Your Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews this week for the two open merger representative positions. The MEC would like to thank the 33 candidates who demonstrated willingness to represent our Flight Attendants. Of the initial candidates, 6 finalists were selected. After thorough deliberation, the MEC has appointed Sandra Morrow and Marie Maxwell to the positions.

Sandra Morrow is a Los Angeles-based Flight Attendant currently serving as Council 18 LEC President. Sandra was hired in 1984 as a Jet America Flight Attendant and came to Alaska when the two carriers were later merged. After the merger, Sandra represented the Flight Attendants of the Long Beach-base and has held a variety of different Union positions. Sandra’s previous merger experience makes her uniquely qualified to take on the role of merger representative.

Marie Maxwell is a San Diego-based Flight Attendant hired in 2012. Previously, Marie spent over 20 years working with Microsoft. During her time at Microsoft, Marie held a variety of sales, marketing and operations roles, managed teams ranging between 5 to 25 people, and presented plans, programs and results to her senior leadership. She was involved in multiple reorganizations, which included merging teams as well as integrating diverse organizations. She was recognized for her ability to collaborate across teams, drive results through ambiguity and for her focus on customer satisfaction.

In their roles as merger representatives, Sandra and Marie will be responsible for ensuring compiling the necessary information to merge the Flight Attendant seniority lists in the upcoming Alaska Airlines/Virgin America merger. They will work closely with Virgin America’s merger representatives, the MEC, and the AFA International Office.

Current information about the Alaska Airlines/Virgin America merger can be found at http://afaalaska.org/merger.

In Solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt; and LEC Presidents-elect Tim Green & Brice McGee

One of the most important aspects of any merger of airlines is the integration of the seniority list.   The AFA Constitution and Bylaws provides for the Master Executive Council (MEC) to appoint two merger representatives.  Merger representatives have complete and full authority to act on behalf of the Flight Attendants of their respective airline for the purpose of compiling necessary employment data and a single flight attendant seniority list.  More information about duties and responsibilities of merger representatives are spelled out in Section X.C of the AFA Constitution and Bylaws.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Determine seniority numbers for each flight attendant by reviewing and determining date of bidding for seniority, initial training date, number of days of initial training, and if seniority was accrued for training (and if so, how many days were accrued)
• Evaluate all protests to determined seniority, determine validity, and adjudge accordingly.
• Compile and certify a combined system seniority list

Qualifications

• Must be a current Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant and AFA member in good standing (dues current)
• Ability to analyze written data and information with high attention to detail
• Ability to commit time necessary to complete assigned responsibilities, including flexibility to meet on short notice.  Some travel will be required.

Application Process

• Interested candidates should submit an expression of interest and resume to MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Satterlee at yvette.satterlee@afaalaska.org.  The deadline for applications is Friday, April 8 at 5 PM PDT.
• A member of the MEC will contact finalist candidates to schedule a telephone interview.  Telephone interviews will be conducting during next week’s MEC meeting on April 12^th or 13^th.
• Merger representatives will be selected by the MEC by the conclusion of the MEC meeting

Questions

Any questions regarding merger representative positions or the application process should be directed to MEC President Jeffrey Peterson at jeffrey.peterson@afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt; and LEC Presidents-elect Tim Green and Brice McGee