Scheduling Committee

Bidding Deadline Extended

April 7, 2017 10:10

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

April 6, 2017 10:08

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!

February 16, 2017 15:00

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]

February 14, 2017 21:00

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 14^th – 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 18^th 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 18^th 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 15^th 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 15^th starting at 0900 PT.

Example 2: All F/As may pick up out of SEA on the 15^th 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 15^th at 0900 PT. S/he must wait until the 16^th 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 15^th of the month.

All Open Time Trips Withheld and Premium Pay Removed – Part 3

February 10, 2017 18:00

All trips in Open Time coded as premium and subsequently withheld

Yesterday morning, AFA became aware that all trips in Open Time across the entire system were coded with premium pay, then withheld and placed back in OT with the premium removed. AFA subsequently filed a grievance on the issue. Check out “All Open Time Trips Withheld and Premium Pay Removed” and “All Open Time Trips Withheld…Part 2” for more information.

System glitch was responsible for the “blanket premium”

It has now been confirmed that the “blanket premium” was the result of a glitch with Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA). A system patch is scheduled for early next week to permanently resolve the problem. Jeppesen has developed a short-term strategy for reversing blanket premium in case it happens again prior to the patch. However, AFA will take the same contractual position if the blanket premium recurs.

Management is resolved to not restore premium across the board but will pay premium for trips picked up while the system issue existed

Management is resolved to not restore premium across the board due to concerns over operational reliability but will pay premium for trips picked up while the system issue existed. Crew Scheduling management reportedly has now ensured that all who picked up during this error can see the premium reflected in their roster view.

Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider sent the MEC the following statement:

At the present time I’ve committed to pay 1.5 to any FA who picked up a trip in Open Time at that rate while the system issue existed. However, I’m not planning to reinstate the rest of the trips that were in Open Time at the 1.5 rate, as those only exist due to a system issue and not as a result of any operational need. I also worry that putting the 1.5 back on those trips would cause additional operational hardships. Putting them back in at 1.5 would make us more vulnerable to staffing shortages as it is likely that many trips would be dropped in order to pick up at 1.5. While I understand AFA’s position on this issue and I will let the grievance work through the process.

Management has clarified that they are committed to pay premium on any trips that were picked up at double time (2.0x) as well.

Forward to arbitration…

At this point, it looks like the parties will be resolving this dispute via arbitration unless we are able to reach a settlement that the MEC believes is favorable for our members. Thank you in advance for your patience!