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Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – 4th Quarter 2021

Hotel Committee

  • Our AFA Hotel Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, December 9 to discuss their ongoing program of work to protect and improve the quality of Flight Attendant hotel accommodations and ground transportation providers.
  • The Committee met with representatives from management and the Company’s crew accommodations vendor to review current trends and concerns related to layover hotels and transportation.
  • More than ever, the Committee needs your help in reporting hotel and transportation concerns through CrewCare.  If issues aren’t reported through CrewCare, then management believes they don’t exist!

On Thursday, December 9, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met 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), Cassie Dole (SFO), Kimberly Hillebrand (LAX), and Kanani Vallot (SAN).  Also present were MEC Hotel Committee Chairperson Laura Hinojosa, MEC Hotel Committee Vice Chairperson Jodi Snow, and MEC Vice President Brian Palmer.  The committee also met with Crew Hotel Support Specialist Alyssa Umagat, Senior Crew Hotel Support Specialist Nichole Turner, Manager of Crew Hotels & Administration Ethan Coughlin, and Managing Director of Crew Planning & Resource Management Cathy Cao from management.  Representatives from the Company’s crew accommodations vendor Accommodations Plus International (API) and ALPA participated in the meeting as well.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed a number of items both during the meeting with management and API.  Some items discussed include:

  • Review of the overall condition of the hotel industry and how the industry is recovering from the pandemic.
  • Overview of new technology options being offered by API that may improve the flow of information about hotels and ground transportation to crewmembers.  Management will be working with API to evaluate how the options could be used at Alaska.
  • Review of the Company’s utilization of hotels by city
  • Review of CrewCare reports filed (both complaints and compliments).  Compared to 2019, reports filed in 2021 are down substantially.  Management believes that this means things have improved.
  • Upcoming hotel changes in BZN, SAT, SMF, and PHX in early 2022.  Watch the Hotel Hotline for information about the changes (F/A Website > Hotel, Travel, & Station > Hotel Hotline)
  • Discussion about the holiday meal availability list that is traditionally published showing options for each layover hotel.  Management has been having challenges getting hotels to respond and some hotels are providing inconsistent information.  They are working to clarify.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. Conducting Hotel Site Visits.  Visiting hotels under consideration by management and advocating for management to select the hotel that will provide the safest and most comfortable layover experience for Flight Attendants.
  2. Investigating CrewCare Reports.  Reviewing CrewCare reports and working to hold hotel and transportation providers accountable through management and API.
  3. Working to Improve Unscheduled Layover Hotels.  Conducting a full review of the Company’s alternate hotel list and pushing for improvements when Flight Attendants have to stay at unscheduled layover hotels during irregular operations situations. 

We Want to Hear From You!

If you’ve had an unacceptable or substandard experience with a layover hotel or ground transportation provider, please report the issue!  Our AFA Hotel Committee receives a copy of every CrewCare report filed and each one is read and reviewed.  You can file a CrewCare report using the web app on your IMD home screen or by clicking here. 

Do you have other feedback for the committee or items that you’d like brought up with management?  Please let us know!  Your Local Hotel Committee is your voice to management.  You can find our contact information on the Hotel Committee page of the AFA Alaska website. 

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 4th Quarter 2021

Reserve Committee

  • Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, December 9 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent and advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants.
  • The Committee also met with management to review a number of specific concerns that were brought forward by Flight Attendants.
  • Your Local Reserve Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any reserve related issues.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

On Thursday, December 9, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants.  Representing you at the meeting were Haley Hirsch (ANC), Conner Gallagher (SEA), Megan Zablan (PDX), Meg Casey & Camile Caldwell (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Joe Coneglio (SAN).  Also present were MEC Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton, MEC Reserve Committee Vice Chairperson—New Hire & Probation Jarod McNeill, and MEC Vice President Brian Palmer.  The committee also met with Inflight Crew Scheduling Duty Manager Kiana Shaw from management. 

