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May 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week on Tuesday, May 9, to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
  • Due to contract negotiations taking place at the same time as the meeting, our MEC did not meet with management as part of this month’s meeting.
  • The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 26, and Tuesday, June 27. Please don’t hesitate to contact your LEC President if you have any questions.

On Tuesday, May 9, the Regular MEC Meeting for May 2023 was held as scheduled. Our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee provided updates on their respective areas. Furthermore, the MEC reviewed written reports from other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons regarding their current work. 

No Meeting With Management This Month

Usually, our MEC meets with management during these meetings to discuss current issues and challenges that Flight Attendants face. However, this month, contract negotiations happened at the same time as the MEC Meeting. As a result, most key management personnel from inflight and labor relations were unavailable to meet with our MEC. Despite this, other meetings, such as the bi-weekly Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Meeting, are scheduled with management to address any other issues that come up promptly.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please reach out to your LEC President.

Crew Access Frustrations

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Changes to how trips are posted and displayed in Crew Access and other ongoing system issues have resulted in concerns about contractual violations and a lack of management accountability.
  • Management must provide a functional system that works correctly and has agreed to troubleshoot the current issues and review programming changes to Crew Access.
  • AFA Representatives will continue protecting Flight Attendant interests and contractual rights through all legal means available to us, including the grievance process as applicable.

We understand that many of you are frustrated with recent changes to how trips are posted and displayed in Jeppesen Crew Access, especially when it comes to trading trips with crew members or through Open Time. These issues have resulted in concerns about contract violations and an apparent lack of accountability from management. As your Union leadership, we are actively addressing these concerns and advocating for your rights.

It’s important to note that a financial award may not be an achievable or realistic remedy for contract violations brought forward to a system board of adjustment under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). Under the standards of arbitration, AFA would have the burden of proving that a specific person was denied a particular trip on a specific date and time. This is essentially impossible; even if it were, the remedy would be limited to what can be found within the “four corners of the contract” doctrine; in other words, any remedy must be contained within the contract. For example, if you were denied sit pay when you sat for two hours, you would be awarded one TFP. However, we cannot show who was specifically harmed or the dollar amount of such harm. As a result, in these circumstances, the only likely arbitral remedy for a contractual grievance would be a “cease and desist” order, which would require the Company to comply with the contract on a go-forward basis.

Compliance in this case still requires the system to work correctly, and even in the face of an award, it would not necessarily happen immediately. Management has already agreed to troubleshoot the current trip display issues in Crew Access and has expressed a willingness to implement programming changes to the Crew Access trading system potentially. Our analysis indicates that an arbitrator would likely find management’s actions an appropriate remedy for the current concerns. While we understand that this may only partially satisfy your expectations, it’s essential to recognize the legal limitations of the process.

This does not mean that we give up. As your AFA Representatives, we are committed to working towards fair and just solutions to contract violations—and filing and arbitrating grievances where appropriate. We will continue to negotiate and pursue all available avenues under the RLA and the contract to protect your interests. We understand your frustrations and encourage you to contact us with any questions or further grievances you may have. Your feedback and input are invaluable in helping us advocate for your rights and achieve positive outcomes.

We take your concerns seriously and are dedicated to holding management accountable to the terms of our contract. We appreciate your ongoing support and solidarity as we work towards resolving these issues. Together, we can continue to fight for the rights and well-being of all Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants.

April 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week on Tuesday, April 11, to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
  • As part of the meeting, the MEC met with members of inflight, crew planning, and labor relations management to discuss issues and concerns that are facing our work group and need to be addressed.
  • The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9. Please don’t hesitate to contact your LEC President if you have any questions.

The April 2023 Regular MEC Meeting was held this week on Tuesday, April 11.  The meeting consisted of updates from our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work. 

Meeting with Management

As part of most Regular MEC Meetings, our MEC meets with management to review the current issues and challenges that Flight Attendants face.  Attendees from management this month included Managing Director of Inflight Services Gloria Chow, Director of Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Managing Director of Operation Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Mike Ostler, Director of Payroll Leah Ables, Managing Director of Labor Relations Carmen Williams, and Senior Labor Relations Program Manager Mike Link.

Some of the topics discussed include:

  • Operational safety debriefs letter of agreement (LOA) implementation challenges. Management appears to lack alignment regarding how the recently signed operational safety debrief LOA provisions are to be implemented. Additional guidance is needed regarding who in management is specifically responsible for what when an operational debrief becomes necessary. Management agreed to work on developing additional guidance and will meet with AFA Representatives to review and implement it.
  • Ongoing issues with non-rev travel. Our MEC and numerous Flight Attendants have brought forward issues surrounding inconsistency with how non-rev travelers are cleared from the priority list on the day of travel. In addition, there have been reports of a perceived lack of coordination and communication with how aircraft weight and balance is calculated, resulting in non-revs being unnecessarily left behind. These issues have been reported to different members of management in various departments, and despite promises to investigate, our MEC continues to receive reports, and there appears to be no noticeable action being taken to address the concerns.
  • Continuing issues with transition to new leave/absence management vendor. Numerous employee reports have revealed that management’s transition to a new vendor for leave and absence management has been full of issues. Employees have reported not being paid correctly, a lack of responsiveness from the vendor, and other issues. Management indicated they would escalate the matter to Human Resources to determine what action is being taken to address the problems.
  • Flight Attendant hiring and initial training. Management shared updates about the anticipated number of initial training classes this year and adjustments to hiring projections. 
  • Recurrent training (RT). Management is evaluating when Airbus drills will be removed from RT based on the fleet retirement schedule. Planning is also underway for the 2024 RT curriculum.
  • Distribution of iPhone 13 Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs). Management continues distributing iPhone 13 IMDs to Flight Attendants with iPhone 7 or 8 Plus IMDs. Currently, over 1000 Flight Attendants still need to be issued new devices. Base management will contact those Flight Attendants by company email to offer a reminder and share options on how new IMDs can be picked up. (Note: to view the iPhone 13 IMD distribution LOA, click here).
  • Staffing adjustment leaves & KCM eligibility.  Update on previous request from AFA that management continue to allow Flight Attendants access to KCM while on staffing adjustment leaves to the extent TSA policy allows.  Management indicated they are making progress and are working to make sure the process covers all foreseeable scenarios while being compliant with TSA requirements.
  • Pairing construction and 4-position pairings. Management is continuing to analyze the possibility of building 4-position (A/B/C/D) pairings versus the current practice of building separate 3-position (A/B/C) and 1-positon (D) pairings. They are analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the change and evaluating possible impacts on pairing quality. This work is ongoing.

Action on Agenda Items

The MEC took action on one agenda item that was submitted in advance of the meeting.

  • The proposed annual budget of the AFA Alaska MEC was adopted as proposed. The MEC budget is based on the allocation of funding provided to our MEC from our monthly dues.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please get in touch with your LEC President.

Negotiations And Washington State Bill 5725 2023-2024

Master Executive Council (MEC)

  • Management solicited AFA’s support for WA SB 5725 in the context of contract negotiations, and the MEC ultimately agreed after careful consideration.
  • Our Negotiating Committee subsequently secured an agreement for near-term implementation of onboard rest breaks and a tentative agreement on Paid Sick Leave (PSL) provisions.
  • The failure of WA SB 5725 to advance out of committee may have some effect on negotiations.

Overview

Alaska Airlines management initiated the legislative effort that became WA State Bill (SB) 5725 2023-2024 (“Clarifying the application of the industrial welfare act and minimum wage act to airline cabin crews”). Management also approached AFA to solicit our support in the broader context of contract negotiations. After much negotiation and deliberation, AFA ultimately agreed to support WA SB 5725. The underlying issues are complex, the stakes are high – and being in negotiations, AFA is in a complicated balancing act.

In a public hearing on the bill last Friday March 24 AFA offered testimony in support of passage. On Tuesday March 28, the Washington State House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee declined to advance the bill out of committee. This action effectively killed SB 5725 for this legislative session, which will likely have consequences for negotiations going forward. 

