Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

There is a lot happening right now and we want to try and address your questions and any rumors that are out on the line. It’s important to remember there are resources available to you, along with your LEC Officers, where you can find answers to your questions. It’s important that we curtail rumors and bad info on the line and address issues with factual responses!

We hope that this newsletter addresses the top concerns and provides you with the necessary resources to seek your answers, too.

AFA-CWA Local Base Meeting June 21, 2017

1:00 – 4:00 pm

Hampton Inns and Suites, 28th Ave

(across from AS Fight Ops)

You have 2 options to get from the airport to the hotel:

1. Call the hotel directly for the shuttle (206) 244-5044

2. Call MVP shuttle (206) 243-3211. MVP is available for AS employees with their ID. The shuttle will drop you off at the Flight Ops building (just across from the hotel).

If you are driving to the meeting, parking at the hotel is free.

Andy Schneider has confirmed that she will attend the meeting to discuss recent concerns with Crew Access.

Council 19 LEC Officer Transition Process

Your current LEC Officers and the LEC Officer-Elects have been working together over the past month training and transitioning for the new officer term, which begins July 1, 2017.

Starting in June, LEC President Officer-Elect, Terry Taylor, will be included in all local base communication. This means that Terry will be cc’d in on all emails, alerted to texts, and updates with phone calls that the current LEC President, Laura Masserant, receives. This will ensure that Terry is up to speed on all events/issues that affect the Flight Attendants of Council 19.

Also, beginning June 1, Terry will be the point person for all performance meetings. Laura will step down from all performance/grievance related issues to ensure continuity of the grievance process during the transition process.

Virgin America Updates

Did you know that Virgin America (VX) F/As have are now part of AFA and the Alaska MEC? Their 3 domiciles (SFO, LAX, and JFK) make up AFA Council 35. The transitional council has a Local Council President, Melissa Osborne, and a Local Council Secretary, James Ikehara. Read more about James and Melissa at:

https://afaalaska.org/vx/officers

Melissa and James have attended the past 2 MEC meetings and they have been very busy! If you would like to know what they are doing to get their VX FAs ready for integration you can find updates on the AFA website:

https://afaalaska.org/vx

Melissa and James are answering questions in their updates, such as: VX travel, merger and integration appointees for VX FAS, along with a multitude of other questions. It’s a good rule of thumb for all of us to stay up to date with our brothers and sisters by adding Council 35 to your AFA newsletter preferences and receive their newsletters (see how to do this below).

Seniority Integration Questions?

Your officers are hearing questions about seniority integration. We want to remind everyone of the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws language which stipulates how seniority will be addressed:

https://afaalaska.org/latest-news/afa-constitution-mandates-date-of-hire-seniority-integration-protected-by-u-s-law

‘Date-of-Hire’ Principle Used, ‘Bidding Seniority’ Actual Term

Section X.C.2.a.(2). of the AFA-CWA C&B ensures that, “…the ‘seniority date’ of a Flight Attendant shall be the date from which each Flight Attendant accrues competitive (bidding) seniority as a Flight Attendant as of the date of the merger agreement between the affected airlines.” The term “date-of-hire” is common terminology among Flight Attendants and is the principle contained within the C&B. This term describes our principle but not the actual wording that refers to bidding seniority.

 Receiving newsletters from other domiciles

 How can I receive newsletters from other councils? It’s easy! Simply locate the manage your subscription link located at the bottom of every AFA newsletter that you receive and add councils to your subscription list.

You can add all AS/VX councils, as well as other airline councils who participate in the newsletter system.

Crew Access Update~Adjusted Trip Trading Dates for FA to FA Trading and June Open Time

AFA and management have agreed to adjust the trip trading dates so that Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant trades will no longer occur on the same day as Open Time. This is effective in June for July trading. Because Flight Attendants did not have an opportunity to bid for the new trading dates in June, the parties have agreed to keep Open Time trading on the 15th and instead move FA-to-FA trading up a day to the 14th. Starting in July for August trading and beyond, FA-to-FA trades will go back to the contractual trading date of the 15th and Open Time trading will occur a day later on the 16th.

