Negotiations News Archives

The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) has revised and reposted the following documents to the Merger Tentative Agreements and Information page. In most cases, revisions were required in order to correct minor errors within the documents. In a few instances, the changes were made in order to clarify or highlight an item. After the link to each revised document, you will find additional information detailing the changes and the reasons for such changes.

Corrected TAs

JCBA 2018-2021 TA >

• Addendum to §15 [Leaves of Absence] #5 (“Do I accrue seniority while on a leave of absence?”)

The citation incorrectly indicated that a Flight Attendant accrues seniority only while on an approved medical leave when in fact seniority accrual occurs while on any approved leave of absence. The citation was updated to match the correct language in the JCBA LOA Changes to the 2014-2019 CBA TA.

• Section 35 [Duration]

The section was incorrectly reflecting the 2014-2019 CBA duration and amendable date and was updated with the 2018-2021 JCBA duration and amendable date.

JCBA LOA Changes to the 2014-2019 CBA TA >

• Section 6.B.2 [Seniority: Calculation for Determining Seniority] “Hired as a Flight Attendant on or after Date of Ratification”

[Note: This provision affects only Flight Attendant trainees hired after ratification and has no effect on current Flight Attendants or trainees already in Initial Training.]

Flight Attendants hired on or after Date of Ratification will no longer have seniority assigned according to birth order. This is due to recommendations from the AFA Legal Department in response to recent changes in various state and local laws with respect to age discrimination. After reaching the TA, AFA and management discovered that assignment of the Peoplesoft number is not entirely random. Because the parties intend for seniority to be determined as randomly as possible, we have agreed to an alternative method using a combination of the last four digits of the (mostly random) Peoplesoft number and the last four digits of the Social Security number (which are in fact random). The resulting number is sufficiently random for the purpose of establishing seniority and maintains the security of personal information.

L-VX FA Transition Agreement TA >

• Section 21: Compensation –> 21.T Sit Pay

Sit Pay was incorrectly referenced as one block hour. The negotiated Sit Pay was based on the block-hour equivalent of 1.0 TFP, which is actually fifty-three block minutes (0:53).

• Ability to Trade Trips Below Seventy (70) Block Hours

The reference to Virgin America InFlight Teammate Work Rules v5 Chapter 7.B.2.d.iii was updated to correctly indicate that the monthly cap on trading above 135 hours was previously eliminated; AFA and management agree the ability to trade above 135 hours will continue.

• Show/No Go

The Show/No Go credit was incorrectly referenced as 3.39 block hours. The negotiated Show/No Go credit was based on the block-hour equivalent of 3.0 TFP, which is actually two hours and thirty-nine minutes (2:39).

Corrected TA Summaries

Summary of AS Transition Agreement >

• Compensation

“Downline” increases of 1.5% on 12/17/2018, 1.5% on 12/17/2019 and 2.5% on 12/17/2020 added to the compensation summary for clarity.

Summary of VX Transition Agreement >

• Compensation: Pay Scale in Block Hours

The pay scale in block-hours is based on the TFP equivalent of the L-AS pay scale, which is converted at 1.13 TFP per block-hour. Some pay rates were off by a penny ($0.01) due to rounding errors in the worksheet used to produce the table. The rates have been corrected with the appropriate rounding convention.

• Compensation: Show No Go

The Show/No Go credit was incorrectly referenced as 3.39 block hours. The negotiated Show/No Go credit was based on the block-hour equivalent of 3.0 TFP, which is actually two hours and thirty-nine minutes (2:39).

• Compensation: Sit Pay

Sit Pay was incorrectly referenced as one block hour. The negotiated Sit Pay was based on the block-hour equivalent of 1.0 TFP, which is actually fifty-three block minutes (0:53).

The JNC thanks our eagle-eyed members for bringing the errors to our attention, and we apologize for any resulting confusion. You may contact the JNC at jnc@afaalaska.org if you have any concerns or questions. We hope to see you at the roadshows starting this coming week!

In Solidarity,

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

The roadshow schedule may be found on the Merger TAs & Info page along with other TA-related resources. Any pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) or pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) FAs are welcome to attend any and all sessions. 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.