Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – July 2024

Scheduling Committee

• On July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work representing Flight Attendants’ interests in lineholder scheduling.
• The Committee met with management to receive updates and discuss issues and problems Flight Attendants face with scheduling, pairings, and bidding.
• Your Local Scheduling Committee is available to assist with any lineholder scheduling-related issues. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help!

On Tuesday, July 23, our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons/Representatives 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), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, and MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz. 

The committee met with Managing Director of Operations Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Manager of Flight Crew Systems Support Sue Rawlings, Supervisor of Inflight Crew Scheduling Matthew Trujillo , Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.

Topics of Discussion

The committee reviewed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:

• VO is view only. This code does not allow Flight Attendants to pick up the trip while scheduling works to resolve trip issues.
• PO is pick-up only. This code is used on Sick leave make-up days. It should not be placed on trips.
• AFA encourages crews to report safety concerns on any redeye flight where they feel fatigued or unsafe to drive home after flying. There are reports that some of these flights are delayed several hours into the early morning, and Flight Attendants are concerned about operating the flights. 
• Flight Attendants continue to have issues with Crew Access and OpenTime. Management continues to investigate and question whether Flight Attendants use BOT programming. Using a third-party program or application is against company policy. 
• If you are releasing from Deadheads, please request release before positioning. Flight Attendants are receiving points when they are not showing up as scheduled and performance is hesitant to remove points that are applied. 
• Bidding for August was busy, with virtual drop-ins for PBS bidding assistance. Bid awards for August were smooth, with high coverage.
• NAVBLUE expects another release for PBS bidding in the near future. 
• September schedules: Management expects to decrease the block hours and have high vacation usage in the month. Budget talks for 2025 are underway. There will be no leaves in September. Flight Attendant pairing breakdown and statistics are being reviewed by management on their dashboards.
• July sick leave tends to increase on weekends by around 14%, while during the week is 11%. Reserve utilization is still high every month. More premium pay on weekends and tend to see 2.0x rate of pay being applied. Management tracks year-over-year (YOY) and month-over-month (MOM) trends. 
• Personal drops low. 
• When Flight Attendants call in fatigued, their reports are reviewed, and the issues/concerns are addressed.  
• JCTE update is expected on July 30, 2024. Communication from management on changes and improvements will be distributed.

What The Committee Is Working On

1. NAVBLUE. The PBS Subcommittee is seeking feedback on how they can improve their assistance to flight crews regarding bid awards and understanding results. They provided both in-person and virtual meetings for this purpose. The PBS Subcommittee is working with management on PBS base sit budgets.  Management has the committee keep track of how money is being spent to assist flight crews with their bidding.  We appreciate your participation in virtual and in person base sits. 
2. Pairings Survey. There is a discussion of reviewing bidding data from NAVBLUE to see what kind of pairings Flight Attendants are interested in flying instead of sending out a survey. We will continue to review options. 
3. Chime Communications. To reduce phone call volumes, Flight Attendants may soon be able to chat with Crew Scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams. The chat will be for Flight Attendant-initiated contact only. The function is currently in the early stages of development and still needs to be discussed with Labor Relations management and our MEC. Testing and implementation are continuing over the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation, which is still pending review. 
4. Crew Scheduling. A monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covered various aspects such as reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and year over year), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
5. Crew Planning. Like Crew Scheduling, there was a monthly review of PowerPoint presentations that covered subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items. Statistics around teaming continue to be reviewed. Crew Planning continues to maximize pairing construction and optimizing teaming strategies to minimize costs and ensure that crews (Flight Attendants) can stay together for multiple segments.
6. ITS. Representatives from ITS joined the scheduling meeting to provide updates on NAVBLUE, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block2Block. These updates include performance reviews, data analysis, and information about future releases.

We Want to Hear From You!

Whether you have feedback for the Committee, concerns to share, or items you’d like brought up with management – don’t hesitate to let us know. Your Local Scheduling Committee is here to be your voice to management. You can easily open a support ticket on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center or directly contact us using the information provided on the Scheduling Committee page of the AFA Alaska website.