This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants
On Thursday, March 5, representatives from our pre-merger Alaska AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Conner Gallager (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO) & MEC Reserve Committee Vice Chairperson—New Hire & Probation, Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Adrian Alcantara (SAN). Also present was MEC Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton.
The Committee met with the Manager of Inflight Crew Scheduling Goose Hlaingmyint.
The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Thursday, June 4.
Topics of Discussion
The committee reviewed several items during both internal AFA-only discussions and meetings with management. Some of the topics discussed include:
- Crew Access and Software Updates: Reviewed upcoming updates to the Crew Access, including fixes for current issues and the prioritization of programming improvements.
- Rainmaker and Pay Concerns: Regarding Rainmaker and general pay concerns, please remember to review the user guide on the inflight website. Additionally, ensure you wait for Crew Pay to deny a query before submitting an AFA Alaska Online Support Center ticket for a pay discrepancy.
- Virtual Pay Sessions: There is a request for virtual pay question sessions for Flight Attendants. This will be discussed further with the MEC Grievance Payroll Representative and the MEC.
- Initial Training Classes: Class 1 graduated in February and consisted exclusively of management employees and requalification level 3 (RQ3) Flight Attendants. Management indicated that a second class may occur in April; however, the total number of classes and students remains dependent on the delivery of new 737 aircraft.
- APSB Limitations: APSB duty day limitations and instances where APSB assignments end after the daily last flight of the day.
What The Committee Is Working On
- Developing Additional Tools & Resources for Reserve Flight Attendants: Working to revamp all Reserve supporting documents: Reserve 101, the Reserve survival guide and discussion of developing videos for common questions & answers for Reserves.
- Assisting Reserve Flight Attendants Through the Reserve Buddy Program: Answering questions from and providing support to Reserve Flight Attendants through an expanded AFA Reserve Buddy program.
- Addressing Reserve Contractual Concerns: Researching and investigating reports from Reserve Flight Attendants and actively ensuring that management complies with our contract.
We Want to Hear From You!
Do you have feedback for the Committee, concerns you’d like to share, or items you’d like brought up with management? Please let us know! Your Local Reserve Committee is your voice to management. You can open a support request on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or contact us directly using the information on the Reserve Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.
Shawnna says
Hi if the above stated class of actual new hires starts in April, then is it May or June that transfers will be honored? And again for Negotiations, why are we limited to only allowing transfers in Feb, Aug, or when there’s a new hire class? It costs the company nothing to process paperwork for allowing transfers any time of year. Covid really showed us, life happens every day of the year, let people transfer each month, quit being so restrictive.
Brian Palmer (MEC Communications Committee Chairperson) says
If a new hire class begins in April, transfers would be granted for June, when the new hire class comes online.
I understand your frustration—life doesn’t always fit neatly into management’s hiring plans, and more flexibility would make a real difference. The current contractual limitation of standing transfers only being granted in February and August can feel restrictive. I’ve passed your feedback along to the Joint Negotiating Committee so they can consider your perspective as they continue negotiations. You can also feel free to reach out to them directly at jnc@afaalaska.org.