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Civil Unrest in Puerto Vallarta

Crews will be turned starting tomorrow out of an abundance of caution

Due to civil unrest in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Alaska Airlines management and AFA Alaska agree that out of an abundance of caution it is appropriate to turn crews out of Puerto Vallarta starting tomorrow, Saturday, May 2, 2015. Management may extend the application at its discretion until normal operations resume in PVR.

 

Clarified 8.S language with improved pay premium will be used

The parties have agreed to utilize the language of Section 8 Hours of Service provision S “Natural Disasters and Acts of War” in order to accomplish the removal and re-start of crews. During language clean-up, the parties agreed to clarify and improve 8.S. You will notice an improved pay premium of double time (2x) in this application!

 

8.S language

 

The revised language that will be in the final print version is as follows:

 

S. NATURAL DISASTERS AND ACTS OF WAR

 

  1. In the face of natural disasters or acts of war, the primary focus of the Association and the Company will be the safety of the crew when scheduling or reassigning Flight Attendants to fly into or out of areas affected by imminent or present natural disasters or acts of war.

 

  1. When a natural disaster and/or act of war is imminent or present, and a need for rescheduling or reassigning crews becomes apparent, the Manager of Crew Scheduling or her/his designee will contact the MEC President or her/his designee //. Contact with the AFA appointed representative will be maintained until such time as all crewmembers have been returned to domicile and normal operations have resumed.

 

  1. If the flight deck crewmembers are offered release from flying into or out of a city, or laying over in a city affected by such natural disaster and/or act of war, the Flight Attendant crewmembers will be released as well. Every effort will be made to keep Flight Attendant crews together when reassigning them to be removed from a city affected by imminent or present natural disasters or acts of war.

 

  1. It may be necessary to exceed duty limitations in accordance with S.5., below, in order to remove Flight Attendants from danger, in order to bring customers out of a city impacted by natural disaster and/or acts of war or to resume normal operations to a city impacted by such events.

 

  1. On a case-by-case basis, with the mutual agreement of the parties, the scheduling limitation of ten hours and thirty minutes (10:30) of duty outlined in // 8.E. [Duty Period], above, may be exceeded to remove crews from or to avoid danger and/or to facilitate bringing customers out of a disaster area, or to resume normal operations to an affected city impacted by such events. The compensatory rest outlined in // 8.H. [Compensatory (Double-Out) Rest], above, and any other applicable Sections will apply, and will be provided upon the Flight Attendant’s first return to domicile. Additionally, the two times (2.0x) (three times (3.0x) as applicable) rate of pay will apply to any TFP flown in a duty period scheduled to exceed or that actually exceeds ten hours and thirty minutes (10:30) of duty due to irregular operations directly resulting from 8.S.. //

 

a. Crews that exceed such duty limitations to perform such work will be deadheaded one way (in either direction) in passenger seats.

 

b. An uncovered sequence constructed under 8.S. (“8.S. sequence”) will be built with appropriate compensatory “double-out” rest added to the end of the sequence that cannot be reduced. However, such rest and the pay provisions of H.2. [Compensatory (Double-Out) Rest], above, may be waived by the Flight Attendant in order to pick up or trade into another sequence.

 

c. An uncovered “8.S. sequence” will first be offered to a Flight Attendant who has flights cancelled from her/his line of time as a result of an 8.S. event and is eligible for an alternate assignment under the provisions of Section 10.S. [Pre- Cancellations], if applicable. The Flight Attendant may accept the “8.S. sequence” or may decline with pay protection for the original sequence at straight time. If the Flight Attendant accepts and works the “8.S. sequence”, any conflicting scheduling obligations will be resolved in accordance with 8.H. [Compensatory (Double-Out) Rest].

 

d. An “8.S. sequence” may be placed into OT for pick-up and trading. The associated compensatory “double-out” rest cannot be reduced as a result of trading. However, such rest and the pay provisions of H.2. [Compensatory (Double-Out Rest], above, may be waived by the Flight Attendant in order to pick up or trade into another sequence. Until automated, the Flight Attendant must contact Crew Scheduling to complete a pick-up, drop, trade or give-away of an “8.S. sequence”

 

e. A Reserve may be assigned an “8.S. sequence”. If the Reserve works the sequence, s/he will be credited one times (1.0x) the trip rate toward the Reserve’s guarantee and any additional premium TFP(s) will be paid above guarantee.

