Your Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to take this opportunity to thank Sherrijon Gaspard for stepping up to the plate as MEC Pairing Analyst for the last six months. Regretfully, she recently stepped down from her position due to unforeseen family circumstances. The MEC is now in search of qualified individuals interested in becoming the new MEC Pairing Analyst.
Background
- The official title in the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual for the AFA Pairing Analyst is MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction. The Pairing Analyst is chairperson and sole member of the Pairing Construction Subcommittee, which is a part of the Scheduling Committee. See below for additional information.
- Both the Crew Planners and the AFA Pairing Analyst individually use a computer system provided by Jeppesen to construct pairings each month.
- The pairings in our bid packets are “optimized” (usually for least cost) and built using a computer program designed by Jeppesen. Inflight management selects the final pairing solution to be used.
Additional Background from the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual
PAIRING CONSTRUCTION SUBCOMMITTEE
Scope
(i) The Pairing Construction Subcommittee will work with the company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to build Flight Attendant pairings
Policy/Responsibilities
(i) The Pairing Construction Subcommittee shall consist of the MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction.
(ii) The Subcommittee shall:
(A) Regularly communicate with and provide updates to the MEC Scheduling Chairperson on the activites of the subcommittee
(B) Meet on a monthly basis with the Company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to review problems and suggested resolutions regarding construction of Flight Attendant pairings and monthly lines of flying.
(C) Maintain a permanent file for all local schedules for the use of the MEC Scheduling Committee.
(D) Keep the MEC informed on all activities relating to the pairing construction process. When meetings or communications are due to unusual scheduling activities, a written report will be made.
(E) Keep the membership informed of the results of the pairing construction process on a monthly basis through the MEC Communications Committee Chairperson.
(F) Solicit feedback from the membership regarding desired pairings, trip lengths, and types of flying through Local Scheduling Committees and advocate for such during the pairing construction process.
(G) Discuss any problems occurring within the pairing construction process with the Local Scheduling Committee Chairpersons on a monthly basis and will provide any suggestions for remedy of problems to the MEC.
Skillset/Requirements
- Strong computer skills are a must.
- Ability to independently meet several deadlines throughout the month.
- Potentially frequent travel to Seattle for training and meetings. However, duties may generally be fulfilled remotely.
Duties
- Build pairings solutions using a pairings optimizer computer program (Jeppesen).
- Work collaboratively with Crew Planning in regards to pairing building.
- Review, validate and comment on the monthly pairing solutions.
- Write a monthly pairings report.
- Correspond with Local Scheduling Committee chairpersons, the MEC Scheduling Committee chairperson, and LEC presidents regarding pairing solutions and related concerns brought forward by flight attendants.
- Advocate for flight attendants in the pairing building process.
Time Commitment and Compensation
- This is a paid position compensated by the Company under 27.P Company Business (CB) Flight Pay Loss with a 5% override and “A” pay. CB is compensated at 0.75 TFP per hour of work.
- Estimated 16 to 20 hours per month (12 to 15 TFP per month), most of which may be accomplished remotely.
Reporting Structure
- Directly reports to the MEC Scheduling Committee chairperson, who in turn reports to the MEC.
Interested?
- The MEC will hold interviews on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Bid around the interview date or arrange to adjust your schedule accordingly to accommodate.
- Interviews will be at the AFA Alaska MEC office in Seattle. Our office is located in the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations and Training Center, Suite 280 at 2651 S 192nd St, Seattle, WA 98188.
- Submit a declaration of interest and resume to MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch at yvette.gesch@afaalaska.org no later than 5 PM Pacific Time on Friday, January 15, 2016. Yvette will be able to provide additional information regarding transportation and booking of flights if necessary.
* * *
In solidarity,
Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt; and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones
