AFA Alaska + Hawaiian

Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

Click here to report an issue to AFA
You are here: Home / Archives for Committees / Scheduling Committee

Important Information Regarding Open Time

A message from your AFA Scheduling Committee

In preparation for Open Time this Saturday, some changes to Crew Access have been made to help minimize the spinning propeller issue that occurred last month.

If you should encounter the spinning propeller, Jeppesen suggests that you continue to submit any additional trades, even if the propeller is still there. They are working on a permanent fix for this issue but want you to maximize the opportunity to manage your schedules in the meantime.

Reminders

  • Check your Published Roster for the most accurate roster information. Hamburger Menu > Reports > Reports on Demand > Published Roster
  • Print your pairing by clicking the blue pairing number in your Roster View
  • Flight Loads are now available approximately 5 days before your trip. To view Flight Loads. FA Website > Schedule & Bidding > Flight Loads
  • When picking up a SIP, verify your report time. Trips may show the report time as the same time as departure. You must report 1 hour before scheduled departure.
  • When using the Filter “Show only premium pay trips” it will show all the trips that had premium pay associated with them. For example, a FA picks up a premium pay trip, then Advertises it for Grab. It will show in the filtered trips using this Filter, but premium pay will NOT follow the sequence. Section 9.E.3.

How to Split/SIP a trip

In the example below, the Flight Attendant would like to Advertise SEA-DFW, DFW-SEA as a SIP for Grab.

1.  Add the trip to your Trade Cart
2.  Select Split activity
3.  Select the flight, in this case AS719 SLC-SEA, before the portion of the trip wanting to be sipped.

4.  Select After (In this case the F/A wants to sip the portion of the trip after SLC-SEA.)
5.  Select the trade option and complete the advertisement

You will see ½ of a green line next to your trip in your Roster View once your trip has been successfully advertised.

Please review the training video for additional information about Splitting a Trip. FA Website > Schedule & Bidding > Crew Access Help > Tutorial Videos & Guides

Recurrent Training

Recently, you may have seen the addition of FRS2 for recurrent training in Seattle. There is not a difference between FRS1 and FRS2. You may trade and pick up either one. So, if you are awarded a FRS1 and you want to trade into another date that has FRS2, your trade will be approved. You may also click on the grey triangle on the top right to see the list of flight attendants who will be attending that class.

Once dual recurrent trainings are offered in Seattle, FRS2 will be used to indicate an afternoon recurrent training.

Questions?

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

Bidding Deadline Extended

We are aware of some issues with some Flight Attendants not being able to submit their bids.  This is related to a change in terminology with ‘Forget’ and ‘Redo’.  Another issue discovered is being able to ‘Forget’ one type of bid line is not working properly.  The new functionality is designed to maximize the number of days off you get with the prefer off bid.

In both the previous and new functionality, if a complete line cannot be built in the first completion attempt, it will go into top down inclusion:

  • In the previous functionality, when top down inclusion got to the prefer off day of week bid, it would add them in date order, trying to build a line with each additional date.
  • In the new functionality, when top down inclusion gets to the prefer off day of week bid, it will look at all possibilities to maximize the total number of that day that you get off.  It attempts to build a line with at least 1 of that day off, then at least 2 of that day off, etc.  It continues this process and attempts get as many of those days off in the completed line as it can.

Because of this changed functionality it was determined that a ‘forget’ was not necessary for this bid as it is attempting all possible combinations to get the best possible result.  As an alternative, you can use ‘Avoid Pairings if Departing On Friday’ instead of ‘Prefer Off Friday’ as that would be forgettable.  Also, using ‘Avoid Pairings if Duty on Friday’ could be used an alternative as well.

As a reminder, all negative (prefer off, avoid) bids should be placed in the order of priority in your bid group. Bids are read in order of importance from the top down.

Considering these issues and new functionalities, we have extended the bidding window.  Bidding will now close on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 09:00. Bid results will still be published at the regularly scheduled time.

*** Please note, the date for Open Time trading will NOT change. ***

Once again, we apologize for any confusion these issues have caused. We are in contact with Navblue and are working on a solution to ensure programming changes are communicated to us well in advance of bidding.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or need PBS help, please email PBS.QA@alaskaair.com.

Important! PBS Bidding Issue

A message from your PBS Committee

We are currently seeing an issue with some people not being able to submit their bids.  It is related to a change in terminology with ‘Forget’ and ‘Redo’.
If you are unable to ‘submit’, check your Default bid to make sure that there are not any ‘Redo From’ lines that are all alone…with no ‘Forget’ line coming before it.  That is what is preventing you from being able to ‘submit’ your Current or Default bid.  You will need to delete the stand-alone ‘Redo From’ line(s) in order to be able to submit your bids. Then add new ‘Forget Line’ and ‘Redo From Line’ bids if desired.
Also, if you are someone that likes to copy a previous month’s bid and paste it into your Current bid, you’ll need to re-enter any Forget and Redo From lines from scratch.  If you try copying/pasting, don’t include any ‘Forget’ or any ‘Redo From’ lines when moving the old bid to this month’s Current bid.
Another issue is that being able to ‘forget’ one type of bid line is not working properly.  You will not see any ‘Prefer Off’ by day of week lines showing up on the list of lines you can ‘forget’. A work-around is to ask for those days by date, not day of week…they now show on the list and are ‘forgettable’.
For example, instead of saying ‘Prefer Off Friday’, you will need to say ‘Prefer Off May 5, May 12, May 19, May 26’…now you will see that line on the list of lines you can ‘forget’ later in the bid.  If you don’t plan on ‘forgetting’ Fridays then you would not need to do this and can simply enter ‘Prefer Off Friday’.
We apologize for these issues…we weren’t notified in advance about this.  The problem stems from Navblue changing the terminology from ‘Forget’ to ‘Forget Line’ and from ‘Redo From’ to ‘Redo From Line’.
For help, email PBS.QA@alaskaair.com

All Open Time Trips Withheld and Premium Pay Removed AGAIN!

This morning, AFA became aware that all trips in Open Time across the entire system were again coded with premium pay, then withheld and placed back in OT with the premium removed.  The system glitch with Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) that was previously communicated by AFA last week was again responsible for the recurrence (see All Open Time Trips Withheld and Premium Pay Removed – Part 3).

AFA is preparing to file yet another grievance on management’s violation of our contract.  (Updated 2/17/2017: Instead of filing a new grievance on the same issue, we amended the original grievance to include the circumstances of this most recent contractual violation and any ongoing violations of the same nature. ^jtp) We will continue to work to defend our contract despite management’s failure to live up to their contractual obligations.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee, MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams

Violation of CBA §12.C.2-3 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures]

Late this afternoon AFA was made aware of yet another contractual violation that will occur over the next few days in regards to out of domicile pick ups, trades, drops, giveaways. We also have additional information to share with you about trading Recurrent Training dates.

Currently, AFA and management agree to the following posted schedule:

Posting of Trips
All bases: 14th @ 2000 Pacific Time (PT)

FA-to-FA trading

  • SAN – 15th @ 0900 PT
  • PDX – 15th @ 1000 PT
  • ANC – 15th @ 1100 PT (1000 AKT)
  • LAX – 15th @ 1200 PT
  • SEA – 15th @ 1300 PT

Open Time trading

  • SAN – 16th @ 0900 PT
  • PDX – 16th @ 1000 PT
  • ANC – 16th @ 1100 PT (1000 AKT)
  • LAX – 16th @ 1200 PT
  • SEA – 17th @ 0900 PT

Recurrent Training trading

All bases 18th @ 0900 PT (0800 AKT)

Out of domicile FA to FA & OT

18th @ 0900 PT (0800 AKT)

However, Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) was programed incorrectly, and beginning today the following schedule will occur:

Posting of Trips

February 14th – Already began earlier (prior to 8pm PT) for all bases.

FA-to-FA trading

Same as current schedule in “FA-to-FA trading” above.

Open Time trading

Same as current schedule in “Open Time trading” above.

Recurrent Training trading

Recurrent Training trading will start at the agreed-upon time on the 18th at 0900 PT (0800 AKT). Open Recurrent Training slots are already visible in JCA (the graduation cap icon), but you will not be able to trade into them until the 18th at 0900 PT (0800 AKT).

Out of domicile FA-to-FA

Out of domicile Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant pick-ups, trades and giveaways will start on February 15th for all bases at the respective start time for Flight Attendant trades in each domicile.

Example 1: All F/As regardless of where they are based may pick up out of SAN on the 15th starting at 0900 PT.

Example 2: All F/As may pick up out of SEA on the 15th starting at 1300 PT.

Out of domicile OT

Out of domicile Open Time pick-ups, trades and drops will start when Open Time opens for the domicile in which the sequence operates.

Example: A SEAFA picked up a SAN OOD sequence on the 15th at 0900 PT. S/he must wait until the 16th at 0900 PT to trade that sequence with SAN Open Time.

In our continuing effort to defend our contract, AFA has filed Grievance 36-99-2-12-17 Violation §12.C.2-3 Trades, Pick-Ups, Drops and Give-Aways on Incorrect Dates.

Reminder: Change to Trading Timeline in March for April Schedules

Effective next bid month (March 2017), both Open Time and Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant trading begins on the 15th of the month.

Read more >

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones; and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams

2017.02.14 Grievance 36-99-2-12-17 Violation §12.C.2-3 Trades, Pick-Ups, Drops and Give-Aways on Incorrect Dates

Important Update: Irregular Operations Due to Civil Unrest In Mexico

In response to the significant operational disruptions caused by the civil unrest affecting cities throughout Mexico, particularly Puerto Vallarta (PVR), Guadalajara (GDL), and Manzanillo (ZLO), management continues to operate under an Irregular Operations (IROPS) situation. Our MEC and Committees are actively monitoring the situation and working with management to support our Flight Attendants. Management has […]

Invitation to Training: What To Do if a Union Member is Detained

The California Federation of Labor Unions is offering a series of Union Rapid Response Trainings. The next session, “What To Do if a Union Member is Detained,” will offer practical information and guidance on how to respond if this happens. Details of the training are as follows: Date: Thursday, February 19Time: 11:30 AM to 1 PM PTLocation: Zoom Please register […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – February 2026

On Monday, February 9, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met virtually to receive an update about current layover hotels and transportation providers and discuss concerns with management. Representing you at the meeting were Dori Marron (ANC), Jarod McNeill (SEA), Kelly Hepworth (PDX), Hilary Streem (SFO), Brian Sherill (LAX-pmAS), and Kanani Vallot (SAN), with MEC […]

SEA Domicile Negotiations Update – February 2026

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants SEA Domicile May Vacancy Posting The company has posted vacancies for the SEA domicile. There are 121 permanent vacancies available, effective May 1, 2026 for the May bid month. Bids will close at 11:59 PM HT on Monday, February 16. Awards will be posted by 12:00 PM […]

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee Meeting Recap – January 2026

On Wednesday, January 28, our AFA Local Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) 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 Deb Wallstrom (ANC), David Lake (SEA), Kalin Lackey (PDX), Brad Young (SFO & MEC ASHSC Vice […]

Recent Posts

News By Month

News By Category

AFA News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/HA Merger AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX (pmAS) Council 19 SEA Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX Council 47 LAX (pmHA) EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights & Equity Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Membership Committee Membership Engagement Committee Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee

Want To Stay In The Loop?

Stay up-to-date on AFA Alaska news and information by signing up for our email and text message updates. Click a button below to get started or update your preferences if you're already a subscriber.
Sign Up for Emails
Sign Up for Text Updates