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AFA Update – June 30, 2020

In This Edition

  • Tell Congress: Extend the Payroll Support Program
  • Pandemic Response
  • Fraudulent Face Mask Exemption Card
  • Management Provides Contractual Furlough Notice
  • Company “Early Out”
  • CARES Act Additional $600 Ends Soon

Tell Congress: Extend the Payroll Support Program

AFA International

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556 are calling for a six-month aviation Payroll Support Program (PSP) extension through March 31, 2021, to protect our jobs, extend the restrictions on stock buybacks, dividends, and executive compensation, and maintain service to all of our communities. Tell Congress to keep our industry intact to ensure aviation can help fight the virus and contribute to economic recovery as opposed to adding to an economic depression.

Amplify Your Voice With a Call

In addition to sending a letter, you can amplify your voice by following up with a phone call to your Members of Congress.  Call your Representative and Senators and say:

Hello, I am a constituent calling to ask [Representative]/[Senator] to help save my job as an essential worker. Take legislative action in July to extend the CARES Act Payroll Support Program for aviation workers in order to avoid massive job loss in October. Keep us connected to our jobs, our paychecks, and our healthcare. Thank you for your urgent attention to this.

AFA COVID Relief House – (888) 907-9365
AFA COVID Relief Senate – (888) 848-4824

You may also receive a phone call over the next several days from AFA Government Affairs Committee Members or other AFA volunteers to ask for your support in making these calls.

Pandemic Response

Master Executive Council (MEC)

AFA remains dedicated to our mission to protect the safety and health of our members, and we continue to do so on multiple fronts during this pandemic. Representatives from the Master Executive Council (MEC); the Air Safety, Health and Security Committee; and the Inflight Service Committee meet multiple times per week with management to advocate on your behalf. AFA recently met with an infectious disease expert from the University of Washington on more than one occasion to discuss our questions and concerns. 

We echo your concerns about diminishing social distancing onboard, mask compliance, personal protective equipment (PPE) and increasing service levels. Be assured we will continue to work with management to maximize the safety of our Flight Attendants. See the Company’s Listening & Acting: Actions we are taking in partnership with AFA  resource page (AAG sign-on required) for the latest updates.

Fraudulent Face Mask Exemption Card

Master Executive Council (MEC)

AFA Interactive (June 26, 2020) reported that a Facebook group dubbed the Freedom to Breathe Agency, or FTBA, is promoting fake face mask exemption cards featuring an eagle image reminiscent of the Department of Justice (DOJ) seal. Images of the laminated cards have been circulating on social media and were recently deemed fraudulent by the DOJ. Read more >

The MEC has requested that management take the following actions:

  • Alert Flight Attendants and CSAs that the card is fake and what to do about it and similar exemption cards if presented.
  • Communicate what documentation is required by passengers to substantiate medical or religious exemptions for wearing a face mask while travelling.

Management Provides Contractual Furlough Notice 

Master Executive Council (MEC)

Pursuant to Section 18.G of the JCBA, management provided notice to the MEC President last Thursday (June 25) that the Company intends to use a Reduction of Force of Flight Attendants effective October 1, 2020. The contract requires that the parties meet for a period not to exceed fourteen (14) days from the date of notice “to consider… programs to help mitigate a reduction in force.” We are meeting every day this week to negotiate on the terms of additional and/or enhanced furlough mitigations.

Company “Early Out”

Retirement Committee

Management recently indicated that “Early Out” program details and application processes will be communicated over the next few weeks “depending on union agreements and company timelines.” Management has stated, “[W]e are still finalizing details with union and operational leaders,” and that “options may be different depending on union representation, current CBA language and operational needs.” However, AFA did not negotiate this Early Out package.

AFA approached management back in March regarding our interest in negotiating an Early Out, but management declined our offer. Although management has provided AFA with the opportunity for limited feedback, the Company developed its own version of an Early Out for all represented work groups rather than engaging each union—including AFA—in direct negotiations. The MEC would like to level-set the expectations of our members by being clear this is a management-developed Early Out package. More information to come once management has publicly released the details.

CARES Act Additional $600 Ends Soon

The additional $600 in weekly unemployment insurance benefits provided by the federal government is officially set to end July 31, but all states except New York will pay it only through the week ending Saturday, July 25.  Read more >

Tell Secretary Mnuchin: You Can’t Leverage People!

March 31, 2020

The grants in the relief package provide paychecks for workers, not bailouts for airlines. These grants do one thing and one thing only: fund paychecks and benefits for two million hourly workers like flight attendants, pilots, gate agents, mechanics, the people who clean planes, cook the food, and help people through the airport.

Secretary Mnuchin is threatening to take equity on the grants — leveraging the very people who make aviation fly and who right now are on the frontlines of this pandemic. Congress did not intend for this to work this way. The payroll grants are intended to keep us out of the unemployment line. The return to taxpayers is no involuntary furloughs or layoffs, keeping our vital industry intact for essential service during this national emergency, and our ability to continue to pay taxes, be consumers, and take care of ourselves and our families during this crisis. Warrants make sense on the loans, they do not make sense on the grants that are designated for our paychecks.

You can’t leverage people. We’re the ones the CARES Act is supposed to protect. This is our money, but the Secretary is planning to make conditions so onerous that the airlines can’t take it. That will mean hundreds of thousands of jobs lost and bankruptcies all over again. Not this time! This isn’t right. We are asking President Trump to make sure the Treasury Secretary doesn’t dismantle the bipartisan agreement to keep us in our jobs, connected to our paychecks and healthcare.

Click here to take action now!

AFA International COVID-19 Resource Page: afacwa.org/coronavirus

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – March 28, 2020

In This Edition

  • Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
  • Staffing Adjustment Leave, Low Bid Option or …?
  • Pre-Cancellations Due to COVID-19 Schedule Changes (Section 10.S)
  • Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) Sequences During COVID-19 Schedule Disruptions

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

The AFA-CWA International Officers sent out an AFA Interactive message yesterday regarding the House of Representatives passing vote on the CARES Act, the hard work that went into achieving the relief package, and the upcoming work that will need to be done to implement the bill.  You can read the entire message by clicking here.

What Happens Next?

Now that the CARES Act has been passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, the work begins to implement the bill.  The language within the CARES Act is extensive and both AFA and management are conducting an extensive review to ensure that there is a full understanding of the contents.   

AFA representatives have received many questions about how the relief package will apply to Flight Attendants, how management intends to manage staffing, how unemployment benefits might apply to the various leaves of absence available, and many more. It is critical that your AFA leaders understand how the CARES Act, our collective bargaining agreement (CBA), state and federal benefits and any other significant factors interact.  We thank you in advance for your patience while we work through the answers to these and other questions over the coming week.

Staffing Adjustment Leave, Low Bid Option or …?

Many of you are looking to AFA for guidance whether to take one of the approximately 2700 (!) 30-day Staffing Adjustment Leaves or one of the approximately 205 Low Bid Options for May or to hold out for potentially something else. The Master Executive Council (MEC) completely understands. You have our commitment to be as transparent as possible and to keep you informed regarding the latest information and developments. There is a lot of material to absorb, so we are taking a few days to educate ourselves before we communicate more to the Membership.

In the meantime, management has agreed to extend the deadline for applying for a Staffing Adjustment Leave or Low Bid Option to Monday, April 6, 2020 at 0900 PT. This will give everyone more time to consider their options.

Additionally, management has agreed to work with AFA to potentially revisit the COVID-19 Staffing Adjustment Leaves and the other COVID-19 leaves already in effect in order to provide maximal benefit to Flight Attendants and to the Company depending on the implications of the CARES Act. Because of this commitment, we do not have concerns with Flight Attendants submitting an application for any of the leaves at this time.

Pre-Cancellations Due to COVID-19 Schedule Changes (Section 10.S)

Scheduling Committee

Due to the unprecedented number of flight cancellations on a daily basis, Flight Attendants have reported difficulty in achieving timely assistance from Crew Scheduling and receiving phone calls for non-urgent issues at all hours of the night. Crew Scheduling is overwhelmed with the sheer number of cancellations, pairing modifications and associated follow-up.

AFA and management have agreed to temporarily modify the notification procedures under Section 10.S [Pre-Cancellations] from Sunday, March 29, 2020 at midnight PT (Saturday night tonight) to April 30, 2020 at 2359 PT.

