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[L-VX] GDOs, Year-End Overlap Vacation Days and Work Rules v5 Amendments

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GDOs and 2019-2020 Year-End Overlap Vacation Days

Vacation bidding for Legacy Virgin America (L-VX) Flight Attendants opens on Friday, September 28, 2018. There are a few changes to how Guaranteed Days Off (GDOs) and year-end overlap 2019-2020 vacation days will be handled in preparation for transition to Alaska Airlines systems and contractual coverage under the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA). You may reference Informational Bulletin 2018-0098 “Airbus 2019 Vacation Bidding” on the Inflight Webpage or the updated “Airbus FA Vacation Bidding 2019” email from Willie Bell (dated 9/20/2018) for more information.

Click here for the Transitioning L-VX GDOs and Year-End Overlap Vacation Days MOU >

Virgin America Inflight Teammate Work Rules v5 Amendments

L-VX Flight Attendants are currently working under “Virgin America InFlight Teammate Work Rules v5” (“Work Rules v5”) as modified by other letters of agreement. AFA and management acknowledged that some disparities existed between the work rules reflected in Work Rules v5 and the work rules in actual practice as of the date of ratification of the AFA Alaska Airlines-Virgin America Merger Agreement on April 3, 2018.

In order to memorialize all known work rules that were previously communicated by various historical Work Rule Amendments, InFlight Reviews or standalone email communications to all L-VX Flight Attendants, the parties agreed to targeted amendments of Work Rules v5.

Click here for the Virgin America Inflight Teammate Work Rules v5 Amendments >

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

New Pay Rates and Retro Pay

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The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is providing this information to you in order to help clear up confusion about the new Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) pay rates and retro pay. This communication is a supplement to the Updated JCBA Implementation Quick Reference Guide.

L-VX Pay Rates and Retro Pay

L-VX Flight Attendants have now received three checks with the new pay rates: One on 4/30 for the first two weeks of April (smaller check), one on 5/15 for the last two weeks of April (larger check) and a retro check on 5/15 for January through March retro pay.

L-AS Pay Rates and Retro Pay

L-AS FAs will receive two checks on 5/18 with the new pay rates: One for April flying and one for January through March retro pay. For the approximately 1700 Flight Attendants who have an adjusted Occupational Seniority date between 1/1 and 5/31, you will also receive another retro check no later than 6/29 for the appropriate pay due to the new Occupational Seniority date. Considering that management had maintained throughout the roadshows that all retro pay would be paid out much earlier, AFA is extremely disappointed that management now indicates it needs until June to pay out for the adjusted Occupational Seniority dates.

Example:

Original Occupational Seniority date: 4/1/2011

Adjusted Occupational Seniority date (first day of training): 2/14/2011

FA was paid at the prior Step 6 rate of $ 37.18 for checks issued in January, February, March, April and on the May 5th advance check, if applicable.

FA will be paid for January through March for the difference between the prior Step 6 rate of $37.18 and the new Year 7 (formerly known as Step 6) rate of $38.85 on a 5/18 retro check.

FA will be paid for April at the new Year 8 (formerly known as Step 7) rate of $40.11 on the 5/18 paycheck.

FA will be paid for May at the Year 8 rate of $40.11 on the 6/20 paycheck (and the 6/5 advance paycheck, if appropriate).

FA will be paid for 2/14 – 3/31 for the difference between the new Year 7 rate of $38.85 and the new Year 8 rate of $40.11 on an additional retro check no later than 6/29.

Advance (5thof the Month) Paychecks

The advance paychecks on 4/5 and 5/5 were paid at the old pay rate, which needs to be corrected by Payroll. The 4/5 paychecks will be reconciled at the new rate on the 5/18 paychecks, and the 5/5 paychecks will be reconciled at the new rate on the 6/20 paychecks. All other advance paychecks from this year will be reconciled on the 5/18 retro check.

Longevity Premium

There has also been confusion about the Longevity Premium. There has been no change to the occupational longevity required to qualify for Longevity Premium. A Flight Attendant must achieve (i.e. have completed) 16 years of occupational service in order to qualify for the initial Longevity Premium of $1.00 per TFP. Stated another way, the initial Longevity Premium goes into effect one year after s/he reaches the top out rate of Year 16 (formerly known as Step 15). A Flight Attendant will move to the next step of Longevity Premium of $1.50 once s/he has achieved (i.e. completed) 20 years of occupational service and s/he will move to the next step of Longevity Premium of $2.00 once s/he has achieved (i.e. completed) 25 years of occupational service, et cetera. If your qualification for Longevity Premium has been affected by the adjustment to your Occupational Seniority date, you will see that new premium reflected on the “adjusted seniority” retro check no later than 6/29.

Contact the JNC or one of your local officers if you have any questions.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Updated JCBA Implementation Quick Reference Guide

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The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) has updated this implementation quick reference guide. The list below is separated into L-AS and L-VX provisions to easily distinguish the changes for each Flight Attendant group.

Pre-Merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants (L-AS)

Provisions Retroactive to January 1, 2018

  • New Pay Rates. Across-the-board 4.5% increase effective at DOR and retroactive to January 1, 2018. May 5th paycheck will still reflect the old pay rates due to the seniority synch-up process. New rates based on seniority dates including credit for time spent in initial training will be reflected on May 20th paycheck for April flying. Retro for January through March flying will also be paid on May 20, 2018.
  • Elimination of 1/12thvacation accrual reduction. [Section 14.A.1-2.] Any reduction s of vacation accrual under the former provision will be corrected by October 2018 in time for 2019 vacation bidding.

Provisions Effective Date of Ratification (DOR) or soon after (as noted)

  • 401(k) Match Increase. 401(k) employer match increased to 7.5%. (If you are not currently contributing at least 7.5% you should increase your contribution as soon as possible to achieve full matching!) Flight Attendants may make changes to their contribution up until May 10, 2018, to apply to their April 2018 flying, which will be paid on May 20, 2018.
  • Seniority “Sync-Up” Date.Includes credit for initial training. Will apply to pass travel, vacation accrual and bidding (no change in relative seniority). Contractual 30-day protest period ends and Integrated Seniority List (ISL) will be final on May 3, 2018.
    • New badges will be issued to all Flight Attendants
    • Will not change your RT base month
  • Bank Point Award (2 bank points). One time reduction and/or credit of two (2) total points to his/her attendance points balance. The manual process of reducing or crediting each Flight Attendant’s point total has begun. If a FA reaches any level of discipline prior to the completion of manual adjustments, s/he will have her/his two points reduction applied prior to discipline being issued.
  • Might Be Late (MBL) Grace Period. 5 minute grace period [Section 32.C & E]. Flight Attendants must call Crew Scheduling and advise of MBL prior to scheduled check in time. The duty supervisor will send a report to the FA’s performance supervisor, who will check the actual scan-in time. If scan-in is not within the 5 minute grace period, attendance points will apply.
  • Ground Commuting Provision.[Section 28.G]
  • Holiday Pay Scheduled or Actual Provision. The new provision for scheduled or actual holiday pay will be in effect for the next contractual holiday: July 4, 2018. [Section 21.H.2]
  • Holiday Pay “Show No-Go” Premium. The new provision for holiday “Show No-Go” pay will be in effect for the next contractual holiday: July 4, 2018 [Section 21.H.3]
  • Medical Leave of Absence Provision. Minimum of 4 years without company approval: immediate halt to terminations in progress under former 1-year maximum duration without company approval. [Section 15.C.2]
  • Vacation Coordination Bank. To maintain insurance while on a leave of absence. [Section 15.M.2.c]
  • $75 Parking Stipend. Inflight sent an email communication to all Flight Attendants (Ron Calvin: “New Options with FA Parking” – April 11, 2018) with a link to the sign-up form. Due to many questions about the form and the tight deadline for May, management will honor requests made after the April 15 deadline to begin the stipend in May. Please note this is a monthly option, so it can be elected at any time; however, it must be submitted by the 15thof the month prior. A link to the form will be published on the Flight Attendant webpage. A Flight Attendant needs to submit a new form only when s/he wishes to change her/his parking election. [Section 28.H.2]

Pre-Merger Virgin America Flight Attendants (L-VX)

Provisions Retroactive to January 1, 2018

  • New Pay Rates.Across-the-board pay increase effective at DOR and retroactive to January 1, 2018. New pay rates for April 2018 flying will be reflected on April 30, 2018, paychecks. Retro pay for January through March flying will be paid on May 15, 2018.
  • Greater of Scheduled or Actual Block Time.Calculated on a segment-by-segment basis beginning January 1. Programming changes are required, so management anticipates paying this retroactively on May 31.
  • Reserve Premium. Greater of Reserve Premium or $2.83/block hour flown while on reserve. This requires a software change, so management anticipates July flying will be paid on August 15, and January through June retro will also be paid on August 15.
  • Per Diem Increase. Increased to $2.50 per hour. Will be reflected on May 15 paychecks for April flying, and January through March retro will also be paid on May 15.
  • Holiday Premium (2x pay).Retroactive to include New Year’s Day and will be paid on May 15 if applicable.

Provisions Effective Date of Ratification (DOR) or soon after (as noted)

  • New Pay Rates.Red Circle provision in effect for eligible Flight Attendants.
  • Trade Below 70. Ability to trade down to 50 block hours to another Flight Attendant – please see management email for instructions on trading.
  • Reserve Minimum Day. Increased to 4.3 credit hours/day of reserve. Increase will be reflected on May 15 paychecks for April flying.
  • Reserve Premium. Greater of $100 or $2.83/block hour flown while on reserve
  • Pre-Board Pay. Twenty-six block minutes (0:26) or (0.5 TFP equivalent) when asked to pre-board a flight (does not apply to RRR). Flight Attendants must currently submit via Crew Comment field in Rainmaker. Management is working on an automated process.
  • Greater of Scheduled or Actual Block Time.Calculated on a segment-by-segment basis.
  • Full Deadhead Pay. 100% pay for deadheading, retro to 4/1/2018. Increased pay will be reflected on May 15 paychecks for April flying.
  • Show-No-Go Pay Increase. Increased to 2:39 credit hours. This is an automated pay process and is tracked on the Flight Attendant’s line by CSS.
  • Charter Pay. Increased to 2x pay. Pay will be automated and applied by CSS if charters operate.
  • Sit Pay. If “sit” in excess of 2:00 (scheduled or actual) between flights, Flight Attendants receive pay of fifty-three block minutes (0:53) (above guarantee for reserves).  “First fight of day” sit pay:  Sit pay, above, applies to the first flight if there is an actual delay in excess of 2:00 in addition to ground holding pay. This provision requires a software change, so management anticipates July flying will be paid on August 15, and January through June retro will also be paid on August 15.
  • International Pay.Increased to $1.13/block hour, applies when customs is not pre-cleared. This will be reflected on May 15 paychecks for April flying. This must be manually added to paychecks, so International Pay will not be visible in Rainmaker.
  • ITL Program Transition. Flight Attendants will begin bidding to be in the “A” pool at the end of April for June. “A” pay will start in the June bid month and will first appear on the July 15 paycheck, if applicable.
  • Premium Open Time. Increased to 1.5x pay for trips picked up. This pay is automated.
  • Operational Assignment Premium. Increased to 1.5x pay. This pay is automated.
  • Holiday Pay Premium.Increased to 2x pay; new holiday: July 4th.
  • Might Be Late (MBL) Grace Period.5 minute grace period [§32.C&E]. A Flight Attendant must call CSS and advise of MBL prior to scheduled check in. A MBL code will be placed on the schedule, and a supervisor will check the FA’s line to verify the scan-in time. If check-in is not within the 5 minute grace period, attendance points will apply.
  • Extended Maternity Leave. L-AS policy available to L-VX Flight Attendants. Any Flight Attendant who returned to work from a Maternity Leave after January 1 who would like to take Extended Maternity Leave should contact her leave analyst.
  • Base Swaps. Minimum 3-month base swapsavailable between LAX and SFO-based L-VX Flight Attendants. Notification required May 1st for swap effective June 1st.
  • Management Seniority Accrual. Supervisors/management on seniority list may not accrue seniority for longer than they have been a line Flight Attendant.

All Flight Attendants

No furlough protection for all Flight Attendants effective April 3, 2018 through December 31, 2019.

* * *

All the relevant documents describing the negotiated changes can be accessed on the Merger TA & Information Page.

In Solidarity,

Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

Merger Tentative Agreement Roadshow Webinar

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The Joint Negotiating Committee has developed a Merger Tentative Agreement Roadshow webinar that mirrors the Roadshow presentations.

Merger TA Roadshow webinar >

 

If you click the video “play” icon, the webinar will automatically play in the order in which the information was presented at the roadshows. Alternatively, you can click the video “playlist” icon on the upper left, and you will be able to individually access any of the 25 videos in the order of your choosing.

There is also a link on that page to the electronic version of the printed AFA Roadshow Packet that was available at each of the roadshow sessions.

