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Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – June 2023

Scheduling Committee

  • Our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, June 27 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent Flight Attendants interests related to lineholder scheduling.
  • The Committee also met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems that Flight Attendants are experiencing with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
  • Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Tuesday, June 27, 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), Martin Vance (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Natalie Codd (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 Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton.

The committee met with Managing Director Ops Staffing and Resource Management, Brittany Audette, Managing Director Inflight Ops & Crew Scheduling Allen Thieman, Managing Director Inflight Operations Michaella Littman, Director of Crew Planning Mike Ostler, Manager of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, and other management representatives from Crew Planning.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on July 25, 2023.

Topics of Discussion

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

  • Reserve Utilization. In June we saw utilization around 80-90%, we expect this to increase in the spring/summer. Management continues to mention there is an increase in sick leave usage and absence rates up to 12.9%. We see a high percentage on weekends. We’ve asked to increase TSN and personal drops for flexibility but were told that is doubtful unless sick leave is reduced. Premium is being offered some weekends to help cover the operation and you are able to filter for premium trips using filters.
  • No Shows. We continue to receive reports of circumstances where flight attendants were issued no shows incorrectly based on the contactability requirements of the contract. If you believe you are assessed points incorrectly, please follow up with your local AFA representatives.
  • Leaves. There were no leaves for July. Crew planning is working on August pairings. The line averages are around 80.1 TFP. We will see a reduction in the schedule for the fall and hope there will be leave opportunities during that time.
  • Van Times. Pilots and Flight Attendants sharing transportation should have the same van times. There were reports of crews waiting in the van for pilots. Pilot Scheduling/Crew Scheduling should coordinate any transportation changes on behalf of the crews.
  • NavBlue Pattern Bidding. In July we are anticipating adding a new feature that will allow pattern bidding. Look for more information on how to utilize this new option. The PBS Committee is updating the help files in the system to be more user friendly. If you need assistance in bidding please email them.
  • Per Diem. In some circumstances you will see taxed layover per diem based on state/federal requirements. Rainmaker is programmed to process the taxes automatically based on the limits. You can review taxation on CONUS Rates. Company is required by law to process the taxation.
  • Pilot Retiming Block In/Out. AFA sent a request to Labor Relations and Inflight management asking for communication on when/how pilots are able to adjust block in/out times. Crew members are seeing changes to their rosters and want clarification on the process. Management is reviewing our request and will send out a communication.
  • Retimes. There are several flights that will require being retimed/rescheduled. This could cause several pre-cancellations. Scheduling will be working on these as they receive updated information.
  • Sick Child/Sick Family (LOA 5 in CBA). California passed a new law that allows crew members to designate one primary person per year. This person will be designated and the FA will receive the full protections under the law. Labor Relations and AFA are working on the implementation of this improvement. Look for more information in a future AFA communication.
  • Base Turns. Each month FAs are surprised they combine two sequences over 10 hours 30 minutes and that some of their contractual legalities are waived. If you are adding sequences together refer to Section 8.T.
  • Business Model. Company is saying they are focused on leisure travel and they haven’t seen an increase in the business consumer. Announcement of new routes and frequencies. Our network is getting longer, not shorter in relation to route structure.
  • MyTravelApp. This is active and a great tool for flight attendants.
  • Personal Drops. AFA is aware of situations where personal drops are not being assigned in order. If you believe a drop was awarded out of order please file a claim with AFA and provide documentation so we are able to research these potential violations.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. NavBlue. The PBS Subcommittee asked management for base sits to assist Flight Attendants with bidding. Base sits took place in July.
  2. Crew Access Filters. Filters were implemented but due to processing errors retracted. We are working on testing the filters and a new update expected around September 2023.
  3. Handshake Trades. This change would allow users to post trips for trade on Crew Access and accept/decline offers submitted. We expect implementation in a 3rd quarter release. The Committee participated in a presentation and testing of the new feature.
  4. Pairings Survey. It’s been a few years since we completed a survey on pairing construction. We are discussing survey questions and the possibility of a virtual session or town hall. Meeting with management occurred July 5, 2023. A follow up meeting needs to be scheduled.

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 Scheduling 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 Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Protect Our Contract – Don’t Perform Duties Belonging to Other Work Groups

Grievance Committee

  • In order to protect our contract and show respect for other employee groups’ scope of work, Flight Attendants must not perform work belonging to other work groups.
  • Support other work groups by reporting staffing issues through a Flight Attendant Irregularity Report (FAIR) so management knows changes need to be made.
  • Only Flight Attendants may perform Flight Attendant duties; report any instances of supervisors or other employees performing Flight Attendant work to AFA.

Note: this is an updated version of a post previously published in an AFA Alaska Update on July 30, 2021.

Over many decades, we have all worked hard to improve our working conditions and strengthen our collective bargaining agreement (CBA). These improvements have been achieved through several avenues, including demonstrating solidarity during contract negotiations, lobbying management to make changes that benefit our profession, and rigorously enforcing the contractual language we have already achieved. We must continue to protect and defend our contract and hold management accountable for what has been agreed upon between our Flight Attendants and the company.

Over the past few years, management has made it known they’ve had challenges recruiting and retaining frontline employees in various locations throughout the route network. This includes staff who the company directly employs, those employed by company subsidiaries (e.g., McGee Air Services), and contract vendors who provide above- and/or below-the-wing services at various stations. The situation has caused a noticeable impact on the company’s operations and resulted in some on-the-ground functions being adjusted or modified due to staffing in some cases. 

We all know Alaska Airlines focuses on hiring Flight Attendants who exhibit kindness and are willing to help. Because these traits are such a pervasive part of our culture, it may be tempting to want to jump in and assist our coworkers from other work groups when we see that they are short-staffed. Unfortunately, this causes more harm than good for several reasons. 

As previously mentioned, it’s up to each of us to protect the provisions of our collective bargaining agreement. Section 24.D of the CBA says in part, “A Flight Attendant will not be required to perform work normally assigned to a cleaner, provisioner, ramp or operations agent.” Just as we expect other work groups to honor our contractual language by not performing Flight Attendant duties and responsibilities, it’s similarly important that we respect other work groups and their typically assigned scope of work. Doing so protects the security of both Flight Attendant jobs and the jobs of our coworkers in other departments.

Customer service, ramp, mechanics, pilots, fleet service, catering, and other work groups receive specific training to perform their duties that Flight Attendants don’t have. We must allow our colleagues to do the work they’ve been trained to do to ensure it complies with applicable regulations and company standards. If there are concerns with staffing in a particular department, management needs to receive the corresponding reports of flight delays, complaints from passengers, and performance audit results. These are all indicators management uses to make adjustments and ensure our colleagues in other departments have the support they need. If this data is skewed to show no problems exist, management will make no changes to ensure proper staffing and service levels.

The best way Flight Attendants can show support for other work groups who may be experiencing short or inadequate staffing is by reporting the issue to ensure it gets attention from the proper levels of management. This can be accomplished by submitting a Flight Attendant Irregularity Report (FAIR) detailing the date, flight number, and specifics of the situation (e.g., areas that were skipped/missed, etc.).

Only Flight Attendants May Perform Flight Attendant Duties

Closing the overhead bins, confirming luggage is stowed correctly, and making passenger announcements during boarding are all duties that traditionally define our work but are only a fraction of what we are ultimately responsible for. When supervisors* or other employees perform this undisputed Flight Attendant work, it violates our contract.

If someone who isn’t a Flight Attendant assigned to pre-board or work the flight begins to perform Flight Attendant duties, calmly advise them the work will be completed before the aircraft door is closed, consistent with all applicable policies and regulations. Reassure them that the crew is aware of their duties and responsibilities that need to be accomplished. If this approach is ineffective, advise them they’re violating our contract and respectfully ask them to stop.

If you encounter a supervisor or another employee performing Flight Attendant work onboard the aircraft, please report the situation by opening a ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. The purpose of this isn’t to get anyone in trouble but to ensure that any misunderstanding is promptly corrected. Quickly addressing the issue helps protect our jobs and prevent management from assigning our work to other work groups or vendors simply because it’s easier or less expensive for them to do so.

*Inflight management who hold an FAA Flight Attendant certificate may perform Flight Attendant duties only during a check-ride or IOE, when assigned to pre-board a flight if minimum crew is not available, or if assigned to work the flight as a Flight Attendant consistent with the limits of our contract.

Questions?

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

Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study – Fourth Wave

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC)

This message is from researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in regard to the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study. If you have any questions about the study, please contact the researchers directly at fahealth@hsph.harvard.edu.

The Flight Attendant Health Study, launched in 2007, aims to advance knowledge that can improve working conditions for flight crew in the U.S. and internationally.

Flight Attendants are some of the most understudied workers, yet flight crew are exposed to many physical and psychosocial stressors, such as cosmic ionizing radiation, higher ozone levels, stressful interactions with passengers, hypoxia/reduced oxygenation, potentially severe circadian rhythm disruption, and other exposures.

