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[AS] Trip Trading Contractual Grievances – May 2017

For release to pre-merger AS council only

AFA is as disappointed as you in our new Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) system. Between San Diego’s Open Time not opening on time and system slowdowns throughout the day, once again the experience on Open Time day this month was subpar. AFA advocated that management provide a “do over” Open Time day to make up for all the trouble, but management declined due to concerns over operational liability.

AFA is continuing to pressure management on a daily basis to ensure the Company provides us with an operable real-time trip trading system. Although we are seeing improvements to JCA over time, those improvements are too little, too late. The following is a list of JCA-related contractual grievances filed to date with their respective status.

New Grievances

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-27-17-Violation of §12.C.2-3 Open Time Trip Drop. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C.2-3 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it denied Flight Attendants the ability to drop a sequence in Open Time at contractually designated times, e.g. SEA at 2:00pm PT.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA. The Company is working with the IT Department and Jeppesen to resolve the issue. This is tentatively scheduled for implementation on May 31st.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-28-17-Violation of §12.C.1 Real-Time Trading Procedures. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C.1 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it did not provide Flight Attendants a real-time electronic system for processing sequence trades, picks-ups, drops and give-aways because it requires frequent refreshing of one’s internet browser in order to view updated trading data and availability.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA. The Company’s remedy is that until JCA is modified, there is a manual workaround requiring Flight Attendants to refresh their browser to view an updated screen. AFA very much disagrees with the Company’s remedy and will be disputing it.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-29-17-Violation §12.C & §30.B.5 Trading and Requalification Training. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures] & §30.B.5 [Training: Recurrent Training], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its crew tracking system (Jeppesen Crew Access) did not allow a Flight Attendant to electronically trade trips that were on his/her line in a bid month in which s/he is scheduled for requalification training.

Details: AFA is awaiting the Company’s response.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-30-17-Violation §12.C.3 SAN Open Time. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C.3 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it did not begin access to Open Time trading in the San Diego Flight Attendant domicile (SAN) at 9:00am PT on May 15, 2017.

Details: AFA is awaiting the Company’s response. (The Company eventually opened SAN OT at 10:00am PT.)

Unresolved Grievances

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-2-17- Violation of §11.H.7. Denial of Reserve Automated Posting and Trading of Assignments. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 11.H.7. [Reserve/Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when its new Jeppesen Crew Access trading system denied Reserve Flight Attendants automated posting and trading of reserve assignments.

Details: The Company denied violating this section of the CBA. This grievance is on the list to arbitrate unless fixed prior. (This is tentatively scheduled for implementation on May 31st—finally!)

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-4-17- Violation of §9.E. & §12.E. All Open Time Trips Withheld from Open Time and Premium Pay Removed. This grievance alleges the

the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 9.E. [Junior Available//and Premium Open Time/Premium Open Time] & 12.E. [Exchange of Sequences/Open Time], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about February 9, 2017, and on or about February 16, 2017, all Open Time trips across the entire system were withheld from Open Time and premium pay was removed. This is an ongoing violation, and this grievance intends to include all future violations.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA. This grievance also includes any later violations. We are mediating this issue for a remedy on July 5, 2017.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-6-17- Violation of §11.E. Low Time First Available (LTFA) Out of Order Assignments January 31 to February 2, 2017. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 11.E. [Reserve/Order of Assignment], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when on or about January 31, 2017, at 8:00pm PST to February 2, 2017, at 11:00am PST, Crew Scheduling assigned Reserve Flight Attendants out of order because of the inability for Crew Scheduling to accurately verify order of assignments due to the cutover to the new crew tracking and scheduling system, Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA).

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA. We are mediating this issue for a remedy on July 5, 2017.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-7-17- Violation of §11.E. Low Time First Available (LTFA) Out of Order Assignments Post Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) Cutover. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement Section 11.E. [Reserve/Order of Assignment], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when starting on or about February 2, 2017 at 11:00am PST, and including all subsequent violations, Crew Scheduling assigned Reserve Flight Attendants out of order because of the inability for Crew Scheduling to accurately verify order of assignments due to the cutover to the new crew tracking and scheduling system, Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA).

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA. We are mediating this issue for a remedy on July 5, 2017.

 

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-10-17- Violation of §11.F.15, §11.H.7 & §11.H.8 Failure to Provide Automated Ability for Reserve Flight Attendants to Self-Assign and Trade APSB. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.F.15 [Reserve: Airport Standby], §11.H.7 & §11.H.8 [Reserve: Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to provide automated ability for Reserve Flight Attendants to self-assign and trade airport standby (APSB) assignments due to the cutover to the new crew tracking and scheduling system, Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA).

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA, and a fix was implemented to correct Reserve self-assignment and direct trading of APSB. The ability to advertise and trade APSB is tentatively scheduled for implementation on May 31st.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-18-17-Violation of §12.G.3 & §10.Y.7 SIP’d Sequences in Open Time. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.G.3 [Exchanges of Sequences: Sequence Interruption Point (SIP) Sequences] & §10.Y.7 [Scheduling: Sequence Construction], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it failed to identify SIP sequences placed into Open Time by the Company for pick-up/trade by Flight Attendants or assigned to (or self-assigned by) Reserve Flight Attendants; and thereby failed to pay all eligible Minimum Pay Rules on such sequences pursuant to §21.D [Compensation: Minimum Pay Rules].

Details: The Company denied violating this section of the CBA. The Company is looking into a manual workaround until it is fixed. This grievance is on the list to arbitrate/mediate unless fixed prior.

Resolved Grievances

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-12-17- Violation of §12.C.2-3 Allowing Out of

Domicile Trades, Pick-Ups, Drops and Give-Aways on Incorrect Dates. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.C.2-3 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it allowed out of domicile trades, pick-ups, drops and give-aways on the fifteenth (15th) and sixteenth (16th) of the month rather than the required seventeenth (17th) of the month.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA, and a fix was implemented to correct the problem.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-13-17- Violation of §11.H.7-8 Denial of Automated Trading of Reserve Flight Attendant Assignments. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.H.7-8 [Reserve: Reserve Exchange of Days, Pick-Ups and Trades], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it denied Reserve Flight Attendants the ability to trade assigned trips, automated and processed in real time, due to the Jeppesen Crew Access trading system cutover.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA, and a fix was implemented to correct the problem.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-14-17- Violation of §11.J.3 Reserve Repositioning Prior to Open Time Trading Day. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.J.3 [Reserve: Reserve Repositioning], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it allowed Reserve Flight Attendants to reposition their reserve days on a day prior to open time trading day.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA, and a fix was implemented to correct the problem.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-15-17- Violation of §11.E.1.a Incorrect Reserve Self Assignment Start Time. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.E.1.a [Reserve: Order of Assignment/Reserve Self-Assignment], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it started reserve self-assignment at 10:01am PT rather than 10:00am.

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA, and a fix was implemented to correct the problem.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-16-17-Violation of §11.E.1.a Incorrect Reserve Self Assignment Start Time in ANC. This grievance alleges the Company’s violation of Collective Bargaining Agreement §11.E.1.a [Reserve: Order of Assignment/Reserve Self-Assignment], past practice and all related sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it started reserve self-assignment at 11:01am PT (10:01 AKT) rather than 10:00am PT (9:00am AKT).

Details: The Company agreed it violated this provision of our CBA, and a fix was implemented to correct the problem.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams, MEC Grievance Committee Representative Christina Frees and MEC Scheduling Chairperson Zac Weeks

[AS] Adjusted Trip Trading Dates

For release to pre-merger AS councils only

Trip trading using the new Jeppesen Crew Exchange system continues to be extremely frustrating for everyone—especially on Open Time day. AFA has filed several more grievances related to Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) since our last communication on the subject. AFA will highlight the status of JCA-related grievances in a separate communication shortly.