*** Crew Scheduling will continue to give notice of cancellation per contract but not until the departure date of the sequence is within 7days. ***

For sequences more than 7 days out:

  • To waive pay protection: If FA wishes to waive pay protection for a sequence containing one or more legs of cancelled flying, please email CrewSked.FADesk@alaskaair.com. Crew Scheduling will process timely per the LOA but no more than 24 hours after submission.
  • To not waive pay protection: If FA wishes to review alternative options and not waive pay protection, please wait to call Crew Scheduling until it is one day prior to the departure date of the sequence.

For sequences 2 to 7 days out:

  • To waive pay protection: If FA wishes to waive pay protection for a sequence containing one or more legs of cancelled flying, please email CrewSked.FADesk@alaskaair.com. Crew Scheduling will process timely per the LOA but no more than 24 hours after submission.
  • To not waive pay protection: If FA wishes to review alternative options and not waive pay protection, please wait to call until it is one day prior to the departure date of the sequence.

For sequences 1 day out: (i.e. the day prior to the departure date of the sequence):

  • Call Crew Scheduling per contract

More details can be found in the Pre-Cancellations Due to COVID-19 Schedule Changes Letter of Agreement.

Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) Sequences During COVID-19 Schedule Disruptions (Section 10.DD)

Scheduling Committee

AFA and management would also like to reduce the number of unnecessary mid-continental (“mid-con”) remain overnights (RONs) for Flight Attendants resulting from schedule disruptions related to COVID-19.

AFA and management have agreed to temporarily allow Crew Scheduling to build additional Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) sequences that are not already in the bid packet (i.e. following bid awards) under Section 10.DD.11 [Pre-Cancellations] from Sunday, March 29, 2020 at midnight PT (Saturday night tonight) to April 30, 2020 at 2359 PT.

More details can be found in the Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) Sequences During COVID-19 Schedule Disruptions Letter of Agreement.

URGENT: Keep Calling Congress Today for Our Jobs

March 23, 2020

We built a relief package that is centered on Flight Attendants and other workers. The Senate Democrats unanimously took a stand against McConnell’s bill that would have resulted in massive layoffs and created another corporate slush fund. The Senate Democrats and the White House agree that our plan that is focused on workers is the better plan and now we need to fight hard to get it locked in!

Our plan is built from the ground up to get relief directly to all of us, who are also taxpayers. Direct government aid to keep people in our jobs, getting our paychecks, and connected to healthcare.

This is historic. Never before has relief been packaged in a way that requires the money to go directly to the workers, directly back to the taxpayers. Executives can’t touch it. It must all go to payroll for all people on the frontlines.

Congress is still debating a COVID-19 stimulus bill today. Our jobs are on the line. We need every Flight Attendant, pilot, family member and friend to make calls today. 

Take Action Now–Call, Email, and Tweet!

SENATE: 855-973-4213

HOUSE: 877-782-8274

Call your representatives right now! Then, click here to send a tweet and tag your Senator or Representative. Click here to send an email. Urge them to prioritize keeping workers on the payroll in any stimulus bill.

Tweet Congress

Watch AFA on MSNBC this morning talking about a #WorkersFirst plan:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – March 21, 2020

In This Edition

  • URGENT: Tell Congress to Put People First
  • Applying for COVID-19 Related Temporary Leaves of Absence
  • COVID-19 Resources

URGENT: Tell Congress to Put People First

A person standing in front of a crowd Description automatically generated

Government Affairs Committee

The coronavirus pandemic is decimating our aviation industry. It is a public health crisis and it is creating a financial catastrophe that dwarfs the economic cost of the Great Recession and September 11th combined.

We’ve seen catastrophe before. We know what didn’t work before and we won’t let those things happen again. We need relief that focuses on real people. And we have a plan for that.

Flight Attendants and other aviation workers have been on the frontlines of the coronavirus emergency from day one. Before most Americans knew what COVID-19 meant, we were calling for government action to keep it from disrupting our lives and our economy.

Our plan is focused on keeping people on the payroll and stopping furloughs. Airlines are burning cash so quickly they will not be able to meet payroll within a few months, if not a few weeks. You will see furlough announcements that reflect this, but know this: we are working with airlines to get relief that keeps the paychecks going without furloughs.

Washington is gearing up to save aviation. But we cannot accept another “no strings attached” government bailout for corporations and their executives that leaves Flight Attendants and aviation workers behind. This time it will be a RELIEF package focused on workers first with no stock buybacks or dividends and no executive bonuses.

