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May 1st Implementation Update

 

May 1st is the next major implementation date of our new contract. On that day the following will occur:

8.D. – 15 minute domicile debrief in effect

 

Domicile debrief is reduced from thirty minutes (:30) to fifteen minutes (:15). Flight Attendants may contact Crew Scheduling to adjust the debrief period for the sequence if the debrief exceeds the scheduled debrief. The adjustment will affect all Flight Attendants on the sequence. The adjusted debrief period will end when the last passenger has left the aircraft. This adjustment will not extend a Flight Attendant’s duty period for purposes of pre-boarding or JA assignments.

8.I. – Night Rule

 

Any flight attendant now on duty at 4:29 am local time is not required to remain on duty beyond 8:30 am initial departure station time of that duty period. The old “Night Rule” was measured from 4am so this is a half hour improvement in favor of the flight attendant. An exception continues to apply for single-duty period sequences with one return to domicile (all-nighter turns). There is also still an exception for Reserves on Airport Standby (APSB) at that time if s/he did not have a flying assignment prior to APSB in the duty period.

 

8.K. – Improved reduced RON Rest from 9 hours to 9 ½ hours

 

Insufficient rest on a Remain Over Night (RON) (aka a layover) has changed from less than nine hours to less than 9 ½ hours from release to report. That is a half hour improvement for the flight attendant. In addition, AFA and management have clarified and agreed that if a flight attendant does not receive such rest then s/he is eligible for 2.5x premium pay for the entire pairing if s/he is not removed at the Sequence Interruption Point (SIP) following the short layover—assuming there is a such a SIP.

 

9.E. – Premium Open Time replaces Voluntary Junior Available (VJA)

 

Flight Attendants will be allowed to pick up trips posted in Open Time at a premium rate (e.g. 1.5x, 2.0x, 2.5x). Flight Attendants may not trade a trip into OT in order to pick up a trip designated as premium OT. That is, it must be a straight pick up from OT in order to retain the premium. Trips will be designated with dollar signs to indicate the premium level: $ – 1.5x, $$ – 2.0x, $$$ – 2.5x, etc. Going forward, Premium Open Time replaces Voluntary Junior Available (VJA).

 

10.M. – New PBS line options and preferences effective in April bidding for May 2015

 

“Minimum Bid” has been eliminated. A flight attendant will no longer be assigned two (2) sequences on the same calendar day unless s/he waives the rule. Flight Attendants may waive 48/7 down to 24/7 for bidding in order to fly six days in a row. “4k” and “4k red eye” preferences are now active; if a flight attendant does not utilize these waivers then s/he will not be awarded a 4k or 4k red eye.

10.DD. – Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) sequences

 

Flight Attendants begin flying Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4k”) sequences. A Reserve may be required to fly 4k if a vacancy exists on a 4k sequence within three hours of departure—otherwise the assignment is voluntary. A Reserve may also preference 4k and be assigned 4k with no additional premium. Reserves who have not preferenced 4k will be paid a 1.5x premium (1.0x towards guarantee and 0.5x above guarantee) for the entire pairing if forced to fly 4k.

 

21.D. – Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs)

 

All Minimum Pay Rules (Section 21.D. [Minimum Pay Rules]) go into effect

 

  • The 4 TFP “four trip minimum” is now the Duty Period Minimum (DPM) – no change
  • The 4 TFP “midnight to midnight rule” is now the Extended Overnight Rule (EOR) – Any period of time on a remain over night (RON) free of duty from 1 am to 11 pm local time
  • Sit Pay at 1 TFP for any sit over two hours is now automated (so no more need to submit Activity Claim Forms!)
  • Multiday Sequence Minimum (MSM) guaranteed at 4 TFP times the number of calendar days in the sequence (minimum of three calendar days and two duty periods to qualify for the MSM, so the MSM does not apply to turns spanning two calendar days)
  • Average Duty Period Guarantee (ADPG) guaranteed at 5 TFP times the number of duty periods in the sequence (e.g. four duty period sequence is guaranteed at no less than 20 TFP)

 

All Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs) are paid the greater of scheduled or actual, whichever is the more favorable application. However, an automated scheduling adjustment by Winds Aloft (which is a program that calculates projected flying time due to winds at altitude) is not considered “scheduled” for the purposes of calculating eligibility for an MPR.

 

* * *

 

The next major implementation milestone is mid-July for the August 2015 schedule at which point the new Open Time process will go into effect.

 

AFA is also working as quickly as possible with management to finalize the contract in preparation for publication. We have made a lot of progress and are very close to moving to the next steps in the process. The Master Executive Council (MEC) asked AFA International how long it typically takes to publish a contract following ratification and were informed that we’re well within the ballpark: ranging between three months to over a year. We’re doing our absolute best to make it closer to the former than the latter.

 

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

 

Your Contract Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

 

PBS Update – May 2015

June bidding advice

 

Most survived the changes for May bidding but not everyone was happy with the results of their May schedule. There were not only changes in the pairings but also in the steps you might have needed to take in order to hold the trips you wanted. We did our best to communicate these changes, with the PBS Info Page devoting a lot of real estate at the top of the page to help you. That information is still there for you to read if you missed it earlier.

 

Confusion about some new ‘Waive’ options was a factor for some people…with people being unsure if they needed to use one of the new ‘waives’ or even where to find them. Waives are entered like any other bid line – by clicking on the ‘Add’ button to the right when looking at your Current or Default bid. The ‘Waive’ tab is on the far right of the list on the ‘Add bid preference’ page. AFA was not consulted as to the terminology used to describe the new ‘waive’ options.

 

Definitions of Lineholder Waives:

 

Allow Charters – Necessary to bid for charters in PBS (ANC-RDB is the only current charter bid in PBS).

Allow Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings – Must be added in order to be awarded redeye ‘4k’ pairings (there are currently none offered).

Allow Non-Redeye Long Duty Period Pairings – Must be added to your bid to be awarded day-time ‘4k’ pairings, both as turns and as part of a multiday trip.

48 Hours Off In 7 Days – To allow the program to build six days in a row of flying…with a 24 hour minimum rest at base in any seven day period.

48 Hours Off In 7 Days If Training – To allow the program to build six days working in a row but only the week of training (RT or any other company-scheduled training event) with then a 24 hour break at your base.

No Same Day Pairings – This must be entered in your bid if you want to fly two pairings on the same calendar day. Those needing to enter this ‘waive’ are people wanting back-to-back SEA-ANC/FAI all-nighter turns, back-to-back LAX-GDL/MEX redeye pairings, HNL-ANC then ANC-ORD the same day, etc.

Rest After Training – Used to waive rest after training down to 9:00 (nine hours) after release from training.

Rest Before TV – Using this allows rest before travel to a training event to be waived down to 2:00 (two hours) after check-out.

Co-Terminal – LAX base only…to allow PBS to award LAX check-ins and more than one co-terminal check-in.

 

 

Definition of Reserve Waives:

 

Maximum Days On 5 – To allow PBS to build you six days of on-call in a row.

Maximum Days On 5 If Training – To allow PBS to have you working six days in a row but only when a training event such as RT falls in that week.

Coming soon! The ability for Reserves to waive to one calendar day rest per week instead of the contractually required two consecutive days.

 

FYI –

  1. Waive bids will automatically go the top of your bid…they cannot be moved.
  2. Layover rest is NOT the same as rest at your base. During bidding, you must have at least 48 hours off at your base in any seven day period. If you ‘waive’ that rule, then you must have at least 24 hours off at your base in any seven day period. Rest on a layover does not count towards contractual rest during bid awards.

 

 

Changes in Flying out of your Base

 

While there might have been some changes in the pairings in all bases, the biggest impact was felt in the SEA base. Those particularly impacted were people bidding only for two-day trips that were now unable to hold them. They had previously needed to be awarded two-day AUS, DTW, IAH, ORD, SAT or STL pairings as those were the only two-day trips they generally held. With all of those cities listed above now being turns, there were very few two-day trips available other than east coast, Hawaii or Mexico.

 

Consequently, a significant number of people’s bids went into ‘Denial Mode’. This was because they did not have any ‘backup plan’ if they couldn’t hold two-day trips. These people will have to make adjustments to their bid to be willing to fly, at minimum, multi-leg two-day trips or very likely other trip lengths…turns, three or four-day trips,

 

Long Duty Period (‘4k’) pairings contractually are to be offered to every base. SEA and PDX only fly ‘4k’ trips as turns but in all other bases the ‘4k’ day is mid-pairing after laying over in SEA or PDX the night before and after. A maximum of 90% of the total 4k departures may be built in any single domicile and a minimum of 10% of the total 4k domicile departures will be built and distributed on an approximately equitable basis throughout the remaining domiciles each bid month. In May, some ‘4k’ pairings out of SAN were not bid for and fell into Open Time.

 

 

Upcoming PBS Base Sits

 

Representatives from the PBS Committee will be holding base sits in early May. The focus of these base sits is to reach out to the many new-hire FA’s in ANC and SEA but anyone is most welcome to drop in for help with their bid. Feedback on pairings can be addressed to the representatives from Crew Planning at the base sits. Comments regarding pairings can also be sent via Outlook email to your LEC Scheduling Committee Chairs or your LEC President. The Scheduling Committee will be meeting on June 25th, 2015 in Seattle with management to discuss any concerns you bring forward to your local committee.

 

ANC PBS base sit

Inflight

May 5th 9am-3pm

May 6th 5am-1pm

Sabrina Blevins-Crew Planning

Rebecca Asbell- PDXFA

Steve Poynter – SEAFA

 

SEA PBS base sit

Inflight-Mezzanine

May 7th 9am-4pm

May 8th 5am-1pm

Kelly Yeager-Crew Planning

Rebecca Asbell-PDXFA

Steve Poynter-SEAFA

 

Contact the PBS Committee anytime by email to PBS Q&A via Outlook.

2015 AFA-CWA Board of Directors Meeting

The entire MEC and many LEC officers will be attending the 2015 AFA-CWA BOD meeting

The entire Master Executive Council (MEC) and many of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers will be attending the 2015 AFA-CWA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting this coming week April 28th-30th. This annual meeting is where AFA conducts the business of our union at the international level. Voting members of the BOD from AFA Alaska are Council 30 ANC President Becky Strachan, Council 19 SEA President Laura Masserant, Council 39 PDX President Cathy Gwynn, Council 18 LAX President Sandra Morrow and Council 15 SAN President Stephen Couckuyt. MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, MEC Vice President Brian Palmer and MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch are non-voting ex officio members.

 

Relevant highlights of the BOD schedule

Relevant highlights of the BOD schedule that our members may find interesting:

  • Sunday 4/26 9am – 5pm – May MEC meeting
  • Sunday 4/26 6:30pm – 8:30pm – Negotiations Roundtable
  • Monday 4/27 8:30am-11am – Executive Board of Directors meeting (comprised of all the MEC presidents of each carrier)
  • Monday 4/27 6pm – 7:45pm – Defending Collective Bargaining Rights discussion with Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV 1st district) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (OR 4th district & Transportation & Infrastructure Committee chairman)
  • Tuesday 4/28 9am-9:30pm – BOD meeting
  • Tuesday 4/28 12:30pm-1:30pm – Human Trafficking Awareness & Reporting with Airline Ambassadors President Nancy Rivard and Chris Hansen of “Dateline NBC” & “To Catch a Predator”
  • Wednesday 4/29 9am-9pm – BOD meeting
  • Thursday 4/30 9am-5pm – BOD meeting

 

Full BOD schedule

For the full BOD schedule click here.

 

Index of BOD agenda items

For the index of BOD agenda items click here.

 

Will there be a dues increase?

This is always a contentious topic whenever it comes up. Under the 2004 AFA-CWA Merger Agreement, AFA dues are “determined by the AFA Board of Directors and shall be equal to the average monthly dues of CWA members.” You can find the merger agreement at the back of the AFA-CWA Constitution & Bylaws. AFA dues are currently $48 per month. The average monthly dues of CWA members is currently somewhere around $50 to $51 per month, so it’s looking likely that dues would have to go up simply to meet the obligations of the merger agreement.

 

However, US Airways and AirTran have also left the ranks of AFA due to mergers. That means the number of dues paying members in AFA has significantly decreased, which affects revenue. Consequently the AFA Board of Directors is faced with making some difficult budgetary decisions. As the voting members of the BOD, your LEC presidents are committed to the preservation of the quality of collective bargaining and representation in our union. We are also equally as committed to minimizing a dues increase.

 

We thank you for being engaged in the process and will represent your interests in good faith

The MEC thanks all our members for being engaged in the process. Please know that we will represent your interests in good faith at the BOD. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your LEC president.

 

* * *

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

 

AFA Alaska

Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP) Update – April 24, 2015

The 2nd issue of Inflight management’s “Contract Implementation Newsletter” sent on April 3rd explained how they would calculate the Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP).  As most of you know by now, the new contract created QPP.  QPP should be paid to any flight attendant whose Worked TFP (exclusive of Sick Leave and Vacation/Longevity PTO) exceeds the TFP equivalent of her/his combined monthly PBS bid awards over a calendar quarter. QPP from the first quarter is scheduled to be paid on May 5th.

 

Up until publicly communicating their intent in the newsletter, management has privately contemplated several ways of calculating eligibility for QPP.  As of this writing AFA believes the dispute centers on how to handle flight attendants on leave who received an award of zero (0) TFP for any month in the quarter. We anticipate the number of flight attendants who are affected by this dispute is relatively small but of course it is very impactful for those flight attendants. AFA has been theorizing on potential grievances but at this point we will wait until May 5th to see how the QPP is actually paid.

 

The Master Executive Council (MEC) fully anticipates that we will file a grievance at that time based on the actual circumstances of the QPP payment. Thank you for your patience and we will keep you informed of any developments.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Grievance chairperson Jennifer Wise MacColl; and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

AFA Alaska

Improved “Pass” or “Fly” Reserve Low Time First Available (LTFA) Preferences

New “Pass” or “Fly” features go into effect at 2pm Pacific Time today

Good news for Reserves! AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to improve the Reserve order of assignment preferences, specifically “Pass” or “Fly.” The Alaska Information Technology (IT) department was also able to expedite a change to the Low Time First Assigned (LTFA) list, so the LTFA has already been revised as of earlier today. The improved “Pass” or “Fly” features will go into effect when Crew Scheduling pulls the LTFA list around 2pm Pacific Time today for the purposes of assigning Reserves for tomorrow. That’s right—at 2pm PT today! We apologize for the extremely short notice.

 

Background

During the course of contract formatting, clarification and implementation discussions, it became apparent that Reserves and at times Crew Scheduling were confused about the LTFA. They were confused regarding the hierarchy of the new preferences, how the preferences interacted with each other and how those interactions affected the order of assignment. Most Reserves noticed several changes to the format of the LTFA list over the past few months as the parties made adjustments to get it “just right.” While those adjustments were occurring, some Reserves even brought forward concerns about order of assignment violations based on their reading of contractual language. Any confusion about the Reserve LTFA should be minimized going forward.

