Master Executive Council (MEC)

Introducing Your Merger Representatives

April 15, 2016 20:00

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

Introducing Your MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson

April 14, 2016 18:00

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews this week for the position of MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson. We would like to thank the eight candidates who expressed a willingness to serve and interviewed for the position. After thorough consideration, the MEC has appointed Stephanie Garnett to the position.

Stephanie is a Seattle-based flight attendant and she has just completed her 17^th year with Alaska Airlines. Previously she was a stewardess for Pan American.

Stephanie is a graduate of Washington State University with a degree in mathematics. She has been a member of the Inflight Service Committee in Seattle for about 10 years and has also served on the Air Safety, Health, and Security Committee in Seattle for the last 4 years.

As a part her committee work, Stephanie has had the opportunity to work on some interesting projects including creating the packing for the universal juice drawer, working on the universal aisle cart packing and most recently researching the Space Bins. She is also a SOAR award winner.

Stephanie has been married to her husband Dan for almost 45 years. They have two sons who are married and have given them five grandchildren. Dan and Stephanie have recently adopted 2 kittens to fill their empty nest.

In her role as MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson, Stephanie will work closely with the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons and inflight management to represent and advocate for Flight Attendants in all areas related to onboard sales and service. Her term of appointment is concurrent with the term of the MEC Officers and she reports directly to the MEC.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

Get Involved: Seeking Two Merger Representatives

April 5, 2016 05:00

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

AFA Council 15 San Diego Certified Election Results

March 25, 2016 12:02

The following AFA Council 15 San Diego Flight Attendants were elected to a Local Executive Council (LEC) term of office beginning July 1, 2016, and ending June 30, 2019. Certified Council 15 San Diego election results are posted on www.afacwa-elections.org, or click here.

Council 19 San Diego

LEC President: Brice McGee

LEC Vice President: Melanie Buker

LEC Secretary: Stephen Couckuyt

The Master Executive Council (MEC) congratulates the officers-elect and we sincerely thank all those who stepped forward to run in the election.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson Interviews

February 23, 2016 09:00

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to thank Blair Kimball for stepping up and serving as MEC Chairperson of the AFA Inflight Service Committee over the past several years. Under Blair’s leadership, the committee has expanded involvement and helped to advocate for Flight Attendants as management has introduced major service changes. Blair will remain in position during the transition period as the MEC selects and appoints a new MEC Chairperson.

Background

The MEC Chairperson of the Inflight Service Committee is responsible for coordinating the activities of the committee at the airline level. The Chairperson works closely with each Local Committee Chairperson to gather feedback and input and represents the positions of the Committee and MEC in interactions with management.

Additional Information From the MEC Policy Manual

INFLIGHT SERVICE COMMITTEE

1. SCOPE

a. The Inflight Service Committee shall act to support the Union’s interest with respect to inflight service and sales onboard flights. The Committee shall meet with the Company to discuss any change in inflight service or sales, procedures to be followed and other pertinent matters prior to the implementation of such service

2. POLICY/RESPONSIBILITIES

a. The MEC Inflight Service Committee shall consist of the MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson and the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairperson from each council.

b. It shall be the policy of the Union to make any significant change in inflight service or sales subject to negotiations between the parties. The Union shall always place Flight Attendants’ health and safety as its first priority when considering the feasibility of any inflight service or sales change and the location of inflight service or sales items in galleys or other stowage locations.

c. The MEC Chairperson shall:

(i) Immediately contact the MEC President should the Company override his/her objections and proceed to implement changes in inflight service or sales against his/her recommendation

(ii) Compose informational and educational articles of interest to the membership and provide them to the MEC Communications Chairperson to be included in MEC communications and posted to the MEC website.

d. The Committee shall:

(i) Represent the Flight Attendant point of view to the Company in all matters pertaining to onboard sales and service policies, procedures, and practices

(ii) Work with the Scheduling Committee to determine available service time, projected loads and staffing when the Company determines a certain service is required on a flight

(iii) Monitor feedback from all domiciles on flights where services, load, staffing, or flight time cause the Flight Attendants difficulty in completing the standards of performance

Qualifications

Robust working knowledge of inflight service procedures, including all positions and routes (including short haul, Mexico, Hawaii, midcon, and transcon)
Ability to attend meetings as required, including being present in Seattle on occasion
Strong computer skills. Excellent working knowledge of Inflight Mobile Device, Google email, and Microsoft Office.
Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to write membership communications, respond professionally to internal and external e-mail, prepare reports, and plan meetings agendas and take minutes.
Ability to meet deadlines, delegate responsibilities, and follow up on assigned tasks

Duties

Participate in reviews of inflight catering, packing, service, and sales with management
Review Flight Attendant complaints or concerns regarding catering and inflight service. Gather information and work with management to satisfactorily resolve each issue.
Schedule, plan, and conduct quarterly meetings of the committee and other meetings and conference calls as needed
Correspond with the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons and MEC regularly to provide status updates. Prepare and send a monthly committee report to the MEC.

Time Commitment and Flight Pay Loss Reimbursement

This is position eligible for Flight Pay Loss (FPL) reimbursement by the Company under 27.P Company Business (CB) Flight Pay Loss with a 5% override and “A” pay. CB is compensated at 0.75 TFP per hour of work.
Estimated 8-10 hours per week (24 to 30 TFP per month). Some work may be accomplished remotely. Regularly required to be in Seattle to work on projects and attend meetings.

Working Relationships

With The Inflight Service Committee

Constant interaction with the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons. Frequent interaction with Local Inflight Service Committee Members.

With The Master Executive Council

This position reports to the Master Executive Council. The MEC executive sponsor for the committee is the MEC Vice President.

With Alaska Airlines Management

Constant interaction with inflight management, particularly the Manager of Inflight Experience (Matthew Coder) and Director of Catering Operations (Susan Morse)

Expressing Interest and Interview Scheduling

The MEC will hold interviews during the April MEC meeting on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Bid around the interview date or plan to arrange your schedule accordingly to accommodate.
Interviews will be at the AFA Alaska MEC office in Seattle. Our office is located in the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations and Training Center, Suite 280 at 2651 South 192nd Street, Seattle, WA 98188.
Submit a declaration of interest and resume to MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch at yvette.gesch@afaalaska.org no later than 5 PM Pacific Time on Friday, April 1, 2016. Yvette will be able to provide additional information regarding transportation and booking of flights if necessary.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

Introducing Your Merger Representatives

Introducing Your MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson