Master Executive Council (MEC)
- AFA and management have recently come to an agreement to provide better clarity as to how pre-cancellations and reassignments are confirmed in advance of the first day of a sequence.
- The agreement expands existing pre-cancellation language and provides protections to Flight Attendants in how Crew Scheduling handles a number of additional situations.
- The new language goes into effect at midnight on Saturday, October 1, 2022. If you have any questions, please contact your Local Scheduling Committee for more information.
AFA and management started discussions in 2018 regarding reassignments and pre cancellations related to Hurricane Lane, during which Crew Scheduling was found to be reassigning trips out of seniority order. The issue was referred to the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, agenda item 044-18A. The parties discovered the language needed further clarification to assist Flight Attendants and Crew Schedulers on how to apply the provisions during these critical events as it relates to pre-cancellations, retimes, flight routing changes and aircraft downgrades that are confirmed in advance of the day of departure (i.e., first day) of a sequence. Though conversations with management about the issue were ongoing, the ability to make significant progress in resolving the issue was hampered by COVID and network restructuring over the past several years.
The product of those discussions resulted in the following letter of agreement (LOA), AFA SLOA 2022.09.09 Modification of 10.S Pre-Cancellations. Please take time to review this agreement so you are aware of your contractual rights and obligations. As part of the agreement, the following situations will now be handled according to the pre-cancellation provisions our collective bargaining agreement:
- All retimes of the departure time of the first flight in a sequence
- All retimes involving the arrival and/or departure times of any flight in a sequence of greater than two hours (2:00)
- All retimes involving the later arrival time of the last flight in a sequence of greater than fifteen minutes (0:15)
- A Company flight that is cancelled from a Flight Attendant’s line of time in advance of the day of departure even if such flight is replaced by a Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) flight operated as or on behalf of Alaska Airlines (e.g., Horizon Air, SkyWest) with the same flight number and/or routing as the cancelled flight.
The new language contained in the LOA goes into effect at midnight on Saturday, October 1, 2022. Our MEC, Scheduling Committee, and Grievance Committee appreciates each of you filing reports and giving us the opportunity to carve out clarifying language that will support you going forward.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the letter of agreement or associated changes, please contact your Local Scheduling Committee.