 

* * *

 

Once again, this is being done only out of an abundance of caution. We will continue to update you if necessary but otherwise this will be the only communication in regards to civil unrest in Puerto Vallarta.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Scheduling chairperson Jake Jones

AFA Alaska

PBS Update – May 2015

June bidding advice

 

Most survived the changes for May bidding but not everyone was happy with the results of their May schedule. There were not only changes in the pairings but also in the steps you might have needed to take in order to hold the trips you wanted. We did our best to communicate these changes, with the PBS Info Page devoting a lot of real estate at the top of the page to help you. That information is still there for you to read if you missed it earlier.

 

Confusion about some new ‘Waive’ options was a factor for some people…with people being unsure if they needed to use one of the new ‘waives’ or even where to find them. Waives are entered like any other bid line – by clicking on the ‘Add’ button to the right when looking at your Current or Default bid. The ‘Waive’ tab is on the far right of the list on the ‘Add bid preference’ page. AFA was not consulted as to the terminology used to describe the new ‘waive’ options.

 

Definitions of Lineholder Waives:

 

Allow Charters – Necessary to bid for charters in PBS (ANC-RDB is the only current charter bid in PBS).

Allow Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings – Must be added in order to be awarded redeye ‘4k’ pairings (there are currently none offered).

Allow Non-Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings – Must be added to your bid to be awarded day-time ‘4k’ pairings, both as turns and as part of a multiday trip.

48 Hours Off In 7 Days – To allow the program to build six days in a row of flying…with a 24 hour minimum rest at base in any seven day period.

48 Hours Off In 7 Days If Training – To allow the program to build six days working in a row but only the week of training (RT or any other company-scheduled training event) with then a 24 hour break at your base.

No Same Day Pairings – This must be entered in your bid if you want to fly two pairings on the same calendar day. Those needing to enter this ‘waive’ are people wanting back-to-back SEA-ANC/FAI all-nighter turns, back-to-back LAX-GDL/MEX redeye pairings, HNL-ANC then ANC-ORD the same day, etc.

Rest After Training – Used to waive rest after training down to 9:00 (nine hours) after release from training.

Rest Before TV – Using this allows rest before travel to a training event to be waived down to 2:00 (two hours) after check-out.

Co-Terminal – LAX base only…to allow PBS to award LAX check-ins and more than one co-terminal check-in.

 

 

Definition of Reserve Waives:

 

Maximum Days On 5 – To allow PBS to build you six days of on-call in a row.

Maximum Days On 5 If Training – To allow PBS to have you working six days in a row but only when a training event such as RT falls in that week.

Coming soon! The ability for Reserves to waive to one calendar day rest per week instead of the contractually required two consecutive days.

 

FYI –

  1. Waive bids will automatically go the top of your bid…they cannot be moved.
  2. Layover rest is NOT the same as rest at your base. During bidding, you must have at least 48 hours off at your base in any seven day period. If you ‘waive’ that rule, then you must have at least 24 hours off at your base in any seven day period. Rest on a layover does not count towards contractual rest during bid awards.

 

 

Changes in Flying out of your Base

 

While there might have been some changes in the pairings in all bases, the biggest impact was felt in the SEA base. Those particularly impacted were people bidding only for two-day trips that were now unable to hold them. They had previously needed to be awarded two-day AUS, DTW, IAH, ORD, SAT or STL pairings as those were the only two-day trips they generally held. With all of those cities listed above now being turns, there were very few two-day trips available other than east coast, Hawaii or Mexico.

 

Consequently, a significant number of people’s bids went into ‘Denial Mode’. This was because they did not have any ‘backup plan’ if they couldn’t hold two-day trips. These people will have to make adjustments to their bid to be willing to fly, at minimum, multi-leg two-day trips or very likely other trip lengths…turns, three or four-day trips,

 

Long Duty Period (‘4k’) pairings contractually are to be offered to every base. SEA and PDX only fly ‘4k’ trips as turns but in all other bases the ‘4k’ day is mid-pairing after laying over in SEA or PDX the night before and after. A maximum of 90% of the total 4k departures may be built in any single domicile and a minimum of 10% of the total 4k domicile departures will be built and distributed on an approximately equitable basis throughout the remaining domiciles each bid month. In May, some ‘4k’ pairings out of SAN were not bid for and fell into Open Time.

 

 

Upcoming PBS Base Sits

 

Representatives from the PBS Committee will be holding base sits in early May. The focus of these base sits is to reach out to the many new-hire FA’s in ANC and SEA but anyone is most welcome to drop in for help with their bid. Feedback on pairings can be addressed to the representatives from Crew Planning at the base sits. Comments regarding pairings can also be sent via Outlook email to your LEC Scheduling Committee Chairs or your LEC President. The Scheduling Committee will be meeting on June 25th, 2015 in Seattle with management to discuss any concerns you bring forward to your local committee.

 

ANC PBS base sit

Inflight

May 5th 9am-3pm

May 6th 5am-1pm

Sabrina Blevins-Crew Planning

Rebecca Asbell- PDXFA

Steve Poynter – SEAFA

 

SEA PBS base sit

Inflight-Mezzanine

May 7th 9am-4pm

May 8th 5am-1pm

Kelly Yeager-Crew Planning

Rebecca Asbell-PDXFA

Steve Poynter-SEAFA

 

Contact the PBS Committee anytime by email to PBS Q&A via Outlook.

Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) Pairings Cannot Be Traded in eMaestro

The MEC became aware of the 4k pairings trading issue once again directly from flight attendants

 

The Master Executive Council (MEC) has become aware of an extremely unfortunate development with regard to the Contract Implementation Schedule. Apparently Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) pairings cannot be traded automatically in Maestro and this function will not be available until August. We initially learned about the issue once again directly from flight attendants rather than being given proper notice by management, which is entirely unacceptable. AFA became aware of the problem only when flight attendants were attempting to trade 4k pairings—pairings marked with a ‘K’ label—and received an “overduty” error message in eMaestro.

 

One teeny tiny mention of the issue was buried

 

AFA has been involved in numerous implementation meetings with management and so far we have been unable to find any evidence the 4k pairings trading issue was brought forward at any time. Honestly, your AFA representatives would have taken a keen notice that 4k pairings could not be traded automatically. As flight attendants we know how important flexibility of schedule is with regard to quality of life. One teeny tiny mention of the issue was buried in a long list of “Implementation Milestones.” That document was attached to the “Contract Implementation Newsletter: Issue 1” sent by Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider to all flight attendants via Outlook on March 1st. That’s it.

 

This development is not in keeping with the negotiated Contract Implementation Schedule

 

AFA strongly believes communication in such a fashion does not serve as official notice. Regardless of notice, this development is not in keeping with the negotiated Contract Implementation Schedule. Additionally, we can assure you the Contract Committee would have vehemently opposed 4k pairings going live in May if such pairings could not be traded via automation until August.

 

 

AFA advocated to management that an Inflight bulletin be issued and the splash page updated

 

Let’s talk about the short-term fixes. AFA has advocated to management that an Inflight bulletin be issued explaining how to trade 4k pairings and that the Inflight splash page be updated. Both have already been accomplished.

 

Post 4k pairings in eMaestro but trade using First Class ‘FA Trade Form’

 

Post the 4k pairings in eMaestro just like a normal trip but utilize the comments field to indicate “4k” as a courtesy so the person trading knows what to do next. Keep in mind that all 4k pairings are marked with “K” label as well.

 

You will need to submit the trade request through First Class –> World of Inflight –> FA Trading –> domicile trade box (e.g. “SEA box”) –> FA Trade form, fill it out with all the applicable information and then send to the appropriate trades box (BASE space TRADES space MONTH, e.g. “SEA TRADES MAY”). For those of you who remember trading this way back in the day, Crew Scheduling will not deny trades based on incomplete or missing comments; back then a trade would be denied if the comments were not perfectly formatted to the required standard. Trades will be processed in the order in which they are received. To recap:

 

  • Log into FirstClass,
  • Double click the icon “World of Inflight,”
  • Double click on “FA Trading,”
  • Double click on your base folder,
  • Double click “FA Trade Form,”
  • Fill out the form completely,
  • Address the form to “BASE TRADES MONTH” (e.g. “SEA TRADES MAY” but please change to whatever your base and the correct month is of course), and
  • Push “Send” (in the upper left corner of the form).

