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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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AFA Update – February 21, 2020

In This Edition

  • REMINDER: Negotiating Committee Interviews
  • AFA Dues FAQs
  • Department of Transportation Warning About CBD Products

REMINDER: Negotiating Committee Interviews

Master Executive Council (MEC)

Our current Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) becomes amendable on December 17, 2021 but also contains an early opener clause for the negotiating process to begin as early as December 2020.  In anticipation of early openers, the Master Executive Council (MEC) will be conducting interviews for the Negotiating Committee during the March Regular MEC Meeting, to be held March 10 and 11, 2020.  All three Negotiating Committee positions are up for interview and consideration.  Per the AFA Constitution & Bylaws, the MEC President is the chairperson of the Negotiating Committee and rounds out the Committee as the fourth member.

The Negotiating Committee is charged to negotiate and institute the needs and desires of the Flight Attendants into an effective collective bargaining agreement (CBA).  The Committee should have a good working knowledge of the current CBA and be willing to devote their full time to the Committee during negotiations.  The members of this Committee shall serve as the CBA Interpretation Committee until a new agreement is completed.

Selection of Committee Members

  • Any person seeking a­­ position on the Negotiating Committee must submit a resume to the MEC
  • Committee Members will function until a new Committee is selected
  • The Chairperson of the Negotiating Committee will be the MEC President or her/his designee
  • Committee Members are selected by majority vote of the voting members of the MEC (LEC Presidents)

Committee Member Duties & Responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the Negotiating Committee shall include the following:

  • The Committee, with the advice of the Staff Negotiator shall have the authority to conclude an agreement, subject to the provisions of Article XII of the Constitution and Bylaws.
  • All members of the Committee, including alternates whenever possible, shall complete a negotiations training seminar prior to writing an “opener.”
  • Be familiar with Union policy and keep abreast of new developments in the industry.
  • Utilize the facilities and resources of the Union and the experience and knowledge of Union Officers, International Office staff and study committees of the Union. (eg., Legal, Retirement and Insurance, Wage and Working Conditions, etc.).
  • Maintain a current record of the:
    • Financial condition of the company.
    • Management lines of authority and methods of communication.
    • Operations statistics and experiences of the airline which may be used in bargaining, grievances, litigation, etc.
  • Be familiar with the wishes of the Flight Attendant group with respect to wages, working conditions, and work rules, through, for example, system-wide distribution of contract surveys, periodic road shows, etc.
  • Prepare the contract opener with the advice of the Staff Negotiator
  • Provide regular updates to the membership on the status of negotiations
  • Proof CBA language and agree with the Company on implementation and effective dates
  • Review tentative agreement with the MEC
  • Prepare membership summary package and Roadshow schedule
  • Present the tentative agreement to the members
  • Proof printed agreement and prepare CBA index
  • Prepare CBA interpretations for new concepts
  • Remain available as a resource for interpretations
  • Maintain a complete record of the negotiations, including proposals, notes and communications, and such record is the property of AFA-CWA.  A copy of this record will be forwarded to the International Office by the Negotiating Committee.
  • Maintain contact, through the MEC President, with IAM, ALPA, TWU, AMFA, and other applicable labor unions on property

Flight Pay Loss Reimbursement

Flight pay loss (FPL) reimbursement will be provided to Negotiating Committee Members at the rate of 6 TFP at “A” pay for 8 hours of work.  FPL is not reimbursed for days that solely contain travel to/from an activity.

Expressing Interest and Interview Scheduling

The MEC will hold interviews during the March Regular MEC meeting from March 10-11, 2020.  Bid around the interview date or plan to arrange your schedule accordingly to accommodate.

Interested candidates should submit an expression of interest and resume online at https://forms.gle/6vj5XPxDwv9x54eb9.  The deadline for submissions is 5 PM Pacific time on Tuesday, March 3.  After that time, MEC Secretary-Treasurer Linda Christou will contact qualified candidates to schedule a specific interview time.

Please note that in order 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?

Any questions regarding the Negotiating Committee positions or application process should be directed to MEC President Jeffrey Peterson at jeffrey.peterson@afaalaska.org.

AFA Dues FAQs

Membership Committee

How Often Are Dues Deducted?

Dues are deducted once per month on the 20th of the month and represent that months dues.

What If I Have a Past Due Amount?

Alaska Airlines will not deduct past due amounts from your paycheck.  If you have a past due amount owing, the AFA International Membership Service department will send you an invoice.  All past due amounts must be paid directly to AFA.

Do I Owe Dues If I Am On a Leave of Absence?

If you are on a leave of absence and coordinating any type of pay (sick leave or vacation), you are considered on payroll and you must pay your union dues.

If you are not coordinating enough to have your dues deducted (this is the last priority for payroll deductions) then you will receive an invoice from the AFA International Membership Services department.  This is a bill and the amount must be paid.  

If you are not receiving any pay, you are obligated to pay dues for the first 3 months of your leave.  After the three months period has passed, you do not have any further dues obligation until you return from your leave.

Where Can I Access Dues Check Off and Membership Forms?

You can access the Dues Check Off (DCO) form used for automatic payroll deduction of AFA dues and the AFA membership application on the membership page of the AFA Alaska website.

Questions?

If you have any questions about AFA dues, please contact your Local Membership Committee.

Department of Transportation Warning About CBD Products

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee

On Tuesday, February 18, 2020, the Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy Compliance issued a compliance notice regarding the use of cannabidiol (CBD) products for employees in safety-sensitive positions who are subject to drug testing per 49 CFR part 40 (which includes Flight Attendants).  You can view the notice by clicking here.

In summary, the notice states:

  • The Department of Transportation requires testing for marijuana and not CBD.
  • The labeling of many CBD products may be misleading because the products could contain higher levels of THC than what the product label states. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not currently certify the levels of THC in CBD products, so there is no Federal oversight to ensure that the labels are accurate. The FDA has cautioned the public that: “Consumers should beware purchasing and using any [CBD] products.” The FDA has stated: “It is currently illegal to market CBD by adding it to a food or labeling it as a dietary supplement.” Also, the FDA has issued several warning letters to companies because their products contained more CBD than indicated on the product label.
  • The Department of Transportation’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulation, Part 40, does not authorize the use of Schedule I drugs, including marijuana, for any reason. Furthermore, CBD use is not a legitimate medical explanation for a laboratory-confirmed marijuana positive result. Therefore, Medical Review Officers will verify a drug test confirmed at the appropriate cutoffs as positive, even if an employee claims they only used a CBD product.

This information is consistent with other guidance on CBD previously communicated by AFA. 

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the AFA Alaska EAP Committee.  You can find contact information on the EAP Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.  Any contact made to AFA EAP is completely confidential.

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 7

The Master Executive Council (MEC) was planning to meet with one of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Cabin Safety Inspectors assigned to Alaska Airlines this week during the regular February MEC meeting.  The intent of the meeting was to allow the MEC to gain a better understanding as to how the FAA interprets and applies the Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs) and other guiding documents to Flight Attendant recurrent training.  More specifically, the MEC is seeking more information about what drove the changes that were made to Recurrent Training 2020 when it initially launched in January.

Unfortunately, not all of the required representatives from the FAA’s Certificate Management Office (CMO) could be available for the scheduled meeting last Wednesday and the meeting was canceled.  The MEC is actively working with the FAA to reschedule the meeting to another time as soon as all required attendees from both AFA and the FAA are available.  More information will be communicated once the meeting is able to be rescheduled.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Matt Cook, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Update on Open Time Back to Book

Contractual Modification Approved by Roll Call Vote

By majority roll call vote, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has approved a contractual modification that will maintain the current open time trading rules inclusive of Section 12 Exchange of Sequences.  This modification will remove the requirement to program back to book trading rules and the application of Section 12 Exchange of Sequences: Back to Book.

Not an Easy Decision

This was not an easy decision to make because there are valid arguments for and against granting a contractual waiver. The MEC voting procedure outlined in the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws, Article VII.D.5.b [Master Executive Councils –> Master Executive Council Meetings –> Voting], allocates each voting member (LEC President or designee holding proxy) of the MEC one vote on any issue before the MEC. A majority determines the outcome, unless a roll-call vote is requested. During a roll call vote, each voting member of the MEC casts one vote for each member in good standing s/he represents. 

Roll Call Voting Record on Back to Book

The motion put forward was to direct the MEC President to draft a side letter of agreement to strike out all of Section 12 Exchange of Sequence: Back to Book and execute the sideletter with management.  During the roll-call, votes were cast as follows: 

Council number, number of active members in good standing, name of voting delegate, votes for the motion, votes against the motion 

CouncilDelegateTotal VotesVotes ForVotes Against
15 SANMcGee39229993
18 LAXRichardson1070535535
19 SEATaylor23082058250
30 ANCCook36796271
35 SFOOsborne78376518
39 PDXde’Medici620520100
Total554042731267

Based on the votes of the LEC Presidents (and proxy holders), the motion was adopted by a vote of 4273 votes for the motion and 1267 votes against the motion.

