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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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Open Time Negotiations Update – March 2018

There is a lot of history to Open Time negotiations. See the following communications for additional information:

AFA and management have reached an Open Time agreement in concept

The AFA Negotiating Committee* (not the Joint Negotiating Committee) and Alaska Airlines management reached an agreement in concept for a new Open Time system back in December. However, the Negotiating Committee and the Master Executive Council (MEC) agreed that the best course of action prior to formalizing a tentative agreement (TA) was to determine how long it would take for Jeppesen to program the new system. So…management sent the programing requirements off to Jeppesen for an estimate. Then AFA waited…and waited.

Open Time vs. Merger

After repeated inquiries during the intervening period, AFA finally received the estimate from Jeppesen in early February. At that point, AFA was also on the cusp of reaching a Merger TA. Both efforts (Open Time and the Merger TA) would require significant programming resources from Jeppesen and Alaska Airlines IT that physically could not be done at the same time due to resource limitations.

The MEC was faced with making another challenging decision: Which goes first? On the one hand, Open Time implementation under the current contract has been hanging out there for a very long time, so it should be prioritized. On the other hand, going forward with Open Time first would very likely delay “Full Implementation” (i.e. Legacy Alaska and Legacy Virgin America flying together), which would also delay Legacy Virgin America (L-VX) FAs being brought into the full Legacy Alaska (L-AS) contractual work rules. A final complicating factor is that realistically it would not be possible to roadshow and vote on both a Merger TA and an Open Time TA at or around the same time. Plus, how would AFA attempt to explain the Open Time situation to L-VX when they are not even living with the current L-AS contractual trading rules?

Merger TA first, then Open Time

The MEC made the difficult decision to move forward with the Merger TA first and then tackle Open Time after the outcome of the Merger TA ratification vote is known. The benefit of this approach is that the Jeppesen programming resources formerly assigned to Open Time could be re-focused on achieving Full Implementation on time—if not early. The MEC realizes this approach will be frustrating to many, but we are doing our best make the most out of a largely no-win scenario.

More information will be forthcoming once the outcome of the Merger TA ratification vote is known, and the MEC has an opportunity to determine the best strategy going forward.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

* Your AFA Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees, and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

[pmAS] Follow Up to April Bid Re-Award

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

On Tuesday, March 13, AFA released information about the April bid re-award that recently took place.  The initial need for a re-award came about after several bid protests were filed based on the original April line awards.  After further investigation, the protests were found to be valid and the error occurred due to programming in the new web app user interface of Navblue PBS.  The programming error affected the bids of 22 Flight Attendants which required that action be taken to properly honor those bids. Resolving the bid protests was bound to have an impact on the previously awarded lines of Flight Attendants beyond those who initially filed bid protests.

After Navblue corrected the necessary programming but prior to running the bid re-awards, Crew Planning and the PBS Committee had the need to perform some administrative work in PBS to ensure that Flight Attendant bids properly reflected those that were originally entered prior to bids closing on March 10th.  Performing this work required that PBS be switched back into the normal bid entry mode so that the necessary work could be done.  The system does not contain the ability to be switched into a “maintenance” or “offline” mode where administrators can work in the system while preventing Flight Attendants from also making entries.  As a result of this, it was also possible for Flight Attendants to log in to the system and make bid entries during the period of time that the administrators were in the system verifying the integrity of original bids.

Section 10.J.4 of the Flight Attendant collective bargaining agreement states that a Flight Attendant must submit her/his bid by 9 AM Pacific time on the 10th of the month prior to the bid period.  Management’s failure to have PBS properly programmed to prevent additional bid entries while the administrators were working in the system has resulted in a clear contractual violation.  At no time did AFA agree to an exception or waiver to this contractual provision.

The MEC had substantial discussion regarding what transpired, including the possibility of requesting that a full re-bid be conducted for the month of April.  The option of a full re-bid was determined to be unfeasible as it would have had a greater negative impact on Flight Attendants, especially those who would be unable to participate in the re-bid (on vacation, etc.) as well as those who had planned their schedules around the F/A-to-F/A and Open Time trading timeline.

AFA will be pursuing resolution to the contractual violation through the grievance process and every other avenue at our disposal.  The MEC Grievance Committee has already filed grievance number 36-99-2-116-18 addressing management’s failure to comply with the contractual bidding timeline.  We will also be calling for a meeting with inflight management to have additional conversation about the new Navblue PBS user interface, the associated programming errors, and the necessary steps that need to be taken to prevent reoccurrence of a similar situation.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

April Bid Re-Award and Trading Timeline

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

On Monday, March 12, management advised AFA that a programming error was discovered with the new user interface of NavBlue PBS.  The error, related to the programming of the “Duty On” preference in the new user interface, resulted in trips being awarded incorrectly to Flight Attendants despite bid preferences that were submitted properly.  As a result of the programming error, NavBlue was immediately contacted by management and the necessary programming was corrected.

NavBlue made necessary corrections to the PBS programming which were completed earlier today.  Management subsequently worked to re-award bids with the NavBlue programming having been corrected.   Bid awards will be posted at 5 PM Pacific time today and F/A-to-F/A and Open Time trading will begin as originally scheduled.

Bidding and Trading Timeline

All times based on Pacific time

Bid Re-Awards Posted Tuesday, March 13 @ 17:00
Bid Protest Begins Tuesday, March 13 @ 17:00
Bid Protest Final Wednesday, March 14 @ 17:00
F/A-to-F/A Trading Begins Thursday, March 15*
Open Time Trading Begins Friday, March 16*

*Please note that there is no change to the F/A-to-F/A and Open Time trading timeline.

It is AFA’s positon that management has an obligation to ensure Flight Attendant bidding and scheduling systems are fully functional and free of programming errors.  AFA will be meeting with management to review the programming error with NavBlue PBS and discuss the future plans for roll out of the system.

If you have any questions about the bid re-award or trading timeline, please contact your LEC Officers.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

[pmAS] Trading Recurrent Training To Early Or Grace Months

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

Recently, AFA worked with management to clarify the ability of Flight Attendants to trade Recurrent Training (RT) into the month before or after your RT base month.   The result of this agreement is the Trading Recurrent Training to Early or Grace Months letter of agreement (LOA).  You can view the LOA by clicking here.

This LOA solidifies the ability of a Flight Attendant to trade RT with another Flight Attendant or with RT classes in OT into the month before your base month (Early month), base month, or month after your base month (Grace month).  JCTE will eventually be programmed to process these trades but until the programming is done, Flight Attendants should contact Crew Scheduling to process trades into Early or Grace months.

Please note that if you trade into your Grace month and are subsequently unable to attend RT during your Grace month and become no longer current, you will receive no pay protection or credit for any trips or scheduling obligations that have to be dropped because you are no longer current.

If you have received attendance points as a result of recurrent training trades since this LOA was agreed to and signed (02/08/2018), please contact your LEC Officers for assistance in contacting your performance supervisor.  If you have any other questions about this LOA, your LEC Officers are also available to assist you.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

JNC Blog Recap 02.20.2018-03.12.2018

Q&A Only on the JNC Blog

Please note that in order to facilitate clear communication, the JNC will post only questions and answers on the blog. Opinions and/or comments included in questions will be edited to distill to the basic question(s). Duplicative questions may be condensed into a composite question in order to streamline the posts.

JNC Blog >

Blog Post Digest 02.20.2018-03.12.2018

02.20.2018

02.21.2019

02.22.2018

02.23.2018

03.03.2018

03.12.2018

You may contact the JNC at jnc@afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

 

The roadshow schedule may be found on the Merger TAs & Info page along with other TA-related resources. Any pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) or pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) FAs are welcome to attend any and all sessions. Please be aware that only AFA members in good standing may vote on the TA, so it is extremely important that pmAS FAs are current on their dues and pmVX FAs have completed an AFA membership application prior to the vote.

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – April 2026

On Monday, April 13, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met virtually 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 pmAS), Kelly Hepworth (PDX), Barry Spitzer (SFO), Brian Sherill (LAX pmAS), and Kanani Vallot (SAN), […]

Single PSS Is Coming: What It Means For You

Tonight, the Alaska and Hawaiian merger will reach another major milestone—the integration of both airlines into a single passenger service computer system (PSS). While this change will affect Flight Attendants less than other groups—like Customer Service Agents and airport staff—there are still important updates you should know. Block2Block App and Onboard Service Pre-merger Hawaiian Flight […]

Navigating Acute & Delayed Stress As A Flight Attendant

Stress is an inherent aspect of the Flight Attendant profession, often stemming from the demanding nature of responsibilities and the unpredictable nature of air travel. It’s essential for Flight Attendants not only to understand the different types of stress they may encounter but also to recognize the warning signs of acute and delayed stress for […]

Protect Yourself From Potential Discipline on Social Media

Our Grievance Committee would like to provide background on social media, protected classes, and discipline. Federal protected classes include race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or transgender status), national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.  Alaska’s People Policy says: Personal Conduct22. Threatening, intimidating, or discourteous behavior, including abusive, profane, or obscene language, acts, […]

Human Rights & Equity Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2026

On Wednesday, March 25, our AFA Human Rights & Equity Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing activism to raise awareness and create positive change within our workplace and community. Your representatives attending the meeting included Louise Borras (LAX-pmAS), Bruni Agosto-Pinal (LAX-pmHA), Aaron Miller (PDX), Nyachan Chuar (ANC), and Yan Yan Teague (SEA). MEC Human […]

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