Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 3rd Quarter 2024

Inflight Service Committee

• Our AFA Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons met on September 17 to represent Flight Attendants’ interests related to catering and onboard service/sales.
• The Committee met with management to discuss and receive updates on issues and problems faced by Flight Attendants onboard.
• The Committee continues to work with management to address catering concerns and improve processes in the future. Please report catering issues through Block2Block and safety-related issues through ReportIt!

On Thursday, September 17, our AFA Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Naomi Parcell (ANC), Ross DeJong (SEA), Todd Horn (PDX), Raymond Ramirez (SFO), Johanna Thomas (LAX), and Andrew Malone (SAN). MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson Stephanie Garnett was also present.

The committee met with Inflight Experience Program Manager Matthew Coder, Principal Cabin Product and Experience Manager Chris Dela Rosa, Director of Food and Beverage Mita Padhi, Manager of Food and Beverage Planning and Programs David Rodriguez, Senior Food and Beverage Product Manager Jessica Johnston, Food and Beverage Systems Manger Andrea Lockett, Director of Catering Operations Andrew Moyer, Managing Director of Guest Products and Team Todd Traynor-Corey, Senior Product Manager of Guest Products Megan Low, Inflight Product & Experience Director David Scotland, and IT Vendor Christopher Pettigrew.

The next scheduled Inflight Service Committee meeting is Tuesday, November 12, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The Committee discussed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some of the items included:

• Flight Attendant door opening procedures for catering/fleet.
• Planned packing changes for single catered flights.  
• The impact on service due to unavailability of products and equipment.
• Work continues with the goal to improve our coffee product ranging from the brewing pillow packs to the service carafes. 
• How best to deliver improved products to our guests
• The refresh of the 800 fleet, 24 aircraft are complete. Work continues on the 900ER fleet. Interior placarding reminders are scheduled to be completed by Q4 2024.
• New service equipment was examined, including carafes and beer bins.
• Service for ultra long-haul flights was discussed
• Flight Attendant comments are very appreciated by catering; pictures and specific information about reported items helps the operation.
• Management reported on upcoming Block2Block (B2B) updates, including Block2Block 3.0 which will be released in phases. The Committee previewed portions of the update.

What The Committee Is Working On

1. Reviewing proposed new guest products with Food & Beverage. New beverage options are planned for early November. There are some very exciting products we will be serving our guests.
2. Enhanced service opportunities.
3. Continuously bringing concerns and comments from our flying partners to management.
4. Increasing retail product availability, in particular in the Latin America markets.
5. Striving to ensure service levels are appropriate for our ultra long-haul flights.
6. Monitoring Block2Block updates as “early adopters” and making suggestions for new features.

We Want to Hear from You!

Please continue to report any catering issues or problems with onboard service using the catering feedback function in Block2Block. If you’ve experienced a safety-related issue, please submit a report through ReportIt! Your reports provide the Committee with the data needed to continue pushing management for meaningful improvements in our workplace.

Do you have other feedback for the Committee or items you’d like brought up with management? Please let us know! Your Local Inflight Service Committee is your voice to management. You can find our contact information on the Inflight Service Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.