Interested in more information regarding Back to Book?

We are aware that nearly half of our Flight Attendants have never worked under the trading rules contained in Back to Book, nor do they have any familiarity with eMaestro.  Background information is available below.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the Open Time, back to book, or the MEC vote, please contact your LEC President.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Matt Cook, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Back to Book – What Does it Mean?

On May 1, 2006, Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants ratified a Collective Bargaining Agreement through May 1, 2010. In 2010 during an economic downturn, Alaska Flight Attendants ratified a contract extension through May 1, 2012, with an early opener clause in 2011.

The 2006 CBA contained negotiated and ratified open time provisions that were incorporated into the system known as E-maestro, the predecessor to Crew Access. Alaska Airlines management and AFA disagreed on the application of the rules and trading when Crew Scheduling violated our agreement by withholding trips from open time.  The parties agreed to utilize the grievance process, and AFA filed grievance #36-99-2-18-11.  A neutral third-party arbitrator ruled against AFA in the final and binding arbitration award and provided a decision to both Alaska Airlines management and AFA on how to incorporate and interpret the agreed language.  This arbitration award is consistent with the 2018-2021 Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement, which may be found in Section 12 Exchange of Sequences: Back to Book.

In November 29, 2011, AFA and Alaska management met to discuss early openers and begin the negotiation process of Section 6 negotiations under the Railway Labor Act.  The parties agreed on December 12, 2013, to put forward a tentative agreement for membership consideration that subsequently failed.  This required another round of negotiations that began on June 25, 2014.

When the second tentative agreement passed it contained an open time trial period with a cancellation clause, Section 12.F Exchange of Sequences.  The open time trial was negotiated due to feedback from members who were unhappy with the trading rules combined with the arbitration award.  This required the negotiating committees to look for ways to improve the arbitration award and bring flexibility back to our schedules. 

On July 8, 2016, we selected our Joint Negotiating Committee, and began working towards a joint collective bargaining agreement to combine Alaska Airlines and Virgin America into a single carrier. On July 21, 2016, we cancelled our Open Time trial with Alaska management. The cancellation of the Open Time Trial is pursuant to Section 12.F.9 and required the parties to begin negotiations on a successor system.   

In the midst of this, on January 30, 2017, we transitioned from E-Maestro to Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA). 

Negotiations for a successor system deadlocked in 2019 due to implementation penalties and a disagreement on the proposal with Alaska management. This required the MEC to compare our current system with the rules that applied to back to book. We reviewed the trading rules, TFP, open days, adequate reserve coverage, 25% funding, day for day trading, implementation, dropping, threshold sequence numbers and other components.  After reviewing the two systems our MEC made the decision that it was in the best interest of the members to maintain the current system and spend our time preparing for early openers of contract negotiations in the fall of 2020.  

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 6

Breaking news!

Limited self-correction during door evacuation drills

The Master Executive Council (MEC) has been informed that limited self-correction is now allowed during door evacuation drills in one specific circumstance. Flight Attendants are expected to come to Recurrent Training (RT) prepared to demonstrate proficiency by using verbatim evacuation commands. However, if the (incorrect) command “STAND BACK” is corrected to “STAY BACK, STAY BACK, STAY BACK…” during an evacuation drill evaluation, then this will be considered successful.

If self-correction occurs as described above, then the Inflight Instructor will debrief with the student after the evaluation is complete. The purpose of the debrief is to ensure the student is clear on the Flight Attendant Manual (FAM) standard of “STAY BACK – STAY BACK” (no “STAND BACK”). For now, this will be the only self-correction allowed during evacuation drills.

Proposed redesign of the Special Track Training submitted to the FAA

Management submitted the proposed redesign of the Special Track Training to the FAA today. The FAA has up to 16 working days to accept or reject the proposal. In the interim, AFA and management have agreed to not allow any Flight Attendant to proceed to the fourth drill attempt; affected FAs are currently being pay protected while we wait for the FAA’s response.

Additional approved exceptions to the verbatim evacuation commands

Again, Flight Attendants are expected to come to RT prepared to demonstrate proficiency by using verbatim evacuation commands. However, one more variant on “plane” that is used throughout the British Commonwealth has been added to the approved exceptions: aeroplane. Flight Attendants will be deemed proficient and therefore successful in completing their evacuation evaluation if they inadvertently use any of the now five approved exceptions: “the,” “airplane,” “aeroplane,” “aircraft” and “jump.” Italicized text inside of parenthesis indicate the approved exceptions to the verbatim evacuation commands:

“Heads down, stay down” / “Open seatbelts — Open seatbelts” / “Stay back — Stay back” / “You two, stay at the bottom” / “Help (the) people off” / “Send them away from the plane (/ airplane / aeroplane / aircraft)” / “Leave everything” / “Exit here” / “Jump (Jump)”.

The MEC anticipates publishing another RT update following our meeting this coming Wednesday with one of the FAA Cabin Safety Inspectors assigned to Alaska Airlines or pending any new developments.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Matt Cook, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 5

During the two-week pause of Recurrent Training (RT), management has redesigned the program with the assistance of a vendor that was contracted to help facilitate the process changes. Many of those changes were solidified through an alpha test of the redesigned RT 2020 and subsequent beta test over the past week. AFA leadership participated in the tests along with senior Inflight Instructors and a small group of line Flight Attendants.

Management sent an “RT Improvement Plan” email (February 8, 2020) on Saturday that outlined what Flight Attendants can expect for the relaunch of RT on Monday, February 10. Not surprisingly, many of you had questions or concerns about that communication.

Summary of and commentary about the RT Improvement Plan

Hands-on time has increased from 90 minutes with no time allocated for emergency equipment to 2.5 hours including doors and emergency equipment.

However, 2.5 hours is still not enough because of resource constraints. Once one factors in the number of students, instructors, drills, etc., an individual FA will likely have only a few minutes for any particular door drill. The Master Executive Council (MEC) strongly believes management should allocate more hands-on time.

Thirty minutes of hands-on training is now available before the start of every RT class.

AFA has lingering concerns with the emphasis on voluntary uncompensated training outside of negotiated training hours. This is not an acceptable long-term solution due to the totality of the circumstances.

Scheduled open houses to allow for voluntary practice time on equipment.

Same objection as above: Voluntary uncompensated training outside of negotiated training hours is not an acceptable long-term solution.

The completion packet has been streamlined by condensing the number of drills from 31 to 20.

Condensing is good, but AFA has advocated for more trimming where allowed by regulation.

The instructors are again able to provide direct feedback after unsuccessful drill attempts.

Direct feedback should never have been eliminated in the first place. The MEC believes this is an epic fail on management’s part.

Instructors audited the program content for accuracy. 

Excellent! However, who thought it was a good idea to not have the instructors audit the program content for accuracy before now?

Upgraded the RT website to enhance the user experience.

The upgrades are subtle, so the MEC questions how much this will actually enhance the user experience. However, we do appreciate the effort.

Pre-class material, videos, and classroom content has been audited to ensure accuracy.

Is it painfully obvious that quality assurance is extremely under-resourced in Inflight Training?

Topics still being actively explored

Separately, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has taken part in several meetings with management this past week for continuing discussions about the evolving RT situation. A key discussion occurred on Thursday with Vice President of Inflight Ron Calvin, VP Labor Relations Jenny Wetzel, VP Safety & Security Max Tidwell, VP Flight Operations John Ladner, MD Inflight Operations Michaela Littman and MD Labor Relations Carmen Williams.

Topics of particular interest that are still being actively explored:

  • Revamping the “Special Track Training” program. (A Flight Attendant is currently put into Special Track Training following the third unsuccessful attempt of any drill evaluation.)
  • AFA’s grave concerns regarding potential termination of employment following a fourth unsuccessful attempt.
  • Whether self-correction during drill evaluations was possible. Management committed to clarifying with the FAA and to report back as soon as possible.

Management intends to submit a proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration for a redesigned Special Track Training program early this week that will hopefully resolve the first two issues above. The FAA has up to 16 working days to accept or reject the proposal. In the interim, AFA and management have agreed to not allow any Flight Attendant to proceed to the fourth drill attempt; affected FAs are currently being pay protected, but this doesn’t lessen the emotional impact.

Accountability and oversight

AFA has asked management to disclose which specific changes to the RT program were required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a result of its audit of the Inflight training program last fall and which changes were management’s discretion. The parties will continue that conversation this week. Additionally, the MEC is scheduled to meet with one of the FAA Cabin Safety Inspectors assigned to Alaska Airlines this coming Wednesday.

We anticipate publishing another RT update in the coming days pending any new developments.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Matt Cook, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

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Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 2nd Quarter 2026

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