Some Flight Attendants subsequently brought forward concerns about WA SB 5725 and questioned AFA’s support of the bill.  It was not a cavalier decision, and the reasons are articulated below.

WA SB 5725 2023-2024 References

Background

Alaska Airlines management approached AFA in the context of contract negotiations, seeking our support for legislative amendments that would exempt Washington-based Flight Attendants from (1) meal & rest breaks, (2) overtime, (3) minimum wage, and (4) pay interval requirements under Washington State law. Management also wanted those exemptions to (5) take effect immediately and to (6) apply retroactively. Because we were aware of a pending punitive class action lawsuit being pursued by Seattle-based Flight Attendants who are alleging violations of meal & rest break provisions, our deliberations proceeded cautiously with that in mind.

To be clear, AFA categorically rejected any consideration to exempt minimum wage. However, after many discussions between AFA leadership and our attorneys, it became clear to us that we needed to harmonize Flight Attendants’ schedules, working conditions, pay structure and pay timing with the existing legislative provisions in Washington State. In some cases, significant work is needed to bring our collective bargaining agreement in line with state law. Further, AFA refused to support full retroactive immunity, and instead agreed to endorse limited retroactive liability on meal/rest requirements of the law because individual Flight Attendants had active lawsuits pending.

In exchange, after years of litigation with no end in sight, we secured implementation of paid sick leave under state law to be applied systemwide. Over the years, we’ve heard from so many of you of the importance of securing paid sick leave under state law. As a result, we pushed for the Company to incorporate paid sick leave, and this was a big win for Flight Attendants. 

Contractual Challenges and/or Conflicts with Washington State Law

The following represent problems for AFA and management that must be resolved either through bargaining and/or through legislation:

  • Meal & rest breaks: Reconciling flight schedules and required safety duties with break times at prescribed time periods.
  • Minimum wage: Washington State does not allow averaging of pay rates across a work week to determine compliance with minimum wage requirements. 
    • To further complicate matters, Alaska Flight Attendants are currently paid based on standard and non-standard TFP (“trips for pay”), which are measures of distance rather than of time. TFPs are two degrees removed from the traditional clock hour worked (i.e., duty-hour), which is referenced in the law; and one degree removed from the industry standard “block hour,” which is generally based on when an aircraft is in motion between block-out and block-in. (Definitions of block-out and block-in vary between carriers.) 
    • AFA is very aware of Flight Attendants’ expectations to be clearly compensated for all hours worked whether through boarding pay and/or duty pay. However, we need to be extremely careful about avoiding unintended consequences. 
      Example: If we were theoretically to completely convert our pay structure from TFP to duty hours (no Flight Attendant contract has this), the transcon and Hawaii trips with one leg per duty period that are currently considered desirable and efficient under TFP would become relatively devalued at only seven hours of duty time or less as compared to other trips with longer duty days.
  • Overtime: Flight Attendants consistently work schedules based on monthly and not weekly or daily schedules, which is why airline crew are already exempted from federal overtime requirements. We have existing premium pay provisions of 1.5x our contractual rates of pay or better to compensate for certain hours or days involuntarily worked in excess of scheduled work. It would be more advantageous to keep those bargained-for provisions and continue to improve them.
  • Pay intervals: We have several contractual pay provisions requiring a full month lookback that we would need to reconcile with existing state law requiring pay the week following the work performed. 

What AFA Secured for Our Support

In consideration of AFA’s support for WA SB 5725:

  • Management agreed to negotiate the best of all paid sick leave (PSL) provisions from every state in which there are Flight Attendant domiciles with PSL laws – currently Washington and Oregon (there is a PSL carve-out for collective bargaining agreements in California and no such law in Alaska) – and to apply those to all Flight Attendants regardless of where they are domiciled upon ratification of a new agreement. We reached a tentative agreement (TA) on those PSL provisions late last Thursday during contract negotiations. The parties also made a mutual strategic decision to not communicate about certain details of the session until this week to give our respective lawyers adequate time to advise and assist us in tying up loose ends.
    (See the “Supplemental Negotiations Update” publishing shortly for more details about negotiations.) 
  • A standalone letter of agreement to be implemented next week that provides for onboard breaks. For the Flight Attendant Onboard Breaks LOA click here >
  • For details regarding the scope of our agreement pursuant to the WA SB 5725 2023-2024 Amendment Support LOA click here >

