-required rest. Instead, on the evening of September 23, 2024, Crew Scheduling altered the Flight Attendant’s check-in time for the subsequent sequence (on September 24, 2023) to a later check-in time in violation of §8.M.2, thereby denying them access to their contractual right to be released from the subsequent sequence without pay pursuant to §8.M.3.

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-41-24-Violation of §25.B Safe and Healthy Workplace-B/E Aerospace Coffee Makers. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.B [Air Safety, Heath and Security: Safe and Healthy Workplace] and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about February 15, 2024, it refused AFA’s request to discontinue the use of older style B/E Aerospace coffee makers until adequate physical mitigations are put into place to prevent the coffee makers, when coupled with the Company’s new onboard coffee product, from spewing hot coffee and grounds during the brew process, which has previously resulted in the injury of at least ten Flight Attendants.

Grievances Previously Filed, Denied by Management and Currently Awaiting Arbitration Dates

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-22-14-Violation of Required Maternity Leave. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Section 15.D. and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to require Flight Attendants to begin Maternity Leave after the 28th week of pregnancy.   

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-55-17-Violation of §21.V Winds Aloft Adjustment of Sit Pay in JCTE. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21.V [Compensation: “Scheduled” or “Actual” For Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs) and/or Sit Pay], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) trading system displayed each posted trip as a static ‘snapshot’ taken at the time of posting rather than a ‘live’ view, thus denying the Flight Attendant the ability to determine whether a trip is eligible for 1.0 TFP of Sit Pay due to an automated scheduling adjustment (e.g. by the Winds Aloft program).

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-41-19-Violation of §25.D.2 Failing to Notify MEC President and ASHSC of Reconfiguration or Re-design Prior to Final Decision. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.D.2 [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safety Information], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to notify the MEC President of a decision to reconfigure or re-design the interior of the Airbus aircraft and when it failed to discuss with the ASHSC the parties’ interests and concerns for inflight safety prior to making a final decision on the reconfiguration/re-design. 

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-36-20-Violation of §25.B ANC Training Facility. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §25.B [Air Safety, Health and Security: Safe and Healthy Workplace], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it conducted Recurrent Training (RT) drills in Anchorage, Alaska in the Ross Aviation Hangar, and on or about February 16-19, 2020, the external temperature ranged from 18 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit and when the hanger door opened, frequently without notice, the internal hanger temperature dropped to as low as 46 degrees.  After the external hanger door opened it took approximately two hours with a loud heater to get the internal temperature back up to the low to mid 60s.  

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-207-20-Violation of §10, §11.D & §24.L Bundled Scheduling Notifications. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10 [Scheduling], §11.D [Reserve: Scheduling/Notice of Time to Report] and §24.L [General and Miscellaneous: Company-Provided Inflight Mobile Device (IMD)], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) scheduling system sent bundled scheduling notifications to Flight Attendants on their Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs) or directly in Crew Access, requiring Flight Attendants to batch acknowledge or ignore such notifications and thereby resulting in Flight Attendants potentially waiving multiple contractual protections via an extra-contractual point of contact (i.e. Crew Access scheduling notifications).  

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-384-20-Violation of §10.S Scheduling Notifications. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10.S [Scheduling:  Pre-Cancellations], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it used non-contractual scheduling notifications sent to Flight Attendants via the Crew Scheduling system in order to communicate and assign alternate flying or an obligation to call Crew Scheduling within a specific window of time. If a Flight Attendant accepts such non-contractual scheduling notification(s), which is neither contact by Crew Scheduling via Company email nor via primary phone contact as defined in §10.S.1.a, the scheduling notification(s) violates the contract by abrogating the Flight Attendant’s ability to: (1) decline the alternate assignment and waive pay protection (§10.S.2.b), (2) decline the “out of original footprint by more than two hours” alternate assignment and call Crew Scheduling between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM (local domicile time) the night prior to the start of the original sequence (§10.S.2.c), or (3) waive pay protection and be relieved of any further scheduling obligation (§10.S.3). 

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-386-20-Violation of §8.Q & §8.R Contactability and Notification of Delay or Cancellation. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.Q [Hours of Service: Contactability] and §8.R [Hours of Service: Notification of Delay or Cancellation], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it used non-contractual scheduling notifications sent via the Crew Scheduling system in order to communicate and assign revised flying to Flight Attendants who were off-duty on a remain overnight (RON). Such scheduling notifications are in violation of the contractually defined means of contact and/or the Flight Attendant’s obligation to respond pursuant to these provisions.

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-84-22-Violation of §21.J Ground Delay Pay. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21.J [Compensation:  Block and Ground Delays], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it did not pay ground delay pay cumulatively, requiring each delay to go over 11 minutes to be eligible for pay, when a flight (same flight number/same routing) returns to gate one or more times.   

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-176-22-California Family School Partnership Act Violation of Past Practice and Roberts Award. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of past practice, the Roberts Award 36-99-2-49-03, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it unilaterally disallowed the California Family School Partnership Act for those Flight Attendants based in Los Angeles (LAX); then reinstated, with no notice, the state law for LAX based Flight Attendants only, but not for the other California based Flight Attendants in San Diego (SAN) or San Francisco (SFO), and not for the rest of the Flight Attendants based in our system, Seattle (SEA), Portland (PDX) or Anchorage (ANC), in violation of Roberts.

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-215-23-Violation of §10.J.4 Bidding Packet and Bidding Times and Violation of Grievance Settlement 36-99-2-116-18. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10.J.4 [Scheduling:  Bid Packets and Bidding Timelines], Grievance Settlement 36-99-2-116-18, past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about July 10, 2023, it and/or the NAVBLUE Preferential Bidding System (PBS) vendor did not provide an administrative lock-out function or a mutually agreeable alternate solution to allow for the correction of a technical issue when processing bid awards without opening up the system to all users.

Grievance No.:  36-99-2-248-23-Violation of §32 and Roberts Decision. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §32 [Attendance], past practice, the Roberts Award 36-99-2-49-03, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it unilaterally rolled out state leave laws on a state-by-state basis rather than applying the most liberal of state leave laws to all Flight Attendants regardless of domicile, thereby disparately treating Flight Attendants within the Collective Bargaining unit, in violation of Roberts.

Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairpersons

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

Meet Our Merged MEC Committee Chairpersons & Representatives

We’re excited to introduce our next group of newly elected merged MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives, who will begin their roles on January 1. These leaders are dedicated to representing the interests of our Flight Attendants as they coordinate activities across the merged Inflight Training Committee for both airlines. They’ll ensure that the voices of […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – December 2025

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