For more information on this Letter of Agreement click the following link:

https://afaalaska.org/committees/scheduling/as-adjusted-trip-trading-dates

Your officers hope that you find this information helpful. Remember, you can reach us at sea@afaalaska.org.

  SEA SCHEDULING COMMITTEE REPORT

LEC Chair, Martin Vance and LEC Vice Chair, Rita Tillou

We are offering additional training classes in Crew Access beginning May 1, 2017. We encourage FAs to attend who may need a little more help understanding Crew Access. Topics that could benefit FAs attending class would include: Setting up Personal Filters, Text Alerts, How to post for grab, Direct Trade, and SIP/SPLIT trips. Also, we will cover what options are in your Reports and how to utilize them for best benefit.

Additional benefit for FAs this time are that classes are offered BOTH at Airport and at the Flights Ops building this time! 

FILTERS are your Friend

Did you know with Crew Access you have the ability to create Filters for up to 5 TEXT ALERT SUBSCRIPTIONS? You also have the ability to create numerous personal filters when searching Crew Access to navigate easier viewing when searching for specific days, trips, layover cities or FA position. Filters can be a one use option or saved for future use and ease when searching in Crew Access and deleted anytime at your discretion.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TEXT ALERTS?

With summer flying upon us don’t miss out on your Dream trips, Layovers and Premium Pay flying when it becomes available. Sign up for text alerts to alert you of premium pay trips in open time, specific trips you want to fly, or even desired layover cities.

To Create a Filter:

Go to trip Pool

Highlight Filter

Choose Start date End Date (may be left blank if you want it to continue)

Min days or Max days (Length of trip)

Layover (Designate your favorite layover)

Choose Role (FA Position, if preferred)

Mark box Show only Premium Trips

SAVE Filter

NAME your filter

Mark the box SUBSCRIPTION

Then go to:

Top left corner Hamburger Menu

Go to SETTINGS under Allow notifications mark the box “Allow SMS notifications”

Review PERSONAL INFORMATION make sure it’s correct with a phone number that ALLOWS TEXTS

Verify your Personal Information in Peoplesoft is accurate and up to date with a Phone number that allows Texts. This can be found in FA page Other Schedule Options, Open Trip Text Notifications, follow prompts.

Helpful Hints

Published Roster it is the “accurate” view of your schedule. 

FLIGHT ATTENDANT NAME OF POSTING FA FOR GRAB IS NOW SHOWING

FA posting a trip for Grab or Direct Trade their name and position NOW shows. Be aware that if Trip was posted before the recent patch was done the FA name willNOT show this updated version. (FA may want to unadvertise trip and repost for Grab).

IMPROVEMENT HOW TO PRINT YOUR TRIP (PAIRING)

When you look at your trip in your Roster pairing is in BLUE click on this trip (pairing) will appear with a PRINT option.

FLIGHT LOADS ARE BACK 

Schedule and Bidding 

Under My Schedule and Trading

Flight loads will show 5 days out 

You can email sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org with questions

Don’t forget to sign up for Crew Access Training Sessions!

Save the Date(s): Crew Access Info Sessions

Please note the following dates and locations for upcoming Crew Access information sessions~ They begin next week!

For this round we added dates at the Alaska Airlines Flight Ops building, in addition to the dates at the base. We hope this provides more options to accommodate your schedules.

To see the list of times on each day and sign up for a classroom session click on the following link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4babae2fa1f58-crew6

May 5th and May 12th we are looking to offer reserve training sessions.

If you are on reserve and want to attend please sign up now! 

Also, class lists are finalized the day before~ if you want to attend a class please make sure you sign up prior to the class.

If you have any questions please contact your LEC Scheduling Chairs at sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org

In solidarity,

LEC Scheduling Chair, Martin Vance and LEC Scheduling Vice-Chair, Rita Tillou

Hotel Committee

LEC Chair, Jodi Snow

For a year now the Hotel Committee has been working with management to address concerns with unscheduled layover hotels. Flight Attendant crews have been experiencing terrible issues associated with these alternate hotels. Due to the on-going issues, the committee has partnered with MEC Vice President, Brian Palmer, to bring these concerns forward to the company and have them addressed. The Hotel committee is now confident that the list of alternate hotels is updated and provides reasonable accommodations for the crews. However, situations may still arise where flight attendants experience a hotel not on this list due to high demand in any given city. If you experience a hotel that does not meet our negotiated language, please file a crew care form (see below.)

The Hotel Committee will document properties during upcoming site visits that would be a good fit for the alternate hotel list to keep the list updated.

Two members of the AFA Hotel Committee, SEA FA Olivia Borrows and SAN FA Kanani Vallot, are monitoring situations at hotels and documenting these issues for the committee to address with the company.

Remember, if you have problems with your hotel please document the issue via Crew Care:

CrewCare (Layover Hotel and Transportation Feedback)

 Visit the CrewCare website (AS login required)

If you have a layover hotel or transportation concern, first document the issue by writing it up in the CrewCare system.

1. Log-in to the inflight website (http://asainflight.alaskaair.com)
2. Open the menu
3. Click “Hotels”
4. Click “Hotel Links”
5. Click “My Crew Care”
6. Open the menu
7. Click “Feedback”
8. Click “Provide Feedback”

First Time Using Crew Care?

When you open the Crew Care site for the first time, you’ll need to register with your alaskaair.com email address.  After registering, the system will send you a confirmation email.  From the confirmation email, click the link to confirm your registration.  Once you complete this registration process, you won’t need to do it again.

API has written a user guide for the Crew Care system that you can access by clicking here.

Council 19, SEA, 1st Quarter 2017 Committee Reports

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Benefits and Maternity Committee

LEC Chair, Kathy O’Malley and Vice Chair, Terry Taylor

We have recently had questions and comments regarding Teledoc, a relatively new Premera Benefits option. This service is available to both PPO and Consumer’s Choice PPO plan participants.  The phone number is: 855-332-4059.  It can also be accessed through the Benefits Portal via AlaskasWorld, or at this link: https://member.teladoc.com/premera. There is no fee for the PPO plan, and a $40 fee for Consumer’s Choice PPO plan participants.

What is this service?  It provides 24-hour access to a physician who can provide prescriptions if appropriate, and send them to a local pharmacy for pick-up.  It offers a alternative to emergency rooms or urgent care facilities.  The 24-hour nurse hotline is also still available through Premera, either via the Premera website, or at this phone number: 877-AAG-3525 (877-224-3525).

Injured at work? 

 It is extremely important that you submit an I-21 form as quickly as possible, even if the injury seems minor.  The forms are available on the Inflight Webpage, under ‘Other Leaves.’  This is important for tracking safety concerns, and for documenting injury if medical treatment is required.  If you need to seek medical treatment, you will need a Worker’s Compensation packet for the State in which you are based.  If it is after-hours, you can call crew scheduling to be connected to a Duty Supervisor.  Otherwise, the packets are available in your Inflight Office. A Worker’s Compensation claim does not begin until you seek medical treatment.

Medical/Maternity/Worker’s Compensation Leave of Absence 

Planning and assistance is available through your Seattle Benefits Committee. To get you started, handbooks with a wealth of information, are available on the Inflight Webpage, under Administration. Forms that you may need during your leave are posted under ‘Other Leaves.’ If you have questions, or need assistance, please reach out to a Benefits Committee Member: https://afaalaska.org/sea/committees

Inflight Service Committee (ISC)

LEC Chair, Ross Dejong