Many of us are excited to soon resume service to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), but for the crew who are laying over there, their stay in suburban Virginia may not be so exciting. Despite an official recommendation by the AFA Hotel Committee for another property, management has selected an inferior hotel for crew accommodations.
How Hotel Selection Works
When a layover hotel in a new city needs to be selected or a hotel contract is up for renewal in an existing city, members of management and the AFA Hotel Committee visit the prospective hotels. Each hotel is evaluated for safety, cleanliness, quality, and to ensure it will meet the needs of our Flight Attendants. The Hotel Committee issues their official recommendation to management, who makes the final decision.
Management Isn’t Listening
The message that has been sent to our Flight Attendants is clear: sorry, you’re just not worth it.
Despite an official recommendation from the Hotel Committee and the urging of the MEC, management has decided to ignore the AFA recommendation for the IAD layover hotel. Under the new contract, when management selects a hotel that the Hotel Committee disagrees with, the MEC can request a written explanation from the division leader detailing the reason why the hotel was chosen (§34.A.1.c)
In an email from the MEC, Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider was asked to provide her detailed explanation in accordance with the contractual language. The response, provided by Director of Crew Strategy & Administration Chad Koehnke, cited cost savings, payment discounts, and contractual terms that favored the company as the reasons for choosing the selected hotel over the preferred hotel recommended by AFA. The message that has been sent to our Flight Attendants is clear: sorry, you’re just not worth it.
Have Hotel Problems? Write It Up!
If you happen to be flying an IAD trip and have feedback to provide about the new layover hotel (or any layover hotel in any city), be sure to share it by writing a feedback report in CrewCare. Reports submitted through CrewCare are automatically routed to the ALPA and AFA Hotel Committees as well as management—they will hear what you have to say. You can access CrewCare by following the link on the main page of the Flight Attendant website or by visiting http://www.alaskaaircrew.com.
In Solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt
Note: To protect crewmember privacy, hotel names are not mentioned in this post as this article is posted on the AFA Alaska website. Information about crew hotels is available in the FA Crew Hotel Info conference in FirstClass.
jaci halen says
I have iad all month and would like to know the REASONS the hotel committee did not want this hotel. Please be specific as I can then address these issues when staying there. Staying next to a Walmart is not on my priority list!!!!!
Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President) says
Jaci~ Our apologies that your pending post has been sitting for awhile. Here’s the info:
Hope that helps you understand the concerns!
Judith bowman says
Did ALPA agree with AFA recommendation? If so and they also disagree with management, are they taking any action.? Or did ALPA recommend this hotel and agree with mgt?
Brian Palmer (MEC Vice President) says
The ALPA recommendation was the same as the AFA recommendation. Unfortunately, we’re unable to speak to what the ALPA response or course of action is as we haven’t received nor solicited any communication from the ALPA MEC on the matter.
Cynthia Collins says
May we know why the union was so concerned about this property?
Brian Palmer (MEC Vice President) says
The MEC wanted to ensure that all members were aware that, despite an official recommendation from the Hotel Committee and request for reconsideration by the MEC, management decided to select a layover hotel based on cost savings and not Flight Attendant quality of life.