We Need Your Help!

On June 26, the fourth wave of the study launches and we need as many Flight Attendants as possible to participate in order to accurately represent the characteristics and experiences of flight crews.

Our goal is to understand the prevalence of health conditions in current and retired U.S. and international flight crew and the relationship with working conditions – especially in light of the pandemic and its aftermath – in order to solve some of the stressors in Flight Attendant work that lead to early-onset illness and disease.

Please take the survey via this QR code or at bit.ly/fahs and share widely with your colleagues.

Thank you for helping to advance Flight Attendant health by contributing to this important research.

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 2nd Quarter 2023

Reserve Committee

  • Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, June 8 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, June 8, 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 Heather Reier (ANC), Conner Gallagher (SEA), 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 for New Hires & Probationaries Jarod McNeil.

The committee met with Inflight Crew Scheduling Director Sara Cook and Inflight Crew Scheduling Supervisor Derrick Bernard.

The committee is next scheduled to meet on Thursday, September 14th.

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:

  • Planned Initial Training classes for the remainder of the year. Class 3 started online June 1 and class 4 will graduate this week and be online July 1. Management intends to hire additional Flight Attendants this year. The number of classes and specific number of students in each class is dependent on delivery of new aircraft.
  • Crew Scheduling management changes. Sara Cook is in the process of interviewing for new Crew Scheduling Supervisors as well as a manager to support operations.
  • Issues and glitches with Crew Access affecting Reserve Flight Attendants. Reviewed where known issues are documented and newly added/fixed issues. 
  • Review of upcoming update to Crew Access software. Includes associated fixes to current issues and other improvements, and prioritization for programming fixes.
  • Review of reserve-related scheduling issues that have occurred recently. Includes out of order assignment and incorrect application of personal drop for Reserves.
  • Review of reserve-related issues that have been escalated to the Scheduling Review Board (SRB) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. Includes multiple calls from scheduling while on a layover.
  • Review of reserve utilization statistics. Reserve utilization is approximately 85% in all bases. Reserve coverage is anticipated to be approximately 22-20% for the remainder of Quarter 2 and Quarter 3.
  • Request for management to decrease the Adequate Reserve Coverage (ARC) minimum. Goal of providing additional flexibility for shifting reserve days. Management agreed to review possible changes.
  • Reminder of the newly updated AFA Alaska Online Support Center. New hire Flight Attendants can report issues, raise concerns, or ask questions.

What the Committee is Working On

  1. Assisting Probationary Flight Attendants Through the Probationary Buddy Program. Answering questions from and providing support to probationary Flight Attendants through an expanded AFA Probationary Buddy program.
  2. Addressing Reserve Contractual Concerns. Researching and investigating reports from Reserve Flight Attendants and actively ensuring management is complying with our contract.
  3. Developing Additional Tools & Resources for New Flight Attendants. Working to create documents to provide user friendly, easy-to-digest resources about the Collective Bargaining Agreement 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 – 3rd & 4th Quarters 2022, 1st Quarter 2023

Grievance Committee

  • Our Grievance Committee works to protect all Flight Attendants from arbitrary and unjust disciplinary action and to uphold our collective bargaining agreement.  This update provides a short summary of the committee’s work over the past few quarters.
  • Management has issued discipline lately for a variety of reasons.  Read on for more information about the reasons 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). A 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 receive discipline. This is not the case; regardless of any good work qualities you may have, if management believes the Flight Attendant committed an offense, they will receive discipline.

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.  
  • 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
  • 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 has terminated for this reason several times. Management regularly reviews commuting history and whether a Flight Attendant is in base for their RAP.
  • 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 monthly.

  • 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

Recent Arbitration/Mediation

September 2022Disciplinary Grievance
October 2022Contractual Grievances
November 2022Disciplinary Grievance
December 2022Disciplinary Grievance
January 2023Disciplinary Grievance
February 2023Contractual Grievance
March 2023Contractual Grievance

Recent Grievance Settlements

Grievances 36-99-2-1-22, 3-22, and 4-22 Christmas 2021 Grievances:

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-1-22-Violation of §8.D Check-In and Release. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.D [Hours of Service:  Check-In and Release], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Block to Block (B2B) check-in system doesn’t allow a Flight Attendant to check-in if they have an unacknowledged trip change requiring them to report as originally scheduled.

