Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – November 2023

Scheduling Committee

• Our AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons met on Tuesday, November 28 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, November 28, 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), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Kamako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). Also present were MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz.

The committee met with Managing Director Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Managing Director Inflight Operations & Crew Scheduling Allen Thieman, Managing Director Ops Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director Inflight Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Manager Inflight Crew Scheduling Goose Hlaingmyint, Director of Crew Planning Mike Ostler, Manager of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, and other management representatives from Crew Planning.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on December 26, 2023.

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:

• Regular presentation with some interactive elements focused on Reserve utilization and working over 90%. Some relief seen in October/November. The PowerPoint presentation showed data on flexibility.
• Breakdown of Reserves used: decrease month over month, with 11.4% covering other sick calls and 49% covering line holder trips. Detailed Reserve breakdown provided.
• Year-over-year absence rates are slightly higher but trending down. Flexibility with Threshold Sequence Number (TSN) and Personal Drops (PDs) helping. 
• Premium numbers being worked on, holiday calendar impacting data. October 2023 showed premium isolation to Sundays with a drastic decrease in the number of trips.
• Personal drops increased, with 7302 compared to 9206 last year at this time. TSN adjustments and more trips allowed into OT. November saw a significant increase in TSN trips, offering more flexibility.
• Reviewed sick leave days compared to TSN and PDs. Interesting data on leaves and collective attendance.
• Discussed reassignments and their impact. Reassignments tracking is manual. November reassignments drastically down. Last-minute issues can lead to reassignments for operational reasons.
• Review of rotation and pairings to address high reassignments. Closer-in sick calls during summer months affected options and peers. Leveraging reserves affects utilization.
• Highlights of winter operations progress: training new crew schedulers, deadhead reservation support, NOC risk management, IROPs support and resources, teaming/pairings, inflight hotline, and Crew Scheduling Mobile Comm.
• Testing UAT for Inflight for Teams, encouraging real-time feedback. Go-live expected in mid-December.
• Discussed January 2024 planning challenges. Seeking 651 Staffing Adjustment Leaves, considering additional solicitation. Reserve staffing anticipated at 20% with 75.4 line averages for the system.
• Reviewed trip length distribution and ANC commutability. ANC commutability to be tracked separately.
• Block hour comparison for Dