Negotiations News Archives

In TA2 please read over Section 14.A.4. and Section 15.M. and 15.N.  These provisions discuss what occurs with leaves with or without coordination and the sections affected by those provisions.

SAN Road Show Q & A

Section 3 – Scope

Q: With managers coming on board the aircraft do they have to pay union dues?

A: No, they don’t pay dues, they don’t get the benefits of your contract. They are not union members. Don’t receive all the protections. They are flying as an extra.

Q: Will they be required to wear our uniforms?

A:   No requirement to wear uniform.

Q: Are managers in charge on the flight?

A: No, managers/supervisors will be the individuals with lowest seniority and directed by the “A” FA.

Q: Why don’t we have enough numbers, we are running very lean? Why is that burden on the Flight Attendant group?

A: Management has the right to run operation as lean as they want. We were unable to achieve any restrictions or provisions regarding restrictions how the company manages their operations. This will afford management the ability to cover flights without having to ask AFA when due to a cancellation. We did attempt to negotiate something different and didn’t achieve it.

Q: What was the discussion around management flying at the table?

A: During the discussions at the table AFA was adamant that managers/supervisors were not going to be part of the minimum crew. Executive management were not willing to have a TA without allowing them to compliment our crew as an extra.

Q: Why is Andy in a video discussing management flying?

A: We asked Andy to participate in the video regarding management flying. Since this was an integral part of their bargaining objectives we required that they have a video discussing their intent. We didn’t edit or add content to their video, it was all done at their discretion.

Section 8 – Hours of Service

Q: I just worked a trip and had 100 people on 800, it took 28 minutes to deplane, what do I do to get paid the difference?

A: Contact Crew Scheduling to have your debrief adjusted. If one crew member contacts CS to make the adjustment, the adjustment is made for all crew members with debrief.

Q: How is block in determined?

A: Parking break set and L1 door open.

Section 9 – Junior Availability and Premium Open Time

Q: How far out can they JA you?

A: No earlier than the calendar day prior. See Section 9.D.2.a.

Q: Does this allow scheduling to hold onto trips?

A: No. Today they do hold trips and there is no penalty.

Q: Is there a penalty for JA out of order?

A: Yes, Two and one-half times (2.5X) the trip rate plus additional one-half times (0.5X) the trip rate for the error for the Flight Attendant who actually flies the JA. The Flight Attendant who should have been JA’d to the sequence will be pay protected at two and one-half times (2.5X) the trip rate for the sequence. See Section 9.D.1.e..

Q: Is there a penalty for Crew Scheduling holding a trip?

A: Yes, if CS withholds a trip and you find the trip then subsequently fly the trip you will be paid an additional 1 TFP. See Section 12.E.1.d..

Section 10 – Scheduling

Q: Do I have to opt out of 4k sequences during bidding?

A: No, it is an instruction to opt in, in you don’t opt in you are opting out of 4k and can’t be assigned one.

Q: Are you allowed to drop the 4k sequences into OT, if awarded?

A: Yes, just like any other trip.

Section 11 – Reserve

Q: If lineholder picks up single reserve day does it still convert to ER?

A: Yes, just like today.

Q: Where do you see issue for our reserves on implementation?

A: Self-assignment and reserve reposition calendar. The timeline is not changing though.

Q: Why are there no implementation penalties?

A: After TA1 failed, management talked to their third party vendors and realized they wouldn’t be able to deliver immediately the improvements negotiated. There is a delay of around 1 year for implementation that is described in the implementation LOA.

Section 12 – Open Time

Q: Is it just back to book and status quo for OT?

A: We go back to book and start negotiating a new OT system. It is in the best interest of both parties to have an OT system that works.

Section 14 – Vacation

Q; Page 16 of the summary 5^th bullet point, why is it Workers’ Comp is added to 12 month look back?

A: You are not paid in TFP. This is actually an improvement. The bulk of your pay is in dollars and not a TFP amount. Typically there is zero or little TFP credit. You won’t be penalized as we don’t count those months and will look into a full 12 months prior to get full look back which will count all flying. This is a more favorable application if you are on medical leave, maternity or workers’ compensation.

Section 16 – Sick Leave and On the Job Injury

Q: Is scheduling required to give you 1 reserve day for sick leave make up?

A: No, they are not required to give you 1 day. There may be multiple or single days available at their discretion.

Section 21 – Compensation

Q: Reserves that meet the minimum for the QPP can still get it without flying the full 90 TFP?

A: Yes, they are paid their guarantee and must exceed their PBS bid award by .1 tfp. Example is 90, 90, 90 plus .1, totaling 270.1 TFP.

Section 23 – Insurance

Q: Is the increase to my insurance going to be more than my pay increase?

A: No. You must calculate your flying habits, pay and premiums to get an overall picture of how much you individually will receive when comparing compensation and insurance between the two provisions.

Section 27 – General Association

Q: Who is applying for the scheduling chair position and who hires them?

A: It would most likely be a Flight Attendant who lives in the greater Seattle area as Crew Scheduling and Crew Planning are located at Flight Ops. The Scheduling Chair serves at the pleasure of the MEC.

Section 32 – Attendance Policy

Q: Are there points related to FMLA?

A: No

Q: Is there an FMLA lifetime accrual?

A: No, it is rolling 12 months. When you qualify you receive either 12 consecutive weeks or 72 intermittent days.

Q: Does the federal requirement under FMLA include vacation and sick leave?

A: No. The federal requirement does not include vacation and sick leave. It requires 504 “duty hours” over the 12 month period.

Q: If I have questions about FMLA who am I able to contact?

A: If you need assistance please contact your local LEC or the MEC benefits chair. You can find their information on the afa website by visiting www.afaalaska.org.

Random Q&A:

Q: Will my sit time be adjusted to ensure I get the sit time pay under the minimum pay rules?

A: Yes, the sit pay MPR will be paid for scheduled or unscheduled sits in excess of 2 hours.

Q: Is OPR and PBP changing?

A: No, there are no contractual changes to those programs.

Q: How many FAs in 2013 for 2014 benefits didn’t meet the current 480 application?

A: 73 (2% overall)

Q: How many FAs in 2013 for 2014 vacation accrual would not have received the requirement with the changes to TA2?

A: 388 (12% overall)

Q: Will a buyout be offered?

A: No

Q: Worst case scenario if it doesn’t pass?

A: The Company may teach us a lesson, not willing to rush into negotiations. Attempt to pull back provisions. NMB would possibly put us on shelf. May not allocate resources to Alaska until June/July 2015 at the earliest. The NMB has said once we act on whether we ratify or decline the contract, they will react. The timeline to this process being completed in the future is unknown. A two (2) month turn around is definitely not happening.

Q: What time will we know on the Dec 17^th?

A: Polls close on 12 (noon) EST. Will know shortly after voting closes.

Each pdf is specific to each domicile and has range maps, 4K and 15 minute pairing examples separated out.

LAX map with 4k & 15 debrief pairing examples

SEA map with 4k & 15 debrief pairing examples

SAN map with 4k & 15 debrief pairing examples

PDX map with 4k & 15 debrief pairing examples

ANC map with 4k & 15 debrief pairing examples

Q: Why did the Negotiating Committee start at Step 3 in the TA2 “Progressing Through the Pay Steps” video? It seems like this video is more focused on the junior Flight Attendants and their pay raises.

A:  The video is geared towards the lower seniority steps only in the sense that it was specifically designed to explain how to read the chart if one is moving through the pay scale. It is very confusing for some Flight Attendants to understand how their pay increases across the life of the agreement–particularly if they are receiving step increases on their anniversary date as well as the annual downline 1.5% increases to the entire pay scale. 

The Negotiating Committee randomly picked a 3-year Flight Attendant for the example. However, we could have easily chosen any other step rate below Step 10 to start the walk through the scale. Why below Step 10? Because Step 10 or above is or would be topped out during the life of the agreement. 

Reading the chart is a fairly straight forward task for a Flight Attendant who is already topped out. That is because the chart can be more simply read left to right on the same line all the way across at the top of scale rate. A Flight Attendant currently at Step 17 will receive an 18% increase over the life of the agreement based on increases to the step rates alone.

The intent of the video is not to highlight the specific pay rates at any particular step. The video is intended as a general educational piece on how to read the chart in the context of moving through the step rates and in combination with the downline increases. Hopefully that explains why the NC highlighted Step 3 as a starting point for the example in the video.