Meal & Rest Break Retroactivity with Limited Liability

Candidly, the portion of SB 5725 that provided retroactivity but limited liability on meal & rest break requirements was not something we proposed and would generally not support. However, for management, it was a “must have” that we would not have been able to come to an agreement without. With that in mind, we ensured that had the legislation been passed into law that Flight Attendants who took legal action on meal & rest break violations prior to the effective date would still be able to recover compensatory damages as named plaintiffs. 

The direct concern about retroactivity has now been resolved due to failure of the bill. However, the MEC knows some Flight Attendants are particularly upset about our support. Know that this decision was admittedly very difficult to make with no easy choice given the potential shortcomings of any decision. Yet, we believed this was the optimal path forward with the greatest benefit to Flight Attendants. Our support for this legislation ensured, for the first time, that Alaska management would implement Paid Sick Leave and apply it system-wide. This was a very important improvement and protects the most vulnerable among us.

What Happens Now That WA SB 5725 Failed?

The parties have now tentatively agreed to Paid Sick Leave provisions.  This agreement is a big win for Flight Attendants and resolves major portions of Sections 15 – Leaves of Absence, 16 – Sick Leave and On the Job Injury, and 32 – Attendance Policy. The agreed-to PSL provisions would require variances from WA Labor & Industries (L&I) for the minimum sick leave draw and potentially for the unit of accrual depending on whatever pay structure (TFP vs. block-hours vs. duty hours) is ultimately agreed to in bargaining, so we’ll work through those details. Otherwise, AFA is planning to continue negotiations on the same aggressive bargaining schedule of meeting twice per month. 

Management informed us that they are assessing the situation and determining next steps.

Whatever happens, we will keep you informed.

Washington State Legislature Declines to Advance State Bill 5725

Master Executive Council

Yesterday, the Washington State House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee declined to advance WA State Bill (SB) 5725 (“Clarifying the application of the industrial welfare act and minimum wage act to airline cabin crews”) out of committee. This action effectively killed the bill for the 2023-2024 legislative session. 

Alaska Airlines management was championing the effort, and AFA ultimately agreed to support the bill after much negotiation. Flight Attendants have brought forward questions and concerns about WA SB 5725 and AFA’s support. The underlying issues are complex, the stakes are high – and being in negotiations, AFA is in a complicated balancing act. 

The bill’s failure this legislative session may impact bargaining. Both sides are assessing the situation and determining next steps, which may not be known until contract negotiations next week. In the meantime, AFA is working on a more comprehensive communication to publish tomorrow. 

Thank you in advance for your patience!

Refreshed Inflight Mobile Device (IMD) Distribution

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants Management has recently informed our Master Executive Council (MEC) that they are distributing new Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs) to Flight Attendants with devices nearing the end of their lifecycle. The specific schedule for this distribution will be communicated by management separately. Flight Attendants with the oldest devices […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – September 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, September 23, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met in person at Alaska Airlines Corporate Headquarters to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), […]

Meet Our Pre-Merger Alaska Committee Chairperson & Representatives

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants We’re excited to introduce the first group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives for the upcoming MEC Officer term. They’ll begin transitioning into their roles over the next few months and officially start their terms on January 1, 2026. Below, you’ll find brief biographies that […]

Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2025

On Thursday, September 18, our AFA Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing efforts to represent our Flight Attendants and advocate for improvements in our workplace. Although our Inflight Service Committee has now merged, meetings with management continue to focus primarily on the Alaska or Hawaiian brands individually. This particular meeting was centered […]

Vacation Survey Closing Soon

There’s just 1 DAY LEFT to complete the crucial vacation survey that will help shape future provisions—your insights are essential for advocating the best outcomes for all Flight Attendants. The survey is currently open and will remain available until Wednesday, September 24 at 12 PM PT.

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