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed a number of items both during internal AFA-only conversation and when meeting with management.  Some items discussed include:

  • Review of reserve utilization statistics for November 2021.  Utilization rates are substantially higher than management’s goals.  They are aware that they are working Reserve Flight Attendants hard.
  • Clarification about how Crew Scheduling handles situations when a Flight Attendant calls in and indicates they are tired or exhausted.
  • Review of reserve coverage levels.  Coverage was increased for December 2021 and is expected to remain at the increased level through the first quarter of 2022.
  • Issues and glitches with Crew Access that are affecting Reserve Flight Attendants.
  • Clarification about how Airport Standby (ASPB) assignments are placed into Open Time (OT) for self-assignment and whether or not management is contractually compliant.
  • Concerns that Crew Scheduling may be calling Reserve Flight Attendants more than once during the first 9 hours of domicile rest.
  • Procedures used by Crew Scheduling to award Personal Drops to Reserve Flight Attendants.
  • Review of 2022 initial training classes and how the Committee will be supporting our new hire Flight Attendants.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. Pushing Management to Give Relief to Reserve Flight Attendants.  Advocating for improvements in flexibility through reasonable Adequate Reserve Coverage (ARC) numbers to allow for shifting/repositioning and increased personal drops.
  2. Getting Ready for New Hire Flight Attendants.  Preparing to support new hire F/As through presentations during initial training, participation in base orientation, and expanding the reserve buddy program.
  3. Addressing Reserve Contractual Concerns.  Researching and investigating reports from Reserve Flight Attendants and actively ensuring that management is compliant with our contract. 

We Want to Hear From You!

Do you have feedback for the committee, concerns you’d like to share, or items that you’d like brought up with management?  Please let us know!  Your Local Reserve Committee is your voice to management.  You can find our contact information on the Reserve Committee page of the AFA Alaska website. 

Human Rights Committee Meeting Recap – 4th Quarter 2021

Human Rights Committee

  • Our AFA Human Rights Committee Chairpersons met on Monday, December 6 to discuss their ongoing program of work to advance human rights within our workplace and community.
  • The Committee was scheduled to meet with management, but management cancelled the joint portion of the meeting with short notice due to the inflight management changes that took place at about the same time.  Management rescheduled the meeting to take place on January 11, 2022.
  • If you have ideas, thoughts, or feedback for the committee, your Local Human Rights Committee Chairperson would love to hear from you!

On Monday, December 6, our AFA Local Human Rights Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing activism to build awareness and effect change within our workplace and community.  Representing you at the meeting were Matthew Cook (ANC), Yan Yan Teague (SEA), Sylvia Newbill (PDX), Sejal Patel (SFO), Louise Borras (LAX), and Erika Daniel (SAN).  Also present were MEC Human Rights Committee Chairperson Chip Hestle and MEC Vice President Brian Palmer.  The committee was also scheduled to meet with management, but management cancelled with short notice due to Travis’ departure from the inflight division that occurred at the same time. 

Topics of Discussion

Despite the fact that management was unable to participate, the committee still had the opportunity to provide updates, share concerns, and determine priorities for the ongoing work of the committee.  Some of the things the committee discussed include:

  • Concerns about low morale within our work group and the MEC’s continued work to have management adequately address the issue.
  • How to address situations when another employee uses terminology or language that is discriminatory in nature, including having another person present as an additional set of eyes and ears if the situation warrants it.
  • Using AFA Professional Standards as a resource to address concerns or conflicts between co-workers (including conflicts with Pilots).
  • Upcoming new AFA diversity pins celebrating Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI), Hispanic/Latinx, and Native American heritage months.

The committee was able to reschedule the meeting with management for Tuesday, January 11, 2022.  

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. Developing a Membership Survey.  Creating a membership survey to determine what Flight Attendants would like to see our Human Rights Committee address and prioritize going forward.
  2. Building Relationships with the Company’s Business Resources Groups (BRGs).  Working to establish relationships with leaders of the Company’s BRGs to find areas where we can join together to advance human rights within the scope of each group.
  3. Providing Support For Upcoming Negotiations.  Finding opportunities to build our collective power in upcoming negotiations through support of our Mobilization Committee. 

We Want to Hear From You!

Do you have feedback for the committee, concerns you’d like to share, or items that you’d like brought up with management?  Please let us know!  Your Local Human Rights Committee is your voice to management.  You can find our contact information on the Human Rights Committee page of the AFA Alaska website. 