Details:  On February 11, 2022, I sent my original grievance response as follows: “In reviewing this grievance, we attempted to look into this alleged issue within B2B. Without an example however, we couldn’t determine that this was in fact what happens in B2B if a Flight Attendant has an unacknowledged trip change requiring them to report as originally scheduled. As such, this grievance is denied.” 

I am now amending my grievance response to Grievance 36-99-2-1-22 [Violation of §8.D Check-In and Release] to the following: We are aware of two Flight Attendants who were not able to check-in on Block to Block (B2B) during the last week of December 2021 because they had an unacknowledged trip change requiring them to report as originally scheduled. These two Flight Attendants’ circumstances were discussed and remedied shortly after the Company became aware of what happened and neither AFA nor the Company believe any further action is required to address this grievance other than to sustain this grievance under these narrow set of facts. 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-3-22-Violation of §10.S Pre-Cancellations. 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 on or about December 26, 2021, it did not accept or process Flight Attendant calls in a timely manner thereby usurping the Flight Attendants’ ability to utilize the contractual pre-cancellation language allowing them to receive and decline an alternate assignment; and it allowed the Company to reassign Flight Attendants. 

Details: My original grievance response, dated January 28, 2022, stated “In reviewing this grievance, we are aware that with 300+ flight cancellations during this timeframe, and the resulting call handling volume Inflight Crew Scheduling was working through, that some Flight Attendant calls were not accepted or processed in a timely manner. We are unaware of any specific situations where due to not having their phone call processed or accepted timely, a Flight Attendant wasn’t able to utilize the contractual pre- cancellation language allowing them to receive and decline an alternate assignment.” 

I am now amending my grievance response to Grievance 36-99-2-3-22 [Violation of §10.S Pre- cancellations] to the following: We are unaware of any Flight Attendant who attempted to call Crew Scheduling between approximately December 26, 2021 to December 30, 2021 regarding a pre- cancelation, and then was unable to get through due to increased call volume from irregular operations. During this time period, Alaska Airlines experienced hundreds of cancelations which forced many unplanned calls between Schedulers and Flight Attendants thus jamming up the phone lines at certain times. We are aware that some flight attendants were not able to immediately get through to Crew Scheduling during this period of time due to the increased call volume. If a Flight Attendant attempted to call Crew Scheduling as required regarding a pre-cancelation (10.S), and was unable to get through, we would sustain this grievance under these narrow set of facts. 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-4-22-Violation of §8.D Check-In and Release. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §8.D [Hours of Service:  Check-In and Release], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its designated check-in application (Block2Block) on the Flight Attendants’ Infight Mobile Device (IMD) displayed cancelled trips that were not cancelled in Crew Access thereby inhibiting check-in for their trips and assessing them a No Show and 3 (three) attendance points.  Flight Attendants were unable to check in manually via a call to Crew Scheduling as it had excessive wait times

Details: AFA will withdraw this grievance due to no identifiable harmed parties.

Grievances Recently Mediated

Grievances 36-99-2-230-21, 234-21 and 233-22, COVID Grievances: 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-230-21- Violation of §16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §16 [Sick Leave/On the Job Injury], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it announced beginning on or about August 31, 2021, that it would grant pay protection per §21.M [Compensation: Pay Protection…] to vaccinated symptomatic and/or COVID+ Flight Attendants for scheduling obligations removed due to Company-directed quarantine in response to high-risk COVID-19 workplace exposures and deny pay protection under similar or the same circumstances for unvaccinated Flight Attendants or for Flight Attendants who decline to disclose their vaccination status and would instead require them to be removed from their scheduling obligations by forcing them onto sick leave and paid through their sick leave bank or accrued vacation pay if the sick leave bank was depleted. Neither §16 nor §21.M contains any exceptions or distinctions based on vaccination status, yet the Company failed to bargain with the Association and unilaterally implemented such non-contractual exceptions or distinctions inequitably across the collective bargaining unit.

Details: There were different provisions for different dates, vaccination status and symptom status. Management agreed to true up sick leave and points in some instances. Full details can be found in the LOA.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-234-21-Violation of §21 Non-Negotiated Compensation. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21 [Compensation], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it announced on or about September 2, 2021, that it would pay $200.00 to each vaccinated Flight Attendant who provides proof of vaccination to the Company by October 15, 2021. Section 21 does not contain any exceptions or distinctions based on vaccination status, and the Company failed to bargain with the Association and unilaterally implemented such a non-contractual exception inequitably across the collective bargaining unit.

Details:  Management agreed vaccinated FAs can keep their $200, but they would not agree that unvaccinated with or without a medical or religious exemption would get $200.  