 

In the short term AFA will file a contractual grievance alleging violation of the Contract Implementation Schedule and looking forward…

 

In the short term AFA will file a contractual grievance alleging a violation of the Contract Implementation Schedule. Looking forward, AFA recommends all flight attendants carefully consider the implications of bidding 4k pairings for June and July if they cannot be automatically traded until August. Remember, nobody is required to bid for these pairings at all.

 

AFA is extremely disappointed in these most recent developments

 

Once again AFA is extremely disappointed in these most recent developments with regard to trading of 4k pairings.

 

* * *

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Grievance chairperson Jennnifer Wise MacColl; and

 

Your Contract Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

AFA Alaska

Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Update for May 2015

The PBS program was down for a short while on March 18th so that a program update could be installed. This update addresses the contractual changes related to bidding in April for May schedules. Please familiarize yourself with these PBS-related changes and pass the word about them. Both management and AFA will be communicating the many changes coming in April for May…both bidding-related and pay-related.

Effective bidding in April for May:

Minimum TFP bid eliminated: 

The ‘Set Condition Minimum TFP’ bid preference is no longer available. This bid preference will still appear on PBS for a few more months until it can be removed…but if you bid for a Minimum TFP line that request will NOT be honored. All lines will be built within the ‘Normal’ range of TFP. The ‘Set Condition Maximum TFP’ bid is still available, giving you a line built between the base line average and the maximum allowed that month. If you’re currently using ‘Set Condition Minimum TFP’ you might want to delete that line from your bid…it will no longer be honored.

Change in Bid Protest:

The bid protest period will now be from 9am Pacific on the 13th to 9am Pacific on the 14th…24 hours in length. The reason for this is that very few protests were filed in the second day of bid protest. You can send your line award question to the PBS Q&A at any time outside the bid protest period. See Sec 10 Par L for information regarding Bid Protest.

New Line Average Range:

The monthly posted ‘base line average’ can now range from a low of 75tfp to a high of 85tfp. If past history is any guide, you can expect higher line averages in the summer and lower line averages in the winter (except possibly December). Remember, a ‘legal’ line can range anywhere from 10tfp below the posted line average to 10tfp above. Again, the ‘Minimum TFP’ bid has been eliminated but the ‘Maximum TFP’ bid remains available.

New rules:

  1. No Same-Day Pairings will be awarded (two pairings on the same calendar day) unless…

PBS will no longer be able to award you more than one pairing on any calendar day. You can waive this new rule if you wish…look for this option at the ‘Waive’ tab. If you wish to be awarded back-to-back SEA-ANC/FAI redeye turns, consecutive LAX-GDL/MEX pairings, back-to-back ANC-Hawaii-ANC-ORD pairings or ANY other situation where you wish to be awarded two different pairing numbers on the same day then you must ‘waive’ the ‘No Same-Day Pairings’ rule.

‘Coverage Awards’ and this new rule…attention junior lineholders!!

 This new rule ALSO applies to ‘Coverage Awards’ (aka ‘unstacking). You cannot be forced-assigned two different pairings on the same day (get home in the morning and leave again that evening). Most all would agree this is a good thing but there is a potential down-side for the most junior lineholders. If being awarded two pairings on the same day was necessary for someone to hold a line and they failed to ‘waive’ the rule, they could be potentially forced to Reserve. This is a tough call…no one can tell you whether to ‘waive’ this new rule or not….or what might happen in any given month.

  1. No Charters can be awarded by PBS unless…

Charters cannot be awarded or forced onto anyone via ‘Coverage Awards’ during bidding. If you’re ANC-based and wish to bid for RDG charters, you MUST waive the new ‘No Charters’ rule at the ‘Waive’ tab and ‘Allow Charters‘. The ANC-Red Dog charter is currently the only ‘known charter’ that can be bid for during bidding on PBS. Other frequent charters such as the Apple charter (ORD-PVR) have such a long duty day that they cannot be bid for or awarded during PBS bid awards.

