Reserve Committee
- Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, September 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, September 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 Haley Hirsch (ANC), Conner Gallagher (SEA), Megan Zablan (PDX), Camile Caldwell (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN). Also present were MEC Reserve Committee Vice Chairperson—New Hire & Probation Jarod McNeill and MEC Vice President Brian Palmer. The committee also met with Inflight Crew Scheduling Duty Manager Kiana Shaw from management.
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:
- Plans for Initial Training classes for the remainder of the year and next year. Management has indicated intent to hire more Flight Attendants but specific numbers will be dependent on other company growth factors.
- Anticipated return of service flights to Initial Training. Management is still working out details.
- Top causes of occurrences for probationary Flight Attendants. Recent increase in issues with forgetting to check in for trips and APSB on Block2Block and requirement to physically be in base while on call during Reserve Availability Periods (RAP).
- Support for probationary Flight Attendants through the Reserve Buddy Program.
- Increase in requests for assistance with PBS and bidding. The committee is seeking ways to provide additional training and support in this area.
- Reminder to new hire F/As about AFA Alaska Online Support Center to report issues, raise concerns, or ask questions.
- Increase in lineholders picking up reserve days which has resulted in some increased flexibility for Reserve Flight Attendants.
- Review of the Master Executive Council (MEC) letter to management regarding proportional domicile staffing.
- Management staffing within Crew Scheduling. Four new Crew Scheduling Supervisors will be hired to help support operations.
- Review of reserve utilization statistics. Reserve coverage is anticipated to be at approximately 21-22% for the remainder of the year.
- Request that management provide additional flexibility for reserve day shifting by decreasing the ARC maximum. Management agreed to review possible changes.
- Ongoing concerns with hotel information not being loaded into Crew Access by the time a Flight Attendant arrive in a layover city, despite management having several hours to arrange for the hotel. Please report these issues through the AFA Alaska Online Support Center so that AFA representatives can follow up with management.
- Review of reserve-related scheduling issues that have occurred recently.
The committee is next scheduled to meet on Thursday, December 1.
What The Committee Is Working On
- Assisting Probationary Flight Attendants Through the Reserve Buddy Program. Answering questions from and providing support to probationary 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 is compliant with our contract.
- Developing Additional Tools & Resources for New Flight Attendants. Working to create a plan to provide more user friendly, easy-to-access resources about the CBA 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 find our contact information on the Reserve Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.