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-233-22-Violation of §16 Sick Leave/On the Job Injury. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §16 [Sick Leave/On the Job Injury], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about May 11, 2022, it unilaterally implemented disparate quarantine procedures without adequate notice by posting and/or updating the Company intranet (“Alaska’s World”) with different quarantine requirements for symptomless vaccinated versus symptomless unvaccinated Flight Attendants. Alaska’s World articles do not provide adequate notice of a policy change to Flight Attendants, whereas such changes are communicated to Flight Attendants via required bulletins that must be read within 24-hour period prior to beginning of pairing, recurrent/requalification training, or reserve. Under this new policy, the Company requires symptomless unvaccinated Flight Attendants to be removed from their scheduling obligations by forcing them onto sick leave and paid through their sick leave bank or accrued vacation pay if the sick leave bank was depleted. Section 16 does not contain any exceptions or distinctions based on vaccination status, yet the Company failed to bargain with the Association and unilaterally implemented such non-contractual exceptions or distinctions inequitably across the collective bargaining unit.

Details: The Company agreed it will notify Flight Attendants of any changes to COVID-19 quarantine policies and procedures through required (“must-read”) bulletins. 

Grievance No.: 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.D.1 [Hours of Service/Check in and Debrief], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on July 22, 2022, it delayed flight 263 IAH-SEA by nine minutes to adjust for one crew member’s 24/7 violation.  While doing so it did not change the other three Flight Attendants’ scheduled check in time on their roster thus requiring them to report for the start of the duty day 54 minutes prior to the new adjusted flight time rather than the required 45 minutes.    

Details:  The parties agree that in the case of a FAR illegality affecting one or more Flight Attendant(s) on the same flight, the Company may either:  1. Change the schedule departure time (to a later time) and adjust the report time of all Flight Attendants; or 2. Keep the scheduled report time. At Crew Scheduling’s direction, the Flight Attendant(s) affected by the illegality may report fewer than forty-five minutes (:45) prior to scheduled departure.

Grievances Recently Filed and Denied

Grievance No.: 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.D.1 [Hours of Service/Check in and Debrief], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on July 22, 2022, it delayed flight 263 IAH-SEA by nine minutes to adjust for one crew member’s 24/7 violation. While doing so it did not change the other three Flight Attendants’ scheduled check in time on their roster thus requiring them to report for the start of the duty day 54 minutes prior to the new adjusted flight time rather than the required 45 minutes.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-60-23-Violation of §19.A and §7.B Disciplinary Meetings and Probationaries. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §19.A & §7.B [Grievance Procedures:  Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedure; Probationary Period:  Discharge, Discipline or Furlough], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it refused to conduct investigatory, work performance, disciplinary and dismissal meetings with probationary Flight Attendants per the contractual meeting requirements with regard to pay, scheduling and union representation. 

Grievances Recently 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.: 36-99-2-40-19-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.: 36-99-2-41-19-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.: 36-99-2-162-19- 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.    

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 Hanger, 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 accumulatively, 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.

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Monday, September 8, 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), Ila Christy (PDX), Hilary […]

We Will Never Forget – September 11, 2001

AFA Never Forget Website United Flight 175 Robert J. FangmanAmy N. JarretAmy R. KingKathryn LaBorieAlfred G. MarchandMichael C. TarrouAlicia N. TitusCaptain: Victor SaraciniFirst Officer: Michael HorrocksCustomer Service Representatives: Marianne MacFarlane and Jesus Sanchez United Flight 93 Lorraine G. BaySandra BradshawWanda A. GreenCeeCee LylesDeborah WelshCaptain: Jason DahlFirst Officer: Leroy Homer American Flight 11 Barbara AresteguiJeffrey CollmanSara […]

Vacation Survey Now Open

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants Your Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is working diligently to understand and improve the vacation benefits for our Flight Attendants at Alaska and Hawaiian. Your input is essential in ensuring that the vacation provisions we adopt reflect your needs and preferences. To gather your perspectives, […]

SEA Domicile Negotiations – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants Negotiations Update The SEA Domicile Negotiating Committee met this week for three days of collective bargaining with management.  The SEA NC met with management on September 3 to September 5 in Honolulu. At the negotiating table for this session were: Representing AFA and our Flight Attendants   […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Interviews—October 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants In accordance with Article VI.C of the AFA Alaska MEC Policy and Procedure Manual, the terms of office for the MEC Committee Chairpersons and other MEC-level positions align with those of the MEC Officers. Since the current term for the MEC Officers will conclude on December 31, […]

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