December 2021 MEC Meeting Recap

December 2021 MEC Meeting Recap

Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson

Just wrapped up chairing our monthly MEC meeting yesterday and today.

As usual, your AFA committee chairs and reps provided written reports to the MEC about the latest developments in their areas, and we received live briefings regarding dispute resolution & grievances, scheduling, FA pay, and fatigue. Lots going on out there!

Meeting w/ COO + Inflight + Labor Relations + FA Crew Pay

Notable topics discussed:

  • Recent leadership change and the path forward
  • Acting on FA feedback – Management to communicate administrative details to FAs as soon as possible in the next bulletin
    • 1.5x pay for all  DHD conversions (i.e., including unscheduled DHD conversions) November 1, 2021 – January 2, 2022 – There is no mechanism in Crew Access to track all conversions, so FAs must manually submit in Rainmaker. (November flight activity will process soon, so please submit ASAP if you want November conversions to be paid in December!)
    • Forgiving attendance points for all FA COVID+ absences (i.e., up to 10-day Single Continuous Occurrence substantiated by a positive COVID test that includes the FA’s name, testing facility and date) – Use the COVID+/Vaccine Reaction Points Forgiveness Form (AAG SSO required: Inflight –> Admin –> Performance –> COVID+/Vaccine Reaction Points Forgiveness Form)
    • Removing time restrictions for submissions of the COVID+/Vaccine Reaction Points Forgiveness Form (i.e., no longer a requirement to submit by the end of the next sequence and retroactive 18 months) – Management is researching whether records for previous timeliness denials can be used to retroactively approve.
  • Q4 Computer Based Training (CBT) aka Annual Compliance Training (ACT) – Due December 31st. More than 3000 FAs have not yet completed this.
  • Existing inflight service and pending additional offerings – FAs are exhausted, frustrated, and anxious. Due to pandemic-related concerns, they do not want to be out in the cabin more right now. There is no room for trash. In the MEC’s opinion, Alaska FAs will grow even more upset and mobilized unless management provides additional relief.

I hope you found this recap timely and informative.

In Solidarity,
Jeff

Inflight Leadership Change and the Path Forward

Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson

Now that is has been officially announced that Travis will be stepping away as leader of the Inflight division, I thought Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants might want to hear from their MEC president.

I may not always be at liberty to communicate the details of every conversation advocating on your behalf that I have with executive management, but I would like to assure you that those conversations occur regularly and will continue as such. On that note, I have been in communication with Ben, Constance, and Travis, and it is clear that the decision was not made lightly. It is gratifying to see management be so responsive to our concerns.

Although the leadership change introduces additional uncertainty within Inflight, at least in the near term, it also offers potential opportunity for improvement. It will be interesting to see how this all works out—especially with negotiations less than a year away!

/jeff

MEC Officer Election Results

With the current Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers’ term ending on December 31, 2025, our MEC held elections this week for the next term. According to the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws, each of the eight Local Executive Council (LEC) Presidents casts one vote for each officer position. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected […]

Sick Leave Survey Deadline Extended

Our JNC has received reports that some Flight Attendants may not have received the Sick Leave Survey email due to technical issues. Please check your spam or junk folder. The survey deadline has been extended to Friday, November 21, at Noon PT, allowing everyone to participate.

Sick Leave Survey Closing Soon

There’s just 1 DAY LEFT to complete the Sick Leave Survey that will help shape future provisions. Our JNC is eager to hear your thoughts on which elements of our paid sick leave policy are most meaningful to you, as we strive to improve our support for your needs. The survey is currently open and will remain available until Tuesday, November 11 at Noon PT.

Council 30 (ANC) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 12 PM PT today for the election of Council 30 LEC Officers, representing Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants based in Anchorage. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: LeiLauni ScheidemanLEC Vice President: Heather ReierLEC Secretary: Anne Madsen View the certified election results here >> These newly elected officers […]

Apps To Help You Save Money On Food

Our AFA Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee recognizes that Flight Attendants may be facing increasing challenges when it comes to accessing affordable food, whether on the road or at home. We want you to know that you are not alone. In response to these difficulties, we have compiled a list of apps to help […]

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