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Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – March 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants

On Tuesday, March 24, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met virtually to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Rebekah Olds (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, MEC Scheduling Committee—PBS Subcommittee Member Adam Clarey, and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones were also present.

The Committee met with Managing Director of Inflight Performance & Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Manager of Flight Crew System Support Sue Rawlings, Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke, and other management representatives from Crew Planning, Crew Scheduling, information technology (ITS), payroll, and inflight performance.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, April 28.

Topics of Discussion

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

Announcements

  • Next Meetings: Scheduled for April 21 (in person), followed by monthly meetings through December.
  • Scheduling Review Board (SRB) Updates: Series of updates needed for various dates throughout 2026.
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Meetings: Upcoming meetings from late March to October 2026.
  • JCTE Updates: New updates anticipated in May.
  • Pairing Selection Meetings: Regular meetings scheduled from April to December 2026.
  • AI Crew Solutions: First meeting held in November 2025 to discuss vacation awards and processing of unbid slots, with follow-up in March 2026. Meetings will be ongoing for implementation requirements. 

MEC Committee Chairperson Report

  • Crew Backlog Review: Scheduled for April 14, 2026.
  • Crew Bi-Monthly Review: Met on March 4, 2026.
  • Known Crew Access Issues: Review scheduled for May.
  • Rainmaker Crew Pay System: Meetings scheduled for May, August, and November.
  • Fatigue Review Board: Regular meetings throughout 2026 to address crew fatigue.
  • NAVBLUE Monthly Calls: Ongoing discussions to address system updates.
  • JCTE Open Time Performance: Quarterly review meetings set for 2026-2027.
  • Personal Drop Report Process: Integrating updates into JCTE.
  • Pyramiding Pay Dispute: Ongoing discussions regarding reassignment pay.
  • 4K Dispute: AFA has filed a grievance regarding redeye and night rule compensation.
  • Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs): Discussions ongoing about Night Rule with Charters, 8.G & 8.F pyramid, 34.D self-help, and certification flights. 

Local Committee Chairperson Reports

  • PDX: Inquiry about transfer allowances.
  • SAN: Updates on pyramid charts and premium pay conversion.
  • ANC: Pay inquiries resolved, but issues with waiving the 4K rule remain for charters.
  • LAX: Technical issues with Crew Access and messaging systems in-flight, such as B2B and Teams.
  • SFO: Concerns regarding SAL postings and premium OT trades.
  • SEA: Snowstorm impacts and pay questions; some concerns addressed through flowcharts.

PBS Subcommittee

  • Bid Awards: Pairing line runs met reserve targets, with higher averages. Reserve line tuns were more challenging, especially in PDX, LAX, and SAN, requiring less-than-ideal solutions to meet staffing needs.
  • Bid Protest: 4K Rule Configurations: Configuration based on duty day, impacting charter awards. Management Actions: Temporarily holding off on building certain charters to avoid issues.
  • SSO Transition: Log-off testing impacting the transition to SSO; fix is pending.
  • Next release is currently undergoing testing

ITS Update

  • Testing Automation: Ongoing processes to enhance efficiency.
  • JCTE Release: Next release in progress with consistent updates expected in May 2026

Flight Attendant Crew Pay Update

  • February 2026 Trends: 2,371 total submissions, with 446 not applicable. 550 submissions are typically caught in the auditing process.
  • Analysts: Currently 6; more needed to handle combined operations.

Crew Planning Update

  • Block Hours: Increased to 335k hours for April.
  • TFP Average Lines: 80 TFP average lines reported with 19% reserves.
  • Staffing Adjustments: 336 staffing adjustment leaves projected.
  • Redeye Flying: High in ANC, SEA, and SAN, with minimums of 10% across bases.
  • Pairing Solutions: Focus on minimizing long trips and improving commutability, particularly in SAN, SEA, and ANC.
  • Irregular Operations Mitigation: Adjustments were made for delays, including increased layover times for crew rest.

Crew Scheduling Update

  • Sick Leave: Increased to 11.7% in March.
  • Reserve Utilization: 94.5% utilization noted across the system.
  • Reassignments: 849 total reassignments, mostly due to weather events.
  • Deadhead Conversions: 227 deadhead conversions recorded.
  • Fatigue Reports: Highest month for fatigue, with 26 reports submitted.
  • Crew Scheduler Staffing: Ongoing training for new schedulers; updates on staffing vacancies expected by June 1.

What The Committee Is Working On

  1. Resolving Pyramiding Pay Disputes: Discussions are ongoing through the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) process to clarify payment rules for over-duty pay and day-off violations. Our Grievance Committee is filing grievances regarding several concerns with pyramid pay. 
  2. Vacation Bidding: Representatives from the Committee met with management to discuss the new vendor, AI Crew Solutions. It was determined that when a Flight Attendant either doesn’t hold a bid or forgets to bid, they will be allowed to bid in the 2nd round of vacation. The current process assigns slot 1 and slot 2.  We will provide educational material and information when bidding begins next year on the new platforms. Our next meeting is scheduled for March 12, 2026. We have additional meetings to discuss implementation and buddy bidding. 
  3. Ground Commuting: The Committee wants to remind Flight Attendants that contractual provisions are available for review under Section 37.B.  
  4. Flow Charts: The Committee is internally reviewing flow charts with management and will update once the parties agree. Stay tuned for an update soon. 
  5. Block2Block (B2B) Contactability: Implemented on February 1, 2026. Please familiarize yourself with the contractual language and bulletin bundle. We are reviewing B2B sustainability and ask that users report any issues.
  6. Chime (Microsoft Teams): Implemented on February 9, 2026. This will allow Flight Attendants to contact Crew Scheduling for additional resources. Please refer to the letter of agreement and bulletin bundle.

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.

Comments

  1. Please allow transfer lists to be processed And Awarded Every single month, not just Arbitrary months of February and August and months that initial training classes come online. Life happens, every month out of the year. It’s a win-win for both sides, no downside and doesn’t cost the company money. FAs work life balance with processing base trades Every month of the year

    • Thanks for the feedback! I’ve passed this along to the Joint Negotiating Committee so they can consider your perspective as they continue negotiations. You can also feel free to reach out to them directly at jnc@afaalaska.org.

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