 

LTFA list

The LTFA list is generated based on call type (AM/PM/ER) and days of availability (1-6). The LTFA list has already been altered to have Pass or Fly at the beginning of the preferences, then Night Flying then 4k (then LAX co-term if applicable) with TFP at the end of the list. At the beginning of the month (everybody at 0 TFP), all Fly are listed in seniority order then all Pass in inverse seniority order – no change. Unequal TFP is listed in LTFA order (low time first) – no change. Lineholder opt out is listed at the end of each call type and days of availability in inverse seniority order – no change.

 

Improved Order of Assignment

Beginning around 2pm PT today, Reserve order of assignment will be as follows:

 

Crew Scheduling will assign by moving down the list in LTFA order (or in FLY/PASS order when TFP is 0 or equal) within the appropriate call type and days of availability. The first legal Reserve that has a FLY preference will be assigned. If applicable, Crew Scheduling will assign to the first legal Reserve that has a FLY preference and the appropriate matching sub preference (e.g. 4k, Night Flying or LAX co-term). If no such Reserve exists, Crew Scheduling will then move back to the top of the list within those days of availability and call type and repeat the process in order to assign the trip to the first legal Reserve that has a PASS preference and matching sub-preference (e.g. 4k, Night Flying or LAX co-term), if applicable. Lineholder opt out’s will be assigned after all legal Reserves with a PASS preference within the same call type and days of availability have been assigned.

 

All sub-preferences are assigned based on the following hierarchy: Night Flying then 4k then LAX co-term.

 

Essentially, the only change is that the PASS or FLY preference is being given more “power” over the other preferences.

 

Contractual language

Here is the contractual language that you will find in the finalized version of the printed contract. AFA and management are getting very close to moving to the next step in the process in preparation to get this document published as soon as possible.

 

11 – Reserve

E. Order of Assignment

3. Low Time First Available (LTFA):

Within each reserve classification and days of availability, the LTFA list will be ordered with Reserves with the least amount of TFP flown or credited as a Reserve in the bid month (low time) //.

a. “Low time” means the Reserve, within each classification and days of availability, with the lowest amount of TFP flown or credited to date as a Reserve, in the current bid month.

b. To balance flying among Reserves, by default the Reserve with the lowest time will receive the highest-time assignment from the available assignments that are within her/his Reserve classification and days of availability at the time of assignment. The order or assignment will be altered by the preferences listed in E.2., above, and assigned according to E.4., below.

c. When more than one (1) Reserve returns to domicile on the same day and is legal for an assignment, the Reserve with the least amount of TFP flown or credited, as a Reserve in the bid month, will be used first.

4.  Assignment of Open Sequences/Assignments

Crew Scheduling will generate the Reserve Assignment List (LTFA) and will assign Reserves who have not already self-assigned within the same classification (AM/PM/ER) and with the same number of days of availability in the following order:

a. Among Flight Attendants with equal TFP flown or credited in the bid month:

  1. Flight Attendants who have preferenced “Fly” (default preference) in seniority order (most senior first); then
  2. Flight Attendants who have preferenced “Pass” in inverse seniority order (most junior first).

b. Among Flight Attendants with unequal TFP flown or credited in the bid month:

  1. Flight Attendants who have preferenced “Fly” (default preference) in LTFA order; then
  2. Flight Attendants who have preferenced “Pass” in LTFA order.

c. Within “Fly” / “Pass” preferences in the following order:

  1. Night Flying
  2. 4k
  3. LAX co-term

d. Lineholders who have picked up Reserve day(s) and who have not opted into the LTFA, listed in inverse seniority order (11.H.3.d. [Exchange of Days…]) within the same classification (AM/PM/ER) and with the same number of days of availability.

 

* * *

 

Many thanks to Alaska Airlines management and to Crew Scheduling for accommodating this improvement for our Reserves!

 

Questions? Contact your local AFA officers or your local Reserve committee members.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC Reserve chairperson Jarod McNeill

AFA Alaska

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