March 17, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

In just a couple of weeks on April 1, 2013, Alaska Airlines will open a new Flight Attendant base in San Diego. The Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to give you an idea of when and how San Diego will become its own AFA council.

Once San Diego has a minimum of 100 active members in good standing, the MEC will petition the AFA Executive Board of Directors to become its own council. Working in conjunction with the MEC’s recommendations, the AFA International officers will then appoint temporary local officers in San Diego until an election can be held for permanent positions. We are hopeful that the election will take place by the end of this year.

In the interim AFA Council 18 Los Angeles will support the San Diego base. If you are a San Diego-based Flight Attendant and need any AFA assistance or have any interest to volunteer for an AFA committee, please contact LAX LEC President Sandra Morrow (sleemorrow@verizon.net, 951-532-3880) or LAX VP Kelly Johnson (laxvice@aol.com, 310-612-2259)

As time goes on we will update you with all relative information.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

“Four Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org

February 8, 2013 @ 1430 PT

Dear Flight Attendants,

Due to severe weather on the East Coast, Alaska Airlines management and AFA have agreed to enact the “Natural Disasters and Acts of War” provision in section 8.S of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. This agreement went into effect yesterday late afternoon and will remain in place through Monday, February 11, 2013, for all flights serving Boston (BOS) and Newark (EWR). Several flights have already been canceled: Feb. 8 – BOS flights 30 &12, EWR flights 8 & 14; Feb. 9 – BOS flight 30. DCA and PHL are in normal operation. Unfortunately, the decision to enact 8.S came a little too late to remove a crew from BOS yesterday early afternoon, so they will remain stranded there (with pay protection or stranded pay, as appropriate) until service resumes. All others have been returned to domicile or are on their way.

The provisions of 8.S will allow over-duty pairings to be built in order to “re-populate” those routes once service is restored. Double-out compensatory rest and premiums apply to these pairings. A link to the letter of agreement enacting 8.S can be found here:

AFA LOA 2012-02-07-A “Enacting 8.S Natural Disaster Language: Boston/Newark Snow Storm February 2013”:

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

February 8, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

Effective today, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air has implemented a six month test of a reciprocal jumpseat agreement. That is, Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants may now jumpseat on Horizon Air and Horizon Air Flight Attendants may now jumpseat on Alaska Airlines. This is different than the reciprocal cabin seat agreements we have with several carriers in which one must sit in a customer seat. Alaska Airlines has also implemented changes to the way we are cleared for the jumpseat, which are outlined in Inflight Bulletin 2013-0036 “QX/AS Jumpseat Procedures.”

Your AFA leadership would like to offer some helpful information that will ensure a smooth jumpseating experience on Horizon. Did you know that Horizon Flight Attendants are required to groom their aircraft after the completion of each flight? This includes emptying seat pockets and crossing seat belts. Consequently, there is a culture of expectation and courtesy at Horizon that non-revs stay behind and assist the Flight Attendants when possible.

When you jumpseat on Horizon please keep this culture in mind and if you have time after jumpseating on a flight, we know the Horizon Flight Attendants would appreciate it if you offered to assist them. However, if you find yourself deadheading on Horizon, be advised you are not under any obligation whatsoever to groom the aircraft per our Contract! The Alaska MEC is simply offering this information to you so that you can make an informed decision. The MEC is not taking a particular position except to advise that you are not required to groom aircraft while on duty per the Contract.

Keep in mind that Horizon Air Flight Attendants are also members of AFA and as such should be welcomed as our sisters and brothers when they are jumpseating on Alaska. They are not yet familiar with our jumpseat etiquette, so it will be our responsibility to explain expectations to them—such as when to step out of the galley to facilitate cart movement. The emergency procedures for sitting in the jumpseats are outlined in briefing cards located in the stationery kits. Please be assured these briefing cards have been reviewed and approved by your AFA Safety, Health and Security Committee (SHSC).

The Alaska MEC knows that many are excited about the new jumpseat agreement between Alaska and Horizon, but that some will also have concerns. Alaska Airlines management has indicated that the contact person for this test is Carmen Platt – Carmen.Platt@alaskaair.com so all feedback (positive and negative) should be sent to her. We also urge you to share your comments and/or concerns with your AFA leadership. We will be talking more with management as the test progresses for the purpose of evaluating the reciprocal jumpseat agreement.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

February 9, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

The 40^th Annual Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting begins this weekend in Chicago, IL, and continues through the end of next week. Your AFA leadership will be in attendance to represent your interests in the business of our union. For those who are interested in learning more about the BOD, please visit the official BOD website at http://afa-bod.org/.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow

February 5, 2013 @ 1630 PT

Dear Flight Attendants,

Alaska Airlines management has notified the Master Executive Council (MEC) that there is a problem with the pairings in Navtech’s PBS. Déjà vu, right?! The good news, however, is that the pairing numbers are not anticipated to change, nor is the issue expected to affect the closing of bids.

This time the problem lies directly with Navtech and not Alaska Airlines. Many if not most of the pairings are reflecting layovers with a duration that is incorrect by thirty minutes. This is suspected to be a recent programming glitch of some kind. The MEC has been told that Navtech has “all hands on deck” in order to fix the error. Once it has been corrected, the revised pairings (again, no new pairings!) will be loaded.

The bid packets were pulled off the Inflight page earlier today as soon as the error was brought to Alaska Airlines management’s attention. Management will now load the correct pairing information onto the Inflight webpage directly from the AOS pairing optimizer program so that Flight Attendants have an accurate reference to work off of for bidding. Bidding in Navtech’s PBS will remain open. If you are comparing the pairing information between what is in Navtech and what is posted on the Inflight webpage, the only differences you should see is a discrepancy in layover duration in many of the pairings. All other information should be the same: pairing report and release, pairing numbers, layover cities, etc.

AFA has requested that Alaska Airlines management send out notification to the entire group regarding this issue as soon as possible.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Terry Taylor, Yvette Gesch, Melanie Buker, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn and Sandra Morrow