Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – December 2022

Scheduling Committee

• Our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, December 27 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent Flight Attendants interests related to lineholder scheduling.
• The Committee also met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems that Flight Attendants are experiencing with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
• Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any lineholder scheduling-related issues.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

On Tuesday, December 27, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Martin Vance (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Natalie Codd (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Adam Clarey, and MEC Reserve Committee Chairperson Julie Thornton. The committee met with Managing Director of Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Inflight Crew Scheduling Supervisor Matthew Trujillo, Manager of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.

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:

• Reviewing AFA Alaska Online Support Center tickets related to the recent winter storm and compiling an agenda to review with management the week of January 9, 2023. The issues include, but are not limited to, hotels/transportation, pre-cancellations/reassignments, ground/air commuting, stranded pay, long waits for Crew Scheduling phone lines and return phone calls, holiday/premium pay and attendance points. 
• If you were stranded during the recent winter weather event, please review contract section 21.N. Be sure to file an inquiry in Rainmaker for pay on the date in question. You will need to login to the Flight Attendant website > administration > pay & benefits > Rainmaker logon. After logging in, you will see a comment box and be able to submit a pay inquiry. It will take the pay analyst approximately two weeks to review the claim. You will find instructions and information in the Rainmaker user guides.
• Holiday Pay is addressed in contract section 21.H. If you had a cancellation on a holiday, it is possible that you qualify for the provisions in contract section 21.H.3 which states: “If a Flight Attendant reports for a sequence containing a flight that is scheduled to operate on a holiday and that flight subsequently cancels, then the Flight Attendant will receive one (1) TFP at two times (2.0x) her/his trip rate for the canceled flight in addition to all other appropriate pay premiums and pay provisions (including pay protection, if applicable). For a Reserve, one (1.0) TFP will be paid above the guarantee and one (1.0) TFP will be credited towards guarantee, both at straight time.” If you don’t see this pay displayed in Rainmaker, please file an inquiry.
• Staffing Leaves for February were awarded, review informational bulletin #2022-0132. 
• CARE Retreat bidding in January will be for March sessions.  If you do not want to be assigned a session, be sure to bid for your class or pick up from Open Time. 
• Threshold Sequence Number (TSN) might increase in January once the operation is back to normal. This will allow more flexibility in the form of dropping trips to Open Time. 
• Review of Longevity PTO bidding and awarding.  Flight Attendants are projected to receive this provision and if they don’t bid the dates, the vacation is usually put into January of the following year. This causes issues with removal of vacation in subsequent months. 
• Expense reimbursement.  If you are due expense reimbursement related to the recent winter weather events, please see an inflight supervisor for assistance. 
• Crew Access filter bugs and changes.  Management projects that the day filter will be fixed in March 2023.  The days have an error where the system is looking at UTC (Coordinated Universal/Greenwich Mean Time).
• Flight cancellations.  If your flight is cancelled, report as scheduled unless you contact Crew Scheduling or Crew Scheduling contacts you.  Review contract sections 10.S and 10.R.  Flow charts outlining the process are also available on the Scheduling Committee page of afaalaska.org.
• If you were an air/ground commuter during the winter weather event, please review the Ground Commuting During Significant Weather Events letter of agreement.
• Crew Access Known Issues Document.  An updated list was provided in Bulletin Bundle #2022-0120 on November 28, 2022.  You can also find the information on the Flight Attendant website > schedule & bidding > crew access help.
• If you have pay concerns, please be sure to review both Crew Access and Rainmaker.  AFA Representatives do not have access to your Rainmaker.  If you have a pay issue or an issue with an inquiry, please take a screenshot of the applicable Rainmaker page and provide an AFA representative with a copy by filing a ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. 

What The Committee Is Working On

1. Scheduling a meeting with Network Planning.  The Committee would like to meet with Network Planning in 2023 to discuss our contract, legalities and suggestions. We want to provide management with the Flight Attendant perspective and in an effort to improve our quality of life. 
2. Review of JCTE/Crew Access transaction performance.  Each month, ITS provides the Committee with data on performance and transactions within JCTE/Crew Access.  The Committee reviews these reports to ensure our service levels are maintained at the appropriate thresholds.
3. Scheduling Quality of Life Improvements.  Reviewing ways to improve Trip Length Distribution (TLD) and other quality of life options.  Working with management to develop a quality of life survey to determine Flight Attendant scheduling priorities. 
4. Review of user guides and links of Flight Attendant website.  Ensuring information is still accurate in existing resource materials, links are still active and working, etc.
5. Updating Crew Access videos.  Working with management and ITS to update the Crew Access instructional videos to reflect updates and changes to the user interface.

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 Scheduling 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 Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.