Negotiations News Archives

The Negotiating Committee has had a little extra time after we released the TA2 Summary last Saturday, which has provided us the ability to answer questions on social media this week. During this time we have also been making posts on the Negotiations Blog as we have seen questions arise. We have enjoyed the opportunity to interact with you and answer your many questions about the proposed changes of TA2.

This coming Sunday, November 16th, the Negotiating Committee will be headed back to Seattle for the entire week. More long hours are in store for us as we prepare for the upcoming Roadshows. At the request of the Membership we will also be doing videos that will be posted as an additional reference. Those who are unable to attend a Roadshow should find them very useful.

Due to the amount of preparation required, we need to wisely use the minimal time we have left to ensure we are thoroughly prepared for the Roadshows. We want to remain available to answer TA-related questions and in order for us to do that efficiently we need to pull our resources into one location. We are asking all Flight Attendants to join us on the Negotiations blog at http://afaalaska.org/negotiations/blog to ask questions and comment in real-time on the information we are publishing. This will help you better understand the provisions of TA2. You can also email negotiations@afaalaska.org or use the Negotiations Feedback Form.

We will continue to monitor social media and will be directing you to the Negotiations blog to find the answers to your questions. Please know this is our way of using our time to the benefit of the entire Membership because every Flight Attendant has access to the Negotiations website and blog.

We look forward to hearing from you and providing you with accurate information so you can make an informed decision for your future!

In solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

Many Flight Attendants have asked, “What did we give up to achieve that provision?”

Most often it’s not as simple as the Negotiating Committee had to “give up” one provision in order to gain another. Sometimes there is a certain amount of trading for various aspects of the Tentative Agreement but not always. There were many times during these negotiations when management would give us a “freebie” when we asked for it, usually when it was a non-economic item.

For instance, some have wondered what AFA had to give up in order to achieve protections in Section 25 Air Safety, Health & Security from having to ferry on a flight with an inoperative engine. What has particularly concerned Flight Attendants is that regulations actually prohibit F/As from ferrying such flights. Therefore, some are concerned that we gave up something to achieve what we already have (even if it’s not in contractual language).

AFA had a whole list of protections or clarifications we were seeking in Section 25, some of which we achieved and others we did not. Even though regulations prohibit ferrying on those flights, AFA believed it was important Flight Attendants were aware they were not required to ferry such flights by including language in the contract. In this case, management agreed without further discussion.

There were plenty of similar instances when AFA asked for something and management agreed to incorporate it into the contract. Of course there were plenty of times when there was a lot more discussion and potentially even some “trading” to make it happen. We certainly didn’t have to give up something in order to gain something else for every change in the TA.

Probationary flight attendants are unable to vote for a contract and are not yet dues paying members. Generally this will exclude them from a signing bonus. However, we didn’t want to leave anyone out and believed that $500, paid at the point of successful completion of probation, was a great way to include our newest FA family.

Those that have topped out on the pay scale were unable to be moved beyond the 2nd place in the industry position that they had already achieved with TA1 rates. Management refused to move the top beyond the 10.8% they gave to the pilots top of scale. As a result, we felt it was important to include more in their signing bonus.

The signing bonus has a value of at least double or more for many FAs than that of the retro pay of TA1. The retro pay of TA1 was limited to only worked TFP.

This means that anyone on a leave of absence including workers comp, those who had vacation and those who earned less on the pay scale received significantly less or nothing in retro pay. A signing bonus is given to ALL FA’s in good standing – weather on a leave of absence, medical leave, maternity leave, etc. –  making it a more equitable and fair provision for everyone.

Retro Pay and a Signing Bonus are withheld at the same tax rate by our employer.

Current Book Cost = 145 million (wages and fringe)

TA1 (wages and fringe)

– Annual average 5 year cost*       $17.3 m over current book

– 2.5 months retro               approx  $1.6 m (one time realization)

Co Savings of TA1 failure    approx. $18m

TA2 (wages and fringe)

– Annual average 5 year cost*       $12.7m in addition to cost of TA1

– $2,000 signing bonus                      $ 8m (one time realization)

*total cost of 5 year deal divided by 5

The above amounts are confirmed by Dan Akins our airline economist

• TA2 was a 73% increased cost over TA1 costs (not counting signing bonus – another $8m)
• TA2 represents a $30 million (annual average 5 year cost) over current book costs.
• The rates in TA2 are higher than the 2015 rates for the AA/US Airways TA and Delta increased rates at every pay-step.  They continue to be higher in every pay step in the out years for the 5 year deal.
• Per diem increases to $2.50, the highest domestic per diem in the industry and beats most international per diem rates.