Committees

Grievance Committee Update – 3rd and 4th Quarters 2021

January 20, 2022 12:00

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 two 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.

Subject of Most Recent Discipline

Theft. Removing anything from the aircraft other than an opened/used bottle of water, unused pilot crew meal or purchased food removed will result in termination.
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.
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 FA is in base for her/his RAP period. If not, they will terminate on a 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 being used for researching whether commuting
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.

Recent Arbitration/Mediation

May 2021	Disciplinary Grievance
June 2021	Disciplinary Grievance
July 2021	Disciplinary Grievance
August 2021	Disciplinary Grievance
September 2021	Disciplinary Grievance
October 2021	Contractual Grievance
November 2021	Contractual Grievance
December 2021	Disciplinary Grievance

Recent Contractual Arbitration Awards

None

Recent Grievance Settlements

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-64-17 Violation of §27.P.1.f-h Company Business Flight Pay Loss. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §27.P.1.f-h [General-Association: Company Business Flight Pay Loss (CB)/Company Meetings], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it requested Flight Attendants attend an Inflight Announcement Focus Group on or about August 7, 2017, without compensating for company meeting pay nor the five percent (5%) override and “A” pay, and without regard to contractual duty day applications; alternatively it provided non-negotiated compensation.

Details:

On or about August 7, 2017, approximately 24-30 Flight Attendants attended a Flight Attendant announcement focus group. The above-referenced grievance was filed on their behalf. The names of the Flight Attendants are not currently known. The Company will exercise all avenues to identify them If they become known at any time, each of those Flight Attendants will be paid 4 TFP for their attendance at a work event.
On a go forward basis, the Company will follow the best practice of alerting AFA prior to publicizing work and/or volunteer opportunities to the Flight Attendants. The Company will inform AFA whether the Company will compensate Flight Attendants who attend the event, or if the event is intended as a volunteer opportunity only. If the parties disagree, AFA may file a grievance based on that event.

Grievances Recently Mediated

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-56-17-Violation of §15.C.4 Medical Leave of Absence. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §15.C.4 [Leaves of Absence: Medical Leave of Absence], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when in December 2016 it denied [a Flight Attendant’s] medical leave of absence (MLOA) because she did not also qualify for FMLA and because the MLOA was less than 10 days in duration.

Details:

When a Flight Attendant applies for a medical leave, the Company will process all such leaves according to the same criteria, regardless of the requested length of such leave.
FMLA will be granted if all applicable requirements are met. If the leave qualifies for FMLA, FMLA and contractual medical leave will run concurrently to the extent required by law.
If the Flight Attendant otherwise meets the requirements for having a serious health condition but the condition is not expected to meet the minimum number of days of incapacity as required by the FMLA definition of continuing treatment in 29 CFR § 825.115(a), the Company will grant a contractual medical leave.
If the Flight Attendant has a serious health condition as defined by the FMLA or by Paragraph 3 but does not qualify for FMLA for any other reason (e.g., the Flight Attendant has exhausted their FMLA; the Flight Attendant does not have enough qualifying hours for FMLA, etc.), the Flight Attendant will be granted a contractual medical leave.
If Matrix (or successor leave administrator) denies a contractual medical leave because the Flight Attendant does not supply adequate medical information to determine if the Flight Attendant has a serious health condition, the Company will review the request for a medical leave under Section 15.C.1 of the collective-bargaining agreement (“CBA”) and either grant the leave or exercise its rights under Section 17 of the CBA.

Grievances Recently Granted by Management

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-1-17- Violation of §32.C.5. Assessing Short Sick Call Points to Flight Attendant on FMLA. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §32.C.5 [Attendance Policy: Short Sick Call], past practice, all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Federal Law when it assessed short sick call points (2½) to Flight Attendants on qualified Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) status when they called in sick within two hours of scheduled check-in.

