Reserve Committee
- Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, June 8 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent and advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants.
- The Committee also met with management to review a number of specific concerns that were brought forward by Flight Attendants.
- Your Local Reserve Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any reserve related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
On Thursday, June 8, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Conner Gallagher (SEA), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN). Also present was MEC Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton and MEC Reserve Committee Vice-Chairperson for New Hires & Probationaries Jarod McNeil.
The committee met with Inflight Crew Scheduling Director Sara Cook and Inflight Crew Scheduling Supervisor Derrick Bernard.
The committee is next scheduled to meet on Thursday, September 14th.
Topics of Discussion
The committee reviewed a number of items both during internal AFA-only conversation and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:
- Planned Initial Training classes for the remainder of the year. Class 3 started online June 1 and class 4 will graduate this week and be online July 1. Management intends to hire additional Flight Attendants this year. The number of classes and specific number of students in each class is dependent on delivery of new aircraft.
- Crew Scheduling management changes. Sara Cook is in the process of interviewing for new Crew Scheduling Supervisors as well as a manager to support operations.
- Issues and glitches with Crew Access affecting Reserve Flight Attendants. Reviewed where known issues are documented and newly added/fixed issues.
- Review of upcoming update to Crew Access software. Includes associated fixes to current issues and other improvements, and prioritization for programming fixes.
- Review of reserve-related scheduling issues that have occurred recently. Includes out of order assignment and incorrect application of personal drop for Reserves.
- Review of reserve-related issues that have been escalated to the Scheduling Review Board (SRB) and Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. Includes multiple calls from scheduling while on a layover.
- Review of reserve utilization statistics. Reserve utilization is approximately 85% in all bases. Reserve coverage is anticipated to be approximately 22-20% for the remainder of Quarter 2 and Quarter 3.
- Request for management to decrease the Adequate Reserve Coverage (ARC) minimum. Goal of providing additional flexibility for shifting reserve days. Management agreed to review possible changes.
- Reminder of the newly updated AFA Alaska Online Support Center. New hire Flight Attendants can report issues, raise concerns, or ask questions.
What the Committee is Working On
- Assisting Probationary Flight Attendants Through the Probationary Buddy Program. Answering questions from and providing support to probationary Flight Attendants through an expanded AFA Probationary Buddy program.
- Addressing Reserve Contractual Concerns. Researching and investigating reports from Reserve Flight Attendants and actively ensuring management is complying with our contract.
- Developing Additional Tools & Resources for New Flight Attendants. Working to create documents to provide user friendly, easy-to-digest resources about the Collective Bargaining Agreement and other job-related information for new Flight Attendants.
We Want to Hear From You!
Do you have feedback for the committee, concerns you’d like to share, or items that 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.