AFA and management have agreed to adjust the trip trading dates so that Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant trades will no longer occur on the same day as Open Time. This is effective in June for July trading. Because Flight Attendants did not have an opportunity to bid for the new trading dates in June, the parties have agreed to keep Open Time trading on the 15th and instead move FA-to-FA trading up a day to the 14th. Starting in July for August trading and beyond, FA-to-FA trades will go back to the contractual trading date of the 15th and Open Time trading will occur a day later on the 16th.

Click here for the “Adjusted Trading Dates” Letter of Agreement (5/25/2017) >

June 2017 (for July trading)

Posting of Trips FA to FA Open Time & Recurrent Trip Drop Coupons
All bases 13th 20:00 SEA 14th 14:00 SEA 15th 14:00 Due 13th 06:00
    ANC 14th 10:00 ANC 15th 10:00 Results 13th 08:00
    PDX 14th 10:00 PDX 15th 10:00    
    LAX 14th 12:00 LAX 15th 12:00    
    SAN 14th 09:00 SAN 15th 09:00    

 

Out of domicile FA to FA & OT Pickups 17th 09:00 PT

 

July 2017 (for August trading)

Posting of Trips FA to FA Open Time & Recurrent Trip Drop Coupons
All bases 14th 20:00 SEA 15th 14:00 SEA 16th 14:00 Due 14th 06:00
    ANC 15th 10:00 ANC 16th 10:00 Results 14th 08:00
    PDX 15th 10:00 PDX 16th 10:00    
    LAX 15th 12:00 LAX 16th 12:00    
    SAN 15th 09:00 SAN 16th 09:00    

 

Out of domicile FA to FA & OT Pickups 17th 09:00 PT

The AFA Alaska Contract page has been updated with this latest letter of agreement. AFA will continue to advocate to management that improvements to JCA are not occurring fast enough and that management needs to make things right with the Flight Attendants.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Introducing Your Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee Member and Merger Representatives

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews last week for one Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Member position and two merger representative positions that will represent pre-merger Virgin America Flight Attendants. The MEC would like to thank the candidates who demonstrated willingness to represent our Flight Attendants. After thorough deliberation, the MEC has appointed Jamie Cogen to the JNC position and Lynne Voigtsberger and Rolando Teran to the merger representative positions.

Joint Negotiating Committee

About Jamie Cogen

Jamie started his career with Virgin America in 2009 as a Customer Service Agent. In January 2011 he joined the Inflight department and was initially based in New York (JFK). Jamie later transferred to San Francisco (SFO) where he upgraded into the role of Inflight Team Leader. In April 2013 he transferred to the newly opened Los Angeles (LAX) base where he remains today.

In July 2013 Jamie joined a few other advocates in approaching Transport Workers Union to help organize and unionize the Flight Attendants. Twelve months later, with the assistance of TWU, the organizing committee, and a lot of determination the Virgin America Flight Attendants were certified by the National Mediation Board.

Jamie graduated from the University of Phoenix with an AA degree in Hospitality, Travel and Tourism. Prior to becoming a Flight Attendant he worked for a large accounting software company helping clients with training, customization, and implementation.

When not flying, Jamie resides in Long Beach, California where he likes to ride his bike, cook, read, and travel.

About the JNC

The Joint Negotiating Committee works to obtain interim safeguards including a fence agreement with management (which maintains separate Inflight operations for a specified period of time) and merge the collective bargaining agreement(s) and/or respective work rules into a collective bargaining agreement for the combined airline. Additional information about the JNC can be found at http://afaalaska.org/merger/jnc.

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

Merger Representatives

About Lynne Voigtsberger

Lynne has been with Virgin America for 10 years. She worked in the role of ITM and is currently an ITL based at LAX.  She was an original member of the Work Rule Committee for 3 years and has also served as a Peer Review Panelist for 4 years.

Lynne has worked as a Flight Attendant for 31 years, and her past history includes TWA and American Airlines during the merger in 2001.  During the merger, when the TWA Flight Attendants were stapled to the bottom of the American Airlines seniority list, Lynne became part of a team that fought and ultimately helped to enact the McCaskill-Bond Act of 2007 assuring that all future flight attendant seniority would be handled fair and equitable in the event of a merger or acquisition.

Lynne lives in Redondo Beach with her husband and has a daughter living in Santa Barbara.  She loves all things beach related and spending time with friends. She does house, dog & cat sitting whenever possible, loves a fine wine, gardening, entertaining, and traveling.

About Rolando Teran

Rolando has been a San Francisco-based Flight Attendant with Virgin America for 10 years.  In addition to his flying duties, he has served as an Inflight Team Leader and Air Transportation Supervisor.  Prior to start up, Rolando also held a few other roles in assisting with other departments working at headquarters and a brief special assignment position in Guest Care after launch.

Prior to Virgin America, Rolando worked the Flight Attendant position with Northwest Airlines for 17 years based in Detroit, New York and San Francisco.   While at Northwest, Rolando was an active Union member working with the base representative while under the Teamsters, PFAA and AFA-CWA prior to leaving Northwest.  Rolando was an active founding organizing member of the union involvement with TWU in 2010 along with other Virgin America inflight team members.

Rolando resides in San Bruno with his partner of 21 years and their two Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Izzy and Lily.  He enjoys spending non-flying time with friends, beach and sand vacations, wine tastings, gardening or sometimes packing up the car with Izzy and Lily and taking hikes and long walks at any of the Golden Gate National Parks trails.

About the Merger Representative Positions

In their roles as merger representatives, Lynne and Rolando will be responsible for compiling the necessary information to merge the Flight Attendant seniority lists in the upcoming Alaska Airlines/Virgin America merger. They will work closely with the pre-merger Alaska merger representatives, the MEC, and the AFA International Office.  Additional information about the seniority integration can be found at http://afaalaska.org/merger/seniority.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

[AS] Paine Field (PAE) Operations

For release to pre-merger AS councils only

Alaska Air Group has announced the intent to operate Alaska Airlines mainline flights out of Paine Field (PAE) in Everett, WA sometime in late 2018. Management has informally expressed interest to AFA in discussing a co-terminal agreement out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). Driving distance between SEA and PAE is approximately 40 miles. Paine Field may not be made into a SEA co-terminal pursuant to §28.F.7 [Domiciles: Co-terminals] without mutual agreement between the parties.

It is far too early to speculate on how operations out of Paine Field might affect Inflight operations. Be assured that AFA will keep you updated once formal discussions regarding PAE begin with management.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

[AS] Follow-Up on Jeppesen Crew Access Issues

Crew Scheduling management has advised AFA that the issues reported by Flight Attendants earlier today with Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) appear to have been resolved.  If you encounter any issues with JCA going forward, please report them to your Local Scheduling Committee.

AFA realizes that JCA continues to create frustration for our Flight Attendants despite our ongoing efforts to resolve the numerous issues that have been previously identified and continue to develop.  We will keep holding management accountable for resolving these issues as expeditiously as possible through ongoing advocacy and by filing contractual grievances as warranted.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green, Brice McGee and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Zac Weeks

 

Crew Meal Survey Closing Soon

This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants Our Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is committed to prioritizing your nutrition during the work day through our crew meal provisions. We are eager to hear your thoughts on which elements of crew meals are most meaningful to you, as we continue to advocate for […]

Council 43 (HNL) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 12 PM PT today for the election of Council 43 LEC Officers, representing Hawaiian Airlines Flight Attendants based in Honolulu. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Kela Chong IVLEC Vice President: Martin GusmanLEC Secretary: Soon Kim View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

Council 39 (PDX) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 11 AM PT today for the election of Council 39 LEC Officers, representing Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants based in Portland. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Krystle Shae BerryLEC Vice President: Melodie AnderesLEC Secretary: Kevin Sharp View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – May 2026

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