Details: As June 15, 2021, I am amending the prior grievance response on behalf of the Company. The prior grievance response dated March 10, 2017, is still accurate with respect to the Company’s position as of today, except for one small caveat. The caveat is as follows – if a Flight Attendant makes it known to the Company at the time of the short sick call that unusual circumstances related to their FMLA qualifying medical condition occurred such that they couldn’t have reasonably complied with the normal two-hour notice requirement for their sick call, the company will evaluate that information. If Employee Medical Relations determines that the unusual circumstances are consistent with the Flight Attendant’s FMLA qualifying medical condition, the Company will reduce the point value of the short sick call to zero. This is consistent with 29 C.F.R. 302(d) which requires employees on FMLA to “comply with an employer’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave, absent unusual circumstances.” This small portion of grievance 36-99-2-1-17 is now sustained; however, the rest of grievance 36-99-2-1-17 is still denied for the original reasons dated March 10, 2017.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-201-20-Violation of §10.Q & §11.E.4.d Violation of Reserve Assignment List Order. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §10.Q [Scheduling: Low-Bid Option] and §11.E.4.d [Reserve: Order of Assignment, Assignment of Open Sequences/Assignments], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) scheduling system places low-bid option and no-bid lineholder Flight Attendants who pick up reserve days and opt out of the Reserve Assignment List (LTFA) at the top of the list rather than listing them in inverse seniority order following all other Reserves within the same classification (AM/PM/ER) and with the same number of days of availability.

Details: As of today’s, date [June 18, 2021], I am amending the prior grievance response on behalf of the Company and sustaining the violation of §11.E.4.d [Violation of Reserve Assignment List Order]. The parties continue to work the issue through a mutually agreeable manual workaround that has been implemented and the “Known Crew Access Issues” document.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-41-20-Violation of §30.A.2 Training Hours Over Eight Hours. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §30.A.2 [Training: Hours], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about January 24 and 25, 2020, it required at least three Flight Attendants to attend Recurrent Training (RT) in Long Beach (LGB) in excess of eight hours.

Details: One TFP for two Flight Attendants who released after 4pm.

Grievances Recently Withdrawn

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-320-20-Violation of §30.C.4 Computer Based Training (CBT). This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §30.C.4 [Training: Training Pay/Computer Based Training (CBT)], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about September 28, 2020, it added a 5^th Computer Based Training for Flight Attendants to complete for 2020. Prior to adding the 5^thCBT, it issued Quarter 1 CBT, training videos CBT, Quarter 2 CBT and Quarter 3 CBT.

Grievances Recently Filed and Awaiting Management Response

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.

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.

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.

Grievances Recently Filed and Denied

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.

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.

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 28^th 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.: 36-99-2-159-17-Violation of §12.A & §12.E Withholding Trips from Open Time and Suspended all Trading due JCTE Issues. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.A & E [Exchange of Sequences: Unlimited Trading/Open Time], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about September 30, 2017, to October 1, 2017, for approximately 8 hours, it either withheld all trips in open time or suspended all trading due to an issue with its Jeppesen Crew Tracking system.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-321-18- Violation of §§21, 24, 30 & 34 Hotel at Domicile for Transition Training. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §21 [Compensation], §24 [General and Miscellaneous], §30 [Training] and §34 [Hotels], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when some Flight Attendants requested and were provided hotel rooms at base for Transition Training while others who requested a room were not provided one.

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.: 36-99-2-301-20-Violation of §3.D Scope of Agreement. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §3.D [Scope of Agreement: Scope], past practice, and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it announced beginning October 2020 through July 2021, it will operate flights with cargo in cabin seats; although such flying will occur without passengers, the Company intends to staff the flights with non-Flight Attendant employees, who will be trained to perform Flight Attendant duties, specifically including but not limited to: Firefighting duties, cargo stowage in the passenger cabin and aircraft door operation in normal and emergency mode.

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.

Recurrent Training 2022

January 13, 2022 17:00

Inflight Training Committee

The 2022 Recurrent Training (RT) program is underway at all training locations. Read on for information about preflight oral evaluations and acceptable deviations to emergency evacuations commands.
For those who are attending RT in Seattle, be aware that the training facility has moved this year. Check the RT website for information about the new location, directions, and parking.
Safety measures such as continued social distancing and HEPA filtration systems in RT classrooms will be in place as a result of AFA advocacy. These measures should be in place as of January 12.

Preflight Oral Evaluations

Management is continuing this year with the requirement to verbally review the preflight for emergency exits and equipment as part of RT evaluations. Similar to last year, preflight oral evaluations do not need to be performed verbatim, can use conversational language, and do not need to be performed in any specific order. If you have questions about the requirements for preflight oral evaluations, we encourage you to seek clarification from your RT instructors in the classroom prior to the start of evaluations.

Acceptable Deviations to Emergency Evacuation Commands

Click here (password required) >

Password: See the emailed version of this article sent to the personal email address that you have on file with AFA Alaska for the confidential password. Contact your LEC President if you need additional assistance.

Please respect the security of the document and do not share the password on an online group or open forum.

Lunch Is Not Provided

Please note that lunch is not being provided by the Company at RT at this time. Management had initially planned to provide lunch on day 1 of RT to Flight Attendants in Seattle in conjunction with a management-led “listening session”. Our AFA Representatives brought forward the concern that Flight Attendants in ANC, PDX, SFO, and LGB were not receiving company-provided lunch as well. Shortly after AFA shared this concern, management indicated that they would be temporarily suspending company-provided lunch at RT in SEA, citing COVID transmission concerns. Should management decide to resume providing lunch during RT, it is AFA’s expectation that it will be provided at all training locations.

Change to SEA Training Facility Location

With the high volume of Flight Attendant Initial Training (IT) classes that are scheduled to take place in 2022, classroom space at the Flight Operations & Training Center (FTC) in Seattle has been reallocated solely to the IT program for the time being. RT and RQ classes in Seattle will now be held at the Stinson Building, located just a few miles south of the FTC. For more information about the new location, including the address, maps, and parking information, please refer to the Recurrent Training website (sign on required).

Safety & Social Distancing

Last year, management made the decision to eliminate social distancing in training environments starting in January 2022. As 2022 approached it became clear to the AFA Air Safety, Health, & Security (ASHSC) and Inflight Training Committees that this move was premature as the pandemic is still raging. The AFA ASHSC and Inflight Training Committees approached Managing Director of Inflight Strategy & Support Gloria Chow with AFA’s concerns. We reiterated a previous request for HEPA filtration systems for classrooms and to maintain classroom seating with six feet of separation for social distancing.

Management responded by ordering air filtration units and began working on making the needed adjustments to provide social distancing for classroom seating. We expect all of these changes to be in place by the end of the day on January 12. Thank you to Manager of Inflight Training Delivery Amanda Westendorf, Inflight Training Resource Manager Shaunda Groce, and the entire Inflight Training Team for quickly implementing these changes once the decision was made to change course for safety.

Questions?

If you have questions about RT 2022, please contact the MEC Inflight Training Committee or your LEC President.

Human Rights Committee Meeting Recap – 4th Quarter 2021 (Rescheduled)

January 12, 2022 17:00

Human Rights Committee

Our AFA Human Rights Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, January 11 to discuss their ongoing program of work to advance human rights within our workplace and community.
The Committee also met with management to receive updates on what progress has been made on concerns that had been previously brought forward and address new concerns that have been brought forward. The meeting with management was originally scheduled to be held on December 6 but was cancelled at the last minute due to inflight management changes that took place at around the same time.
If you have ideas, thoughts, or feedback for the committee, your Local Human Rights Committee Chairperson would love to hear from you!