  1. 48/7 waiver

Lineholders can now ‘waive’ the 48/7 contractual rest rule down to 24 hours off, Look for this option at the ‘Waive’ tab.  A Lineholder could have as little as 24 hours off between up to six-day blocks of flying.  Contractual rest must be at your base for bidding purposes…only during trading can it be on a layover.

 

If you do NOT choose to ‘waive’ the ’48/7′ rule then your line award must still respect that rule during line construction.

 

  1.  New six day block option for Reserves

Reserves can fly a block of six days instead of the previous five days maximum.  The ‘Waive Maximum Days On 5’ option is found at the ‘Waive’ tab. The minimum two calendar days off per week rule is still in effect.   This new ‘waive’ option will assist the bidder in potentially getting a longer stretch of days off somewhere in the month.  For example, by flying six on, two off, six on, two off, six on you can now potentially have up to eight consecutive days off in a 30-day month, nine consecutive days off in a 31 day month.  Being able to hold this long of stretch of days off may be contingent on the requirement for someone to work ‘Coverage’ days in a month.

New flying:

Long Stage Length/Duty Period pairings

Long Duty Period (aka ‘4K’) pairings will not be awarded during bidding unless you ‘waive’ that rule. There is a separate rule for both day and redeye 4k pairings. Go to the ‘Waive’ tab to ‘Allow Non-Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings’ or ‘Allow Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings’. If you wish to waive both rules, you must enter two separate lines. If you are waiving the ‘Non-Redeye’ rule, this will NOT allow the program to award you a ‘Redeye’ 4k pairing.

Redeye Definition: Any flight that departs between 14:00 and 04:00 that then lands between 02:00 and 12:00.

Screenshot that includes the new ‘Waive’ options…found at the ‘Waive’ tab:

Add Bid Preference to Default BidIf you have any questions, send them to PBS Q&A via Outlook or FirstClass.

Thanks!

Your AFA PBS Committee—MEC chairperson Stephen Poynter, Rebecca Asbell; and MEC Scheduling chairperson Jake Jones

Introducing the AFA Pairing Analyst

At a meeting held last week, your Master Executive Council (MEC) interviewed candidates for the position of MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson for Pairing Construction, commonly referred to as the AFA Pairing Analyst.  In total, nine candidates interviewed for the position (three Seattle-based Flight Attendants, three Portland-based Flight attendants, two Anchorage-based Flight Attendants, and one Los Angeles-based Flight Attendant).  The MEC would like to thank those candidates for stepping forward in the spirit of Union service.  After much discussion, the MEC has appointed Sherrijon Gaspard to the position.

About Sherrijon

A passion for helping people has been a driving force in Sherrijon’s life for as long as she can remember.  This dedication to service has been apparent at Alaska Airlines, where she has been a Flight Attendant since 1998.  Her commitment to helping people does not stop when the plane hits the ground and the cabin door opens.  She has been creative and resourceful in generating new ideas and solutions applicable to both the inflight department as well as the Union serving on various committees (Reserve Committee, PBS Committee, Inflight Service Committee, Hiring & Recruitment).

As part of her dedication to improvement, in 2006, Sherrijon decided to pursue an MBA at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business Management.  At Pepperdine, she honed her innate ability for hospitality, team building and enhancing the customer experience and added developing and implementing integrated marketing and client satisfaction programs to her skill set. After earning her MBA in 2009, she founded Eos Ventures, a small business consulting firm and launched Vina Sympatica™ Sparkling Wines.

Now in her new position as Pairing Analyst, Sherrijon is ready to once again dedicate time to AFA and use her keen eye for detail and strong organizational skills to help ensure fair yet equal pairings and improved Flight Attendant quality of life while also paying close attention to management’s cost concerns and contractual obligations.

Thank You To Jeff Stein

The MEC would like to thank outgoing Pairing Analyst and Portland-based Flight Attendant Jeff Stein for his service to our Flight Attendants.  For years, Jeff worked hard to improve Flight Attendant quality of life by advocating for better pairings and more efficient flying.  Please join us in wishing Jeff well in his future pursuits.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones

MEC 5B Logo

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