Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2022

Reserve Committee

• Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, March 10 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, March 10, 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), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Camile Caldwell (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Joe Coneglio (SAN).  Also present were MEC Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton, 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 Nyxalyse Paul 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:

• Issues and glitches with Crew Access that are affecting Reserve Flight Attendants.  Review of where known issues are documented and prioritization for programming fixes.
• Update on planned Flight Attendant hiring and initial training classes for 2022.  Starting with class 2022-03, class sizes have nearly doubled to 90 students each.  Larger class sizes will continue.
• Review of contractual language related to new hire and probationary Flight Attendants (section 7)
• Update on AFA Reserve Buddy program.  Reserve Buddies are very busy supporting new Flight Attendants.  Reminder to refer Probationary Flight Attendants to their Reserve Buddy for answers to questions about contract and work rules.
• Review of reserve utilization statistics.  Reserve coverage will remain at approximately 20-21% during the 2^nd quarter.
• Review of reserve-related scheduling issues that have occurred recently.

What The Committee Is Working On

1. Providing Support to New Flight Attendants in Initial Training.  Facilitating the new hire AFA presentation, Crew Access training, and PBS training as part of Initial Training and participating in base orientation after graduation.
2. 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.
3. Addressing Reserve Contractual Concerns.  Researching and investigating reports from Reserve Flight Attendants and actively ensuring that management is compliant with our contract. 

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.