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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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Department of Justice Approves the Virgin America Acquisition

Today the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the acquisition of Virgin America by Alaska Air Group (AAG) after AAG agreed to certain modifications of its codeshare agreement with American Airlines.  This approval removes one of the final hurdles to the acquisition and officially starts the journey towards merging Alaska Airlines and Virgin America. AFA expects the transaction (hereafter also referred to as the “merger”) to be completed within the next few weeks following resolution of pending litigation. The Master Executive Council (MEC) looks forward to representing Flight Attendant members at both carriers in the near future as we begin our journey towards merging into one carrier.

What is the timeline for the merger to close?

Although the court filings refer to a 60-day public comment period required by the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (Tunney Act), this waiting period is routinely waived by the Department of Justice.   Alaska Air Group management has indicated the merger will close shortly—subject to resolving an anti-trust lawsuit scheduled to be heard in court next week. Therefore the deal will likely be consummated within the next few weeks.

What happens next after the merger closes?

After the merger closes, the next step in the process is for the National Mediation Board (NMB) to issue a single carrier ruling. To facilitate that process we anticipate Alaska Airlines will supply the NMB with an outline of its plans to merge the operations. Once that is filed shortly after closure of the merger, AFA will promptly file with the NMB for the single carrier ruling. The NMB’s single carrier ruling will trigger a determination that AFA is the representative of all Flight Attendants at the combined carrier.

When will AFA negotiate a merged agreement?

We can negotiate with Alaska management for a merged agreement once the NMB has issued a single carrier ruling that AFA is the representative of all Flight Attendants at the merged carrier. If all goes according to plan, AFA hopes we can be at the bargaining table during late first quarter or early second quarter 2017.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC S/T-Elect Linda Christou

Good Jobs Nation Rally in Washington, DC Tomorrow

#DenyNAI is all about making sure we are a “Good Jobs Nation.” The Master Executive Council (MEC) has received permission for any AFA Alaska members who are in the DC area to show up to the rally in uniform—please make sure to wear your union pin. RSVP by contacting MEC Government Affairs Chairperson Krystle Berry at krystle.berry@afaalaska.org.

 

Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 7, Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison and Danny Glover are coming to speak at a rally in D.C. held by Good Jobs Nation. We need to raise awareness on the dangers of Norwegian Air International (NAI) every way we can, and this is the perfect opportunity. Don’t allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to double-cross EU and US aviation workers without a fight!

TIME:

Wednesday, December 7, 2016 1000-1100 EST

LOCATION:

Freedom Plaza (Washington, DC)

13th St and Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, DC 20004

Join in and help protest the DOT’s decision regarding NAI!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; MEC S/T-elect Linda Christou; and MEC Government Affairs Chairperson Krystle Berry

Flood Congress with Calls! It’s About Our Jobs!

December 6, 2016

Flight Attendants,

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation wrongly approved a foreign air carrier permit for Norwegian Air International (NAI). The decision sets aside the labor protections that were central to the U.S.-EU Open Skies Agreement. We know. We were there! We had a seat at the table when this administration negotiated the Agreement, and now just like any labor contract, the administration needs to make good on this aviation trade deal. This is our about our jobs and our nation’s ability to move millions of people and connect with the rest of the world.

Norwegian can fly to the U.S. today. We are allies with the U.S.-based and Norwegian-based crews who fly today under U.S. and Norwegian labor law. But NAI, flagged in Ireland, sets up a ‘flag of convenience’ model in aviation—the same business model that destroyed U.S. shipping. NAI will use this ‘flag of convenience’ model to hire crews from countries with the lowest labor and safety standards, such as Malaysia or Thailand.

Watch this video to learn of about the dangers of flag of convenience.

We will not accept this. We will act. We will never stop. We will never accept abrogation of our rights.

1. Call Congress Now

Every Flight Attendant needs to call every day this week!

Connect directly to your Senate offices: 1-855-980-2338

Connect directly to your Representative’s office: 1-855-980-2306

“Hello, my name is _________ and I am a constituent. I’m a Flight Attendant calling to urge my Representative/Senator to take action to STOP Norwegian Air International from flying to the U.S. under a completely new set of rules. The DOT NAI approval opens the door to a flag of convenience model that will lead to outsourcing 300,000 U.S. aviation jobs, just like it decimated the U.S. shipping industry. This is about good U.S. aviation jobs and enforcing our trade deals.”

2. Good Jobs Nation Rally in Washington, DC – Wednesday

#DenyNAI is all about making sure we are a Good Jobs Nation – show up in uniform with your union pin and RSVP at info@afacwa.org.

This Wednesday, December 7, Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison and Danny Glover are coming to speak at a rally in D.C. held by Good Jobs Nation. We need to raise awareness on the dangers of NAI every way we can and this is the perfect opportunity.

TIME:
Wednesday, December 7, 2016 1000-1100 EST

LOCATION:
Freedom Plaza (Washington, DC)
13th St and Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004

Mentorship Program Update – November 2016

Inflight management has been actively pursuing a mentorship program over the past year

As many of you know, Inflight management has been actively pursuing a Flight Attendant mentorship program over the past year in order to supplement Initial Training. Management has allocated significant resources towards implementing a program—even going so far as to hiring outside consultants. Several of you have had an opportunity to help develop the mentorship program by providing feedback as participants in system-wide focus groups. The Master Executive Council (MEC) thanks all those who have supported the effort.