On Tuesday, January 11, our AFA Local Human Rights Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing activism to build awareness and effect change within our workplace and community. Representing you at the meeting were Matthew Cook (ANC), Yan Yan Teague (SEA), Sylvia Newbill (PDX), Sejal Patel (SFO), and Louise Borras (LAX). Also present were MEC Human Rights Committee Chairperson Chip Hestle and MEC Vice President Brian Palmer. The committee met with Managing Director of Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Managing Director of Inflight Strategy and Support Gloria Chow, Managing Director of Labor Relations Carmen Williams, California Regional Director of Inflight Operations Robbi Burton, and Seattle Director of Inflight Base Operations Jenny Bookert from management.

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:

Ongoing concerns about low morale within our work group
Opportunities to emphasize the importance of maintaining positive working relationships and encourage voter turnout during the upcoming election cycle.
Concerns about company suppliers/vendors whose values may be contradictory to those of Alaska Airlines and how management would address the issue.
Management’s progress on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and plans for upcoming work.
Upcoming plans to include more substantial DEI training in the Initial Training and Recurrent Training programs.
Introduction of new pronoun pins, currently available at the Company Store. Management is reviewing the possibility of allowing Flight Attendants to use their uniform allotment to purchase the pins.
Requests to increase diversity and representation among the Flight Attendant Special Projects Pool, starting with those selected for Flight Attendant recruiting and hiring.
Ways for the committee to start building relationships with the company’s Business Resource Groups (BRGs).

The committee is next scheduled to meet with management on Friday, February 4, 2022.

What The Committee Is Working On

Developing a Membership Survey. Creating a membership survey to determine what Flight Attendants would like to see our Human Rights Committee address and prioritize going forward.
Building Relationships with the Company’s Business Resources Groups (BRGs). Beginning the process of establishing relationships with leaders of the Company’s BRGs to find areas where we can join together to advance human rights within the scope of each group.
Promoting Increased Diversity Within the Flight Attendant Special Projects Pool. Advocating for management to create a Special Projects Pool that is reflective of our overall work group, starting with a focus on those who are selected to participate in Flight Attendant recruiting and hiring.

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 Human Rights Committee is your voice to management. You can find our contact information on the Human Rights Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Onboard Service Reductions

January 8, 2022 20:56

Inflight Service Committee

Our AFA Representatives have been successful in getting management to agree to additional onboard service reductions in light of the current spike of COVID-19 cases nationwide.
Any flight currently scheduled for more than one beverage service will be reduced to only one service regardless of the length of the flight. Additional reductions include changes to the food pre-order system based depending on the length of the flight. Changes take effect today and are scheduled to be in place through January 31, 2022.
As always, please continue to report any safety-related issues with onboard service using a Flight Attendant Irregularity Report (FAIR) in ReportIt! Please report any catering issues using the catering feedback function in Block2Block. Management needs to hear about the challenges we’re facing!

Our AFA Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC), Inflight Service Committee, and Master Executive Council (MEC) have been continually advocating for changes to onboard service that provide the safest possible environment for Flight Attendants and passengers alike. In light of the current spike in COVID-19 cases, we had additional conversation this week with management about the ongoing issues and concerns that Flight Attendants are experiencing. Based on these conversations, management has agreed to implement additional onboard service reductions on a temporary basis.

The following changes will go into effect immediately and remain in place through January 31, 2022:

Only one beverage service in the main cabin on all flights that are scheduled to receive a beverage service.
Picnic packs will no longer be available for pre-order but will still be sold from the retail cart.
Fresh meals will no longer be available for pre-order/sold on medium haul flights. Maximum number of orders on transcon and Hawaii flights will be reduced from 63 to 42.

Even though the pre-order system will be turned off for any new orders, catering will continue to board items for any passengers who placed an order prior to today. Please see the email from management in your Outlook inbox and today’s bulletin bundle for more information.

Please continue to report any safety hazards related to onboard service in ReportIt! as a Flight Attendant Irregularity Report (FAIR). If you encounter any issues related to onboard products, catering supply levels, or procedural concerns, please report them through the Catering Issues function in Block2Block. Your reports help our Inflight Service Committee and ASHSC to have the strongest voice possible in their conversations with management about onboard service.

