Scheduling Committee

• On September 24, 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, September 24, 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 & Russel Rivinius (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 Inflight Operations & Crew Scheduling Allen Thieman, Director Inflight Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Director Crew Staffing Nicholas Giles, Manager of Crew Planning Jeffery Hunt, Senior Manager Product Management Rick Mitchell, Manager Inflight Crew Scheduling Goose Hlaingmyint, Inflight Crew Scheduling Supervisor 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, October 29, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

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

• Local Chairperson Reports
  • 3-hour sits at SNA with limited options for crew to break rooms.
  • Questions regarding Flight Attendant crew pay base sits and scheduling. Flight Attendant crew pay is visiting LAX and will attend other domiciles in the future.
  • Positive feedback on Uber codes for hotel accommodations linked to sits in excess of 4 hours.
• Flight Operations
  • Ongoing issues with redeye flights to Texas, EWR, and Hawaii; numbers are decreasing. There is a lot of late night flying provided in the network.
  • Post-summer evaluation of 2-day HA flights.
• Charter Operations
  • Issues with pre-cancelled charters and lack of operation.
  • Concerns about lack of transparency regarding ferry flights in bid postings. Flight Attendants should open up the bid to see the actual pairings. Only the live charter legs are listed in the charter bid header.
• PBS and Bidding
  • October bidding observed as challenging for Reserves; protests noted.
  • Upcoming Navblue conference and software updates discussed.
• Payroll and Compensation
  • Technical issues noted in payroll processing; specific concerns about Flight Attendants waiving pay under rest regulations.
  • Ongoing requests for clarity on reassignment policies and compensation structures.
• Crew Planning Report
  • November Staffing Plan. Line averages projected at 76.5, similar to October but fewer Reserves.
  • Pairing Analysis. Review of pairing positions and trip distribution, with a focus on commuting challenges. SEA/ANC/LAX are the easiest commuting bases while SFO/PDX are the most challenging. 
  • Upcoming Changes. Potential schedule cuts due to the Boeing strike and a reassessment of leaves for January and February. There are no leaves planned for November or December.
  • Teaming Strategy. Flight Attendant/pilot teaming reintroduced for winter months, with ongoing analysis of historical metrics and trends.
• Crew Scheduling Report
  • Absence Trends. Notable improvement in absence rates for lineholders; however, sick calls are increasing among lineholders. Lineholder absent rates over 14% on average.
  • Reserve Utilization. Reserve utilization at approximately 92.5% for August/September. Reserve absent rates are over 10% on average.
  • Scheduling Challenges. Issues with legal start times for early morning flights and the need for aircraft resting (RON). High Reserve utilization affects operational optimization.
  • Contractual Premium and Scheduling Flexibility. Discussion on the need for flexibility in pairing construction and scheduling, particularly regarding commutable trips and the impacts of sickness. There is a new slide where we review contractual premium and posted premium. This carves out a better picture of the operation and cost structure.
  • Fatigue Monitoring. Increased fatigue risk observed for Reserves converted to ER trips; discussions on better communication regarding fitness to fly.
  • Scheduler Updates. 14 new schedulers onboard, with several in training and others passing probation.
• Hotel and Grievance Updates
  • Changes in JFK layovers discussed; Alaska covering redeye hotel costs that require payment twice for the rooms. There will be a possible hotel change and relocation in the near future. 
  • Arbitration for 8.M scheduled for the end of October.
• Additional Reports
  • Crew Pay report highlighted a high volume of queries, with calls for better categorization and communication about pay issues. There are several inquiries that are submitted and not required. This backlogs the system. Please only file inquiries for the items listed in the drop down boxes or if your pay has not been appropriately reconciled by the 10th of the subsequent month.
  • Suggestions for a FAQ document and potential use of AI for payroll inquiries. 

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.