July 10, 2013

Dear Flight Attendants,

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) is very pleased to report that Alaska Airlines intends to replace the TwinHill uniform with an interim Land’s End uniform by late fourth quarter 2013 or early first quarter 2014. All Flight Attendants will be out of the TwinHill uniform much earlier than the originally anticipated date of late 2014! It has been a long, long road to get to this point but AFA is thrilled that Alaska Airlines management is taking this bold action to restore confidence in our uniform. AFA representatives have been involved in the selection of Land’s End—including an extensive vetting process with safety as a primary driver.  We are highly confident that Land’s End will be able to deliver a product that is free from the issues many have reported while in or around the current stock uniform. The transition to the interim uniform will happen all on the same day and AFA has been informed that there will be an overnight effort to resolve safety concerns from potential contact transfer on the jumpseats during that transition.

However, please keep in mind that this is only a temporary uniform from Land’s End Business Outfitters stock catalog. Flight Attendants will eventually be transitioned to a custom Land’s End uniform once the “brand refresh” review has been completed—up to two years from now. With all the new Flight Attendant uniforms going public lately, we do not want anybody to be disappointed as a result of thinking that this new Land’s End uniform–which will probably lack many of the more exciting elements in other airline uniforms—will be with us for any length of time. Again, it is just an interim uniform until a more permanent and presumably more exciting uniform is in place.

AFA knows there will be a lot of questions and we will continue to update you along the way through MEC communications or the AFA Uniform Committee. You will also find more information on Alaska’s World, the Inflight webpage and in First Class. Also, the MEC would be remiss if we did not thank AFA International Air Safety and Health Industrial Hygienist Judith Murawski for her determined advocacy on behalf of our affected members.

In solidarity,

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants,

It was too good to be true, well, for some of us!

There appears to be continuing issues with eMaestro. The problem is not specific to any browser, but Internet Explorer and Chrome are the top culprits. Depending on your preferred browser, IT has provided what they believe will fix the issue.

Please remember that Crew Scheduling cannot fix the issue and we ask that you refrain from calling them unless you need to report a sick call or an operational situation.

First thing in the morning the MEC will determine if the issue continues to exist and if we need to address the closing time for bids, again. 

 The IT fix addresses clearing your browsing history. Please refer to the following helpful tips for your specific browser:

INTERNET EXPLORER

Tools: Delete Browsing History. Everything needs to be checked- Delete

Close browser and reopen

FIREFOX

Tools: Options/Privacy/Clear your recent history for the last 24hours

Details: Top 4 options must be checked- Clear now

Close browser and reopen

GOOGLE CHROME

Click on the three-line box in the upper right corner, go to History and click on Clear Browsing History. Set the amount of time you want to clear and then click on Clear Browsing History again.

Drop down must be changed to past day/clear browsing history. 

Close browser and reopen

We will continue to update you with information as soon as we receive it-

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

Dear Flight Attendants,

At approximately 545pm tonight the problem with the eMaestro system was fixed and the system is now up and running.

Even though eMaestro is now operational please note that the new time for bid closure is still 12:00 noon (pst) July 10, 2013.

The MEC will work with the company to determine what caused the problem and how to avoid this type of system failure in the future.

Thank you for your patience today!

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org

Dear Flight Attendants,

 4pm update

Due to the continuing problems with eMaestro today AFA has requested, and the company has agreed to, an extension to the close of bids from 09:00 (pst) to 12:00 noon (pst) tomorrow, July 10^th.

 AFA brought forward the concern with a Flight Attendant’s inability to trade or pick up trips during the last few days of the month and how this does affect bid awards.

 If the system comes back on line tonight the close of bids will remain 12:00 noon (pst) tomorrow, July 10th.

Again, bids are now due by 12:00 noon (pst) tomorrow. We do not anticipate any delay to bid the awards.

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

 “Five Bases, One Voice”

Dear Flight Attendants,

AFA did receive reports that Navtech, the bidding system, was also experiencing glitches. We did ask the company to research the reports and at this point Navtech is fully operational.

We do want to remind you that the Navtech system is best supported by Internet Explorer 9 and Chrome browsers.

We are still awaiting updated information on eMaestro and hope to have this out to you soon.

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

“Five Bases, One Voice”

www.alaskamec.org