December 2021 Pacific Northwest Snowstorm

December 28, 2021 21:00

Master Executive Council (MEC)

The snowfall that occurred over the last several days in the Pacific Northwest has caused operational havoc throughout the Alaska Airlines system. Many Flight Attendants are being impacted by cancelled flights, reassignments, and other scheduling issues.
Your contract is one of the best resources to help answer questions about pre-cancellations, reassignments, duty times, and rest. The AFA Scheduling Committee has also put together an updated quick reference guide with some key contractual information.
If your flying has been impacted by the snowstorm and you have contractual questions or concerns, please open a support ticket using the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. AFA Representatives are working to resolve issues as expeditiously as possible.

This week’s snowstorm and continued winter weather have had a significant impact on Alaska Airlines operations in Seattle and Portland. Hundreds of flights have either been delayed or cancelled which has had a ripple effect throughout the system leaving virtually no Flight Attendants unimpacted. AFA Representatives are actively working to try to resolve Flight Attendant concerns that have been reported, but management’s availability has been limited as they focus on fixing the operation.

If Your Flight Cancels

If your flight has been cancelled, you must still report as scheduled unless contacted by Crew Scheduling or you accept a cancellation notification in Crew Access.
If contacted by Crew Scheduling regarding a pre-cancellation, know your options. Review section 10.S of the contract or the pre-cancellation flowchart.
If you have already reported for duty and your flight cancels, you must remain at the airport until released by Crew Scheduling. Your duty period will run continuously until released.

Difficulty Making it to the Airport

Significant Weather Ground Commuting Operations (SWGCO) have been declared for Seattle and Portland. SWGCO provides additional ground commuter protections for Flight Attendants who may have difficulty reporting on time due to the inclement weather. In order to receive protections under SWGCO, you must notify Crew Scheduling at least one hour prior to report that you won’t be able to report on time due to the weather. Please review pages 3 and 4 of the full side letter of agreement for more information.

Management is also offering hotel rooms near the airport in SEA and PDX for those who are reporting for trips the following day. Please fill out this form to request a hotel room. They have also authorized any F/A to expense $100 for Uber/Lyft transportation to/from the airport in order to get to work. No advance approval is required and your base management can provide assistance with reimbursement. Questions about in-base hotels or transportation reimbursement should be directed to the Inflight Snow Ops Command Center at InflightSnowOps@alaskaair.com.

Hotel or Transportation Issues While Flying

If you are currently flying and are having issues with hotels or ground transportation, you may be able to receive a quicker response from the Inflight Snow Ops Command Center by emailing InflightSnowOps@alaskaair.com. Requests that go through the command center, especially ones that are not time sensitive, will free up Crew Scheduling to attend to other operational duties. The command center is open from 08:00-20:00 Pacific time. Outside of these hours Crew Scheduling will be your point of contact.

Pay Questions & Rainmaker

If your flying has been impacted by irregular operations, be sure to monitor Rainmaker closely to ensure that your pay is reflected accurately. Any pay questions should be submitted directly in Rainmaker as a pay query.

Contractual Questions, Issues, and Concerns

Your contract is your best resources to answer scheduling and pay-related questions. You can access the contract on the AFA Alaska website or on your IMD in Goodreader > ASFASupplemental > Collective Bargaining Agreement > Contract. The AFA Scheduling Committee has also put together an updated irregular operations quick reference guide with key contractual information that may be helpful.

If you have a contractual concern or issue that has come up and need assistance from an AFA representative, please open a support ticket using the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. Members of the AFA Grievance, Reserve, and Scheduling Committees are working through submitted tickets as quickly as possible, but resolution may be delayed in some cases as management’s immediate focus is on operational issues.

For additional support, please contact your Local Scheduling Committee (lineholders), Local Reserve Committee (reserves), or your LEC Officers.