You may contact the JNC at jnc@afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

 

TA-related resources may be found on the Merger TAs & Info page. Please be aware that only AFA members in good standing may vote on the TA, so it is extremely important that pmAS FAs are current on their dues and pmVX FAs have completed an AFA membership application prior to the vote. As a result of new Department of Labor guidance regarding electronic balloting, a vote is final and cannot be changed once the ballot has been cast. Balloting closes on April 3, 2018, at 9am Pacific Time. Voting-related resources may be found on the TA Voting Information page.

Open Time Negotiations Update – March 2018

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There is a lot of history to Open Time negotiations. See the following communications for additional information:

AFA and management have reached an Open Time agreement in concept

The AFA Negotiating Committee* (not the Joint Negotiating Committee) and Alaska Airlines management reached an agreement in concept for a new Open Time system back in December. However, the Negotiating Committee and the Master Executive Council (MEC) agreed that the best course of action prior to formalizing a tentative agreement (TA) was to determine how long it would take for Jeppesen to program the new system. So…management sent the programing requirements off to Jeppesen for an estimate. Then AFA waited…and waited.

Open Time vs. Merger

After repeated inquiries during the intervening period, AFA finally received the estimate from Jeppesen in early February. At that point, AFA was also on the cusp of reaching a Merger TA. Both efforts (Open Time and the Merger TA) would require significant programming resources from Jeppesen and Alaska Airlines IT that physically could not be done at the same time due to resource limitations.

The MEC was faced with making another challenging decision: Which goes first? On the one hand, Open Time implementation under the current contract has been hanging out there for a very long time, so it should be prioritized. On the other hand, going forward with Open Time first would very likely delay “Full Implementation” (i.e. Legacy Alaska and Legacy Virgin America flying together), which would also delay Legacy Virgin America (L-VX) FAs being brought into the full Legacy Alaska (L-AS) contractual work rules. A final complicating factor is that realistically it would not be possible to roadshow and vote on both a Merger TA and an Open Time TA at or around the same time. Plus, how would AFA attempt to explain the Open Time situation to L-VX when they are not even living with the current L-AS contractual trading rules?

Merger TA first, then Open Time

The MEC made the difficult decision to move forward with the Merger TA first and then tackle Open Time after the outcome of the Merger TA ratification vote is known. The benefit of this approach is that the Jeppesen programming resources formerly assigned to Open Time could be re-focused on achieving Full Implementation on time—if not early. The MEC realizes this approach will be frustrating to many, but we are doing our best make the most out of a largely no-win scenario.

More information will be forthcoming once the outcome of the Merger TA ratification vote is known, and the MEC has an opportunity to determine the best strategy going forward.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

 

* Your AFA Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees, and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

Latest News

Dynamic Contractual Waiver Due to ANC Earthquakes Extended

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The Master Executive Council (MEC) has approved an extension to the dynamic contractual waiver due to the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Anchorage, AK yesterday and today. The contractual duty day and rest requirements are waived ‘down’ to Federal Air Regulations (FARs) for the narrow purposes of facilitating avoiding ANC layovers and to keep the […]

Dynamic Contractual Waiver in Effect Due to ANC Earthquakes

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The Master Executive Council (MEC) has approved a dynamic contractual waiver due to the earthquakes in Anchorage, AK today. The contractual duty day and rest requirements are waived ‘down’ to Federal Air Regulations (FARs) for the narrow purposes of facilitating avoiding ANC layovers and to keep the ANC operation running through 5pm AST tomorrow: December […]

Large Earthquake Strikes Anchorage, AK

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A large earthquake (preliminary estimates around 7.0 in magnitude) struck Anchorage, AK at approximately 9:29 PST (8:29 AST). There are initial reports of damage to infrastructure. So far AFA is receiving reports that crews overnighting at the layover hotel are okay, and we have been in contact with several Flight Attendants living in the area […]

Air Quality Information & Update

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Due to the recent spike in cabin air fume events, your AFA Air Safety, Health, and Security Committee (ASHSC) has been working diligently to assist with all fume events by continuing with our normal procedure of contacting the affected crews, offering support, educating, and providing tools and resources for responding to these events. Resources Available […]

MEC Grievance Update – Quarter 3, 2018

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The Master Executive Council (MEC) has been very hard at work ensuring disciplinary due process and contractual compliance on your behalf.  Section 20.N.2 of the Flight Attendant Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) allows for 10 arbitration dates per year to argue discipline/termination cases and contractual issues.  The ratified Joint CBA increases this amount and provides for […]

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