Mentorship program would require contractual waivers

Numerous aspects of a mentorship program—even a trial program—would require deviations from current contractual provisions. In other words, AFA and management would have to agree to contractual waivers in order to launch such a program. Although the MEC has been impressed with the developments so far, we are declining to move forward at this time. Why?

Why the MEC is declining to move forward

The MEC appreciates management’s enthusiasm for a mentorship program, but Inflight management has been too enthusiastic in its communications on the topic. Management has gone so far as to write on more than one occasion that a mentorship program will be launching in the near future—despite the fact that the MEC has not agreed to do so. The MEC lodged our objections to these communications verbally and in writing, but even so management sent out another one saying the exact same thing shortly thereafter. What are your AFA leaders to make of that?

Besides feeling that management is being overly presumptuous, the MEC cannot justify implementing a somewhat costly new program right now. In our humble opinion management has yet to adequately address a multitude of issues important to the membership: turning off all trip trading for up to 78 hours during the upcoming Jeppesen Crew Exchange cutover, on-going implementation delays for Reserve self-assignment and repositioning, serious problems with vacation bidding and vacation Open Time trading, lackluster new Inflight web site, no calendar sync external to Outlook, et cetera. When we start to see movement in the right direction from management, the MEC is willing to reconsider our position.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Open Time Negotiations Begin

The AFA Negotiating Committee met with management November 14-17 this week in Portland to negotiate a new Open Time system. Representing Alaska Airlines management: Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider, Managing Director of Labor Relations Elizabeth Ryan, Director of Inflight Crew Scheduling Kieran Whitney, Manager of Inflight Operations Performance Mike Link and Manager of Financial Planning & Analysis Brittany Schaub. Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays also made a guest appearance on Monday to kick off the week.

Under §12.F.9 [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial] of our contract, AFA officially cancelled the Open Time trial in July. The contract provides that once the trial is cancelled, we will go “back to book”. “Back to book” means reverting to the Open Time system used in the 2006-2010 agreement and related 2010-2012 extension as modified by the “Withholding Open Time” arbitration award. You will find the language associated with “back to book” (BTB) Open Time in BTB §12.F [Exchange of Sequences Back to Book: Open Time Trading] of your contract. A copy of the “Withholding Open Time” arbitration award is also at the back of the contract.

Management is currently working on programming the old BTB OT system in the new Crew Exchange. As soon as programming is completed, we will go back to book. This is meant as a placeholder while the parties negotiate a new Open Time system.

The difficulty in negotiating any Open Time system is that management and Flight Attendants have interests that can be challenging to harmonize. From our survey and from our own experience, we know that Flight Attendants want more flexibility—whether to fly less or more, to get certain days off, or to improve the trips on their lines. Management wants to be able to run the operation without increasing its liability for uncovered flying, and to minimize premium pay, junior assignment and the potential for flight cancellations.

The week started out very collaboratively with both parties spending many hours crafting several different conceptual proposals. However, the Negotiating Committee became disheartened on Wednesday after management proposed changes to Open Time that in our opinion would be significantly worse for Flight Attendants than either the current system or the old system. There is no value in negotiating an Open Time agreement that would be worse than “back to book,” since “back to book” will apply if no new agreement is reached.

Consequently, we left the session disappointed.

The parties agreed to meet again on December 7-8 in Seattle. In the meantime, the Negotiating Committee will continue working on possible solutions. We welcome your thoughts and feedback at negotiations@afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

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

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Thursday, September 11, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Conner Gallager (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN). Also present […]

Celebrating Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month

September 15 marks the start of Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month in the United States, a vibrant celebration dedicated to honoring the rich contributions and diverse cultures of Hispanic-Latinx Americans. Spanning a full month, this observance—also known as National Hispanic Heritage Month—has its roots in Hispanic Heritage Week, which was established by legislation signed into law by […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Monday, September 8, 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), Ila Christy (PDX), Hilary […]

We Will Never Forget – September 11, 2001

AFA Never Forget Website United Flight 175 Robert J. FangmanAmy N. JarretAmy R. KingKathryn LaBorieAlfred G. MarchandMichael C. TarrouAlicia N. TitusCaptain: Victor SaraciniFirst Officer: Michael HorrocksCustomer Service Representatives: Marianne MacFarlane and Jesus Sanchez United Flight 93 Lorraine G. BaySandra BradshawWanda A. GreenCeeCee LylesDeborah WelshCaptain: Jason DahlFirst Officer: Leroy Homer American Flight 11 Barbara AresteguiJeffrey CollmanSara […]

Vacation Survey Now Open

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants Your Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is working diligently to understand and improve the vacation benefits for our Flight Attendants at Alaska and Hawaiian. Your input is essential in ensuring that the vacation provisions we adopt reflect your needs and preferences. To gather your perspectives, […]

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