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Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – August 2024

Scheduling Committee

  • On August 27, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work representing Flight Attendants’ interests in lineholder scheduling.
  • The Committee met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems Flight Attendants face with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
  • Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to assist with any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help!

On Tuesday, August 27, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons/Representatives met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, and MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz. 

The committee met with Managing Director of Operations Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Managing Director of Inflight Operations & Crew Scheduling Allen Thieman, Senior Manager Product Management RIck Mitchell, Supervisor of Inflight Crew Scheduling Matthew Trujillo, Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

  • Flights facing heat restrictions, blocked seats, and short runways have caused passenger revenue reduction and issues with commuting in multiple locations.  
  • Night rule violations where crews were exceeding 10:30 duty limits. A reminder that the night rule supersedes irregular operations. 
  • Overview of staffing leaves for October. Currently, there is no plan to offer leaves; the company plans to lower line averages instead. 
  • There are issues with Crew Access notifications showing blank schedules. This sometimes occurs when Crew scheduling is working to confirm a hotel on your layover. 
  • Concerns over pairing options due to reduced seasonal flying.
  • Demand for more commutable and longer trips from LAX instead of co-terminals.
  • We resolved some issues regarding trip removals due to jury duty and discussed the need to remind crew schedulers of the process.
  • Hotels in the bid packet.  In some cases, the hotels will relocate the crew due to unforeseen circumstances. In most cases, the hotel in the bid packet will be the location to which you are assigned. 
  • Reminder to review fatigue management protocols. For information, refer to the Letter of Agreement at afaalaska.org. We are seeing an increase in fatigue reports among reserves and line holders.
  • There is a need for improved communication regarding the Flight Attendant website and SharePoint updates. We ask Flight Attendants to report missing or broken links to AAG information technology services (ITS) or AFA.
  • There is a noticeable decline in block hours for October, with a 13% reduction.
  • Year-over-year analysis indicating a mix of sick leave trends across different bases.
  • Crew Scheduling has approximately five (5) new crew schedulers assisting with the operation.
  • Crew Planning is hiring for a few available positions, while pilot crew planning assists until those roles are filled. 
  • Base Sits. We are anticipating a new budget for 2025. The PBS Subcommittee will not do base sits in October, November, or December. If you need assistance with bidding, please get in touch with them directly or reach out to your Local Scheduling or Reserve Committee. 

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. NAVBLUE. The PBS Subcommittee is seeking feedback on how they can improve their assistance to flight crews regarding bid awards and understanding results. They provided both in-person and virtual meetings for this purpose. The PBS Subcommittee is working with management on PBS base sit budgets.  Management has the committee keep track of how money is being spent to assist flight crews with their bidding.  We appreciate your participation in virtual and in person base sits. 
  2. Pairings Survey. There is a discussion of reviewing bidding data from NAVBLUE to see what kind of pairings Flight Attendants are interested in flying instead of sending out a survey. We will continue to review options. 
  3. Chime Communications. To reduce phone call volumes, Flight Attendants may soon be able to chat with Crew Scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams. The chat will be for Flight Attendant-initiated contact only. The function is currently in the early stages of development and still needs to be discussed with Labor Relations management and our MEC. Testing and implementation are continuing over the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation, which is still pending review. 
  4. Crew Scheduling. A monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covered various aspects such as reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and year over year), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
  5. Crew Planning. Like Crew Scheduling, there was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that covered subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items. Statistics around teaming continue to be reviewed. Crew Planning continues to maximize pairing construction and optimizing teaming strategies to minimize costs and ensure that crews (Flight Attendants) can stay together for multiple segments.
  6. ITS. Representatives from ITS joined the scheduling meeting to provide updates on NAVBLUE, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block2Block. These updates include performance reviews, data analysis, and information about future releases.

We Want to Hear From You!

Whether you have feedback for the Committee, concerns to share, or items you’d like brought up with management – don’t hesitate to let us know. Your Local Scheduling Committee is here to be your voice to management. You can easily open a support ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or directly contact us using the information provided on the Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – July 2024

Scheduling Committee

  • On July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work representing Flight Attendants’ interests in lineholder scheduling.
  • The Committee met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems Flight Attendants face with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
  • Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to assist with any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help!

On Tuesday, July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons/Representatives met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, and MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz. 

The committee met with Managing Director of Operations Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Manager of Flight Crew Systems Support Sue Rawlings, Supervisor of Inflight Crew Scheduling Matthew Trujillo , Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

  • VO is view only. This code does not allow Flight Attendants to pick up the trip while scheduling works to resolve trip issues.
  • PO is pick-up only. This code is used on Sick leave make-up days. It should not be placed on trips.
  • AFA encourages crews to report safety concerns on any redeye flight where they feel fatigued or unsafe to drive home after flying. There are reports that some of these flights are delayed several hours into the early morning, and Flight Attendants are concerned about operating the flights. 
  • Flight Attendants continue to have issues with Crew Access and OpenTime. Management continues to investigate and question whether Flight Attendants use BOT programming. Using a third-party program or application is against company policy. 
  • If you are releasing from Deadheads, please request release before positioning. Flight Attendants are receiving points when they are not showing up as scheduled and performance is hesitant to remove points that are applied. 
  • Bidding for August was busy, with virtual drop-ins for PBS bidding assistance. Bid awards for August were smooth, with high coverage.
  • NAVBLUE expects another release for PBS bidding in the near future. 
  • September schedules: Management expects to decrease the block hours and have high vacation usage in the month. Budget talks for 2025 are underway. There will be no leaves in September. Flight Attendant pairing breakdown and statistics are being reviewed by management on their dashboards.
  • July sick leave tends to increase on weekends by around 14%, while during the week is 11%. Reserve utilization is still high every month. More premium pay on weekends and tend to see 2.0x rate of pay being applied. Management tracks year-over-year (YOY) and month-over-month (MOM) trends. 
  • Personal drops low. 
  • When Flight Attendants call in fatigued, their reports are reviewed, and the issues/concerns are addressed.  
  • JCTE update is expected on July 30, 2024. Communication from management on changes and improvements will be distributed.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. NAVBLUE. The PBS Subcommittee is seeking feedback on how they can improve their assistance to flight crews regarding bid awards and understanding results. They provided both in-person and virtual meetings for this purpose. The PBS Subcommittee is working with management on PBS base sit budgets.  Management has the committee keep track of how money is being spent to assist flight crews with their bidding.  We appreciate your participation in virtual and in person base sits. 
  2. Pairings Survey. There is a discussion of reviewing bidding data from NAVBLUE to see what kind of pairings Flight Attendants are interested in flying instead of sending out a survey. We will continue to review options. 
  3. Chime Communications. To reduce phone call volumes, Flight Attendants may soon be able to chat with Crew Scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams. The chat will be for Flight Attendant-initiated contact only. The function is currently in the early stages of development and still needs to be discussed with Labor Relations management and our MEC. Testing and implementation are continuing over the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation, which is still pending review. 
  4. Crew Scheduling. A monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covered various aspects such as reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and year over year), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
  5. Crew Planning. Like Crew Scheduling, there was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that covered subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items. Statistics around teaming continue to be reviewed. Crew Planning continues to maximize pairing construction and optimizing teaming strategies to minimize costs and ensure that crews (Flight Attendants) can stay together for multiple segments.
  6. ITS. Representatives from ITS joined the scheduling meeting to provide updates on NAVBLUE, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block2Block. These updates include performance reviews, data analysis, and information about future releases.

We Want to Hear From You!

Whether you have feedback for the Committee, concerns to share, or items you’d like brought up with management – don’t hesitate to let us know. Your Local Scheduling Committee is here to be your voice to management. You can easily open a support ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or directly contact us using the information provided on the Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – June 2024

Scheduling Committee

  • On June 25, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work representing Flight Attendants’ interests in lineholder scheduling.
  • The Committee met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems Flight Attendants face with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
  • Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to assist with any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help!

On Tuesday, June 25, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons/Representatives met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO),Rita Tillou (SEA), Russel Rivinius (PDX), Kamako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, and MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz. 