Send a letter to your members of Congress to demand that any public relief plan be a People First plan with legally-binding rules, including (but not limited to):

  1. Paycheck continuation without furloughs/layoffs
  2. No stock buybacks
  3. No executive bonuses
  4. No dividends
  5. No breaking union contracts
Click here to take action now

Amplify Your Message with a Call

Call your Senators now and tell them to support our position on a People First relief package for aviation.

Call (855) 973-4213 and tell your Senator:

“Airline relief must put workers first. I am a Flight Attendant. Congress needs to keep us in our jobs by providing the airlines with the money to keep our paychecks going. That keeps us connected to our healthcare too. We need to stay in our jobs so we can restart our economy quickly once the virus is contained. Stop mass furloughs that will hurt us now and long after the virus is gone. Any package must include direct assistance to aviation companies to keep us on the job and our paychecks going”

Read more about our plan in this article >

Applying for COVID-19 Related Temporary Leaves of Absence

Benefits Committee

Information about new COVID-19 related temporary leaves of absence (LOAs) was communicated in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update on March 13, 2020 and in a corresponding email from former Vice President of Inflight Ron Calvin.  These temporary LOAs include:

  • Educational Disruption Leave of Absence (EDLOA) – for Flight Attendants who cannot fulfill their scheduling obligations due to the closure of their minor child’s school or childcare provider due to COVID-19.
  • Voluntary Quarantine Leave of Absence (VQLOA) – for Flight Attendants who are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 as determined by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Flight Attendants who reside in the same household as increased risk individuals, and Flight Attendants who wish to remove themselves from the workplace due to suspected exposure to COVID-19 (no diagnosis or symptoms are required)
  • COVID-19 Workplace Exposure Leave of Absence (CEWLOA) – for Flight Attendants who are recommended or required to go into isolation/monitoring or quarantine due to work-related exposure to COVID-19.  The recommendation or requirement for isolation/monitoring or quarantine must be from the Company, the Flight Attendant’s physician or other qualified healthcare provider, the CDC, the local Department of Health, or other applicable government agency.

More details about these LOA options, including eligibility and documentations requirements, can be found in the COVID-19 Leaves of Absence and Related Mitigations Memorandum of Understanding.  In addition, other contractual leave options including medical leaves of absence and FMLA remain available for those who qualify.

How Do I Apply for a COVID-19 Related Temporary LOA?

Management has created a specific Alaska’s World page with information and links to apply for the various COVID-19 related LOAs.  You can access the page by clicking here.  If you have already contacted Matrix or the HR/People Resource telephone line to apply for a non-medical leave (EDLOA or VQLOA), you MUST also complete the corresponding form on this page.

Note: management’s “school closure leave” form (corresponds with EDLOA) indicates that the LOA may only be used for minor children aged 0-14.  This references is incorrect as the COVID-19 Leaves of Absence and Related Mitigations Memorandum of Understanding defines minor children as “children under the age of 18 who have not yet graduated from high school”.  AFA representatives have requested that management update this form as soon as possible to reflect the correct, agreed-upon definition.

Questions?

If you have any questions about leaves of absence, please contact your Local Benefits Committee.

COVID-19 Resources

Meet Our Merged MEC Committee Chairpersons & Representatives

We’re excited to introduce our next group of newly elected merged MEC Committee Chairpersons, who will begin their roles on November 1. These leaders are dedicated to representing the interests of our Flight Attendants as they coordinate activities across the merged committees of both airlines. They’ll work closely with the Local Committee Chairpersons from all […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – October 2025

On Monday, October 13, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met in person in Seattle 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), Chris Cardenas (LAX), and Kanani Vallot […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Election Results

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee positions to be elected for the upcoming MEC Officer term. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful […]

Merged MEC Committee Chairperson Election Results

During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of merged MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful consideration and deliberation, the following candidates have been elected: MEC Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee […]

U.S. Customs & Border Protection Gender Code Requirement

Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced changes to the rules surrounding how airlines report information about passengers and crew before flights. This system is called the Advance Passenger Information System, or APIS. These changes are in response to a Presidential Executive Order. What is APIS? APIS is a system that airlines are legally […]

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