The committee met with Managing Director of Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Managing Director of Inflight Operations & Crew Scheduling Allen Thieman, Director of Crew Staffing Nicholas Giles, Manager of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Senior Manager of Product Management Rick Mitchell, Director of Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

  • In Portland, there is concern over the HNL layover construction for June extended to 3 days instead of 2. Local Scheduling Committee Chairperson plans reviewing July/August pairing construction to see if trips changed.
  • It was reported that there are Reserve issues with iPhones and privacy settings, specifically AT&T. Collaboration with MEC Reserve Committee and MEC Grievance Committee. As a line holder if you are experiencing issues, please open an AFA Online Support Center ticket.
  • Many of the bases said they don’t want to fly from domicile to Seattle and then work a Redeye flight. During pairing construction, AFA will review flights for duty start in Seattle to avoid other domiciles having to connect and fly these types of pairings.  The duty start would allow the redeye pairing to originate from the domicile it departs.  This could potentially impact the cost of the pairing solution. 
  • Potential missed calls for those with Wi-Fi calling turned on.
  • New Flight Attendants from the new hire classes are coming in and out of the ANC and there’s an increase in summer seasonal flying.
  • Unhappiness with trips and inconsistent redeye connections in Seattle.
  • Tickets being reassigned due to Flight Attendants not updating their profiles in the AFA Online Support Center.
  • The SFO base reports that they are seeing a high percentage of unproductive redeyes that are commutable. Would prefer to have more efficient flying or commutable on one end of the pairing.
  • Open Time failure and active grievance.
  • Revised vs reassignment language preference.
  • API failures with Flight Attendants and pilots causing hotel wait time issues.
  • The SEA base has several requests for nonstop PVR 2-day flights. The base is seeing reduction of 4k flying for the fall as management reduces the flying schedule. 
  • Busy July for PBS bidding with IT issues.
  • Bid awards for July using extra combinations to reduce seniority violations.
  • Bid protest for July considered normal.
  • Frustration with lack of updates from NavBlue and request for separation from pilots in meetings.
  • Future releases and installations for NavBlue, including fixes for pilots and Redhat 8 postponed. Both AFA and ALPA are tied to the program and this reduces our ability to install program updates for Flight Attendants. 
  • IT issues with password reset and plans to redirect their help.
  • There were several successful in person base sits around the system, including virtual sits and a new class virtual hour.
  • Bid awards viewing invitation and committee overview.
  • Selection of more expensive D run with the best soft lock ratio.
  • Advocacy for more productive trips and reduction in commutability.
  • Review and improvement of pairings in conjunction with sick calls.
  • Testing completed for JCTE 24.1.6 and trade analysis review.
  • Reduction in block hours for August, line average and reserve percentages.
  • Discussion on August pairings, trip distribution, and upcoming schedules.
  • We reviewed a PowerPoint with management tracking sick leave for lineholders and reserves, it shows year-over-year and month-over-month increases in absence rate.
  • Reserve utilization and sick call percentages per base.
  • Use of premium to reduce reserve utilization.
  • Thoughts on posting premium OT trips in advance and personal drops.
  • Increase in sick leave due to COVID in the Pacific Northwest. 
  • Ditching drills going into JCTE and being audited.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. NavBlue. The PBS Subcommittee is seeking feedback on how they can improve their assistance to flight crews regarding bid awards and understanding results. They provided both in-person and virtual meetings for this purpose. The next in-person PBS Training is planned for June 
  2. Pairings Survey. There is a discussion of reviewing bidding data from NavBlue to see what kind of pairings Flight Attendants are interested in flying instead of sending out a survey. We will continue to review options. 
  3. Chime Communications. To reduce phone call volumes, Flight Attendants may soon be able to chat with Crew Scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams. The chat will be for Flight Attendant-initiated contact only. The function is currently in the early stages of development and still needs to be discussed with Labor Relations management and our MEC. Testing and implementation are continuing over the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation, which is still pending review. 
  4. Crew Scheduling. A monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covered various aspects such as reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and year over year), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
  5. Crew Planning. Like Crew Scheduling, there was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that covered subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items. Statistics around teaming continue to be reviewed. Crew Planning continues to maximize pairing construction and optimizing teaming strategies to minimize costs and ensure that crews (Flight Attendants) can stay together for multiple segments.
  6. ITS. Representatives from ITS joined the scheduling meeting to provide updates on NavBlue, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block2Block. These updates include performance reviews, data analysis, and information about future releases.

We Want to Hear From You!

Whether you have feedback for the Committee, concerns to share, or items you’d like brought up with management – don’t hesitate to let us know. Your Local Scheduling Committee is here to be your voice to management. You can easily open a support ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or directly contact us using the information provided on the Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.

Supplemental Ditching Training

Grievance Committee

  • AFA has not agreed to any extra-contractual terms for the newly announced supplemental ditching training; discussions with management just started.
  • Many management decision-makers are away at contract negotiations, delaying progress toward any sort of agreement.
  • Our AFA Committees are committed to advocating for your rights and will address unresolved issues through the contractual grievance process if necessary.

AFA Representatives have recently been receiving a lot of questions about the supplemental ditching training announced by management. We want to make it clear that AFA has not agreed to any extra-contractual terms for this training. Management just began substantive discussions yesterday with our Grievance, Scheduling, Inflight Training, and Air Safety, Health, & Security Committees to work out the administrative and logistical details of the training, but those details are still undetermined. Progress has been slow because many of the primary management decision-makers are currently involved in contract negotiations in Washington, DC, this week and are unavailable to discuss the supplemental ditching training issues.

While the situation is not ideal, we must meet the regulatory training requirements and address the remaining details later. We don’t yet know what management intends to propose, nor do we know if we can successfully reach an agreement on which contractual provisions AFA believes apply. If we can’t agree, it may come down to addressing the unresolved provisions (particularly contract sections 30.C.3-5) through the contractual grievance process and arbitration afterward, which can be time-consuming.  

We have clearly communicated your concerns to management and have asked them to provide responses to numerous unanswered questions. Our AFA Committees are actively advocating for your contractual rights. We are dedicated to fighting for those rights, even if it takes time, rather than providing an instant fix.

Crew Access Open Time Performance – June 16, 2024

Scheduling Committee

  • Flight Attendants are facing technical issues with Crew Access and Open Time trading/dropping, causing stress and frustration.
  • Management plans to resolve these issues with server upgrades in June and July and will monitor the system closely during July Open Time.
  • Our Scheduling Committee has requested a meeting with management to discuss long-term solutions for the ongoing Crew Access challenges.

Recently, many Flight Attendants have been experiencing technical issues with Crew Access and Open Time trading/dropping. These problems have been causing growing frustration and stress, both professionally and personally. Our Scheduling Committee acknowledges the significant impact and is committed to finding effective solutions while holding management accountable for maintaining systems that operate effectively and reliably.

Management has acknowledged the problems and expressed their commitment to tackling them head-on. As a first step, the JCTE servers are scheduled to undergo an upgrade. New firmware is set to be installed by June 24, followed by upgraded hardware by July 10, or possibly sooner. These enhancements are anticipated to enhance performance and overall system capacity significantly.

To ensure proactive oversight, the Information Technology Services (ITS) team will work closely with Jeppesen to monitor the JCTE platform during the upcoming Flight Attendant Open Time on July 16. This initiative is a step towards resolving the current issues and improving the operational experience for all Flight Attendants.

Furthermore, we expect management to deliver thorough and detailed updates on the measures taken to resolve the server load issues. Clear communication and a comprehensive breakdown of the implemented solutions and improvements are essential to ensure transparency. This will help our Scheduling Committee monitor progress and provide Flight Attendants with accurate, up-to-date information.

To address the more extensive and systemic ongoing challenges with Crew Access, our Scheduling Committee has formally requested a meeting with management to discuss the issues further. This meeting is a critical opportunity for dialogue and exploring concrete solutions to ensure an uninterrupted and contractually compliant experience for Flight Attendants.

Our Scheduling Committee is fully dedicated to actively addressing JCTE-related issues in order to restore operational normalcy and alleviate the challenges faced by Flight Attendants. We appreciate your continued patience and support throughout this process. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact your Local Scheduling Committee.

Refreshed Inflight Mobile Device (IMD) Distribution

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants Management has recently informed our Master Executive Council (MEC) that they are distributing new Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs) to Flight Attendants with devices nearing the end of their lifecycle. The specific schedule for this distribution will be communicated by management separately. Flight Attendants with the oldest devices […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, September 23, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met in person at Alaska Airlines Corporate Headquarters to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), […]

Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairperson & Representatives

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants We’re excited to introduce the first group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives for the upcoming MEC Officer term. They’ll begin transitioning into their roles over the next few months and officially start their terms on January 1, 2026. Below, you’ll find brief biographies that […]

Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025

On Thursday, September 18, our AFA Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing efforts to represent our Flight Attendants and advocate for improvements in our workplace. Although our Inflight Service Committee has now merged, meetings with management continue to focus primarily on the Alaska or Hawaiian brands individually. This particular meeting was centered […]

Vacation Survey Closing Soon

There’s just 1 DAY LEFT to complete the crucial vacation survey that will help shape future provisions—your insights are essential for advocating the best outcomes for all Flight Attendants. The survey is currently open and will remain available until Wednesday, September 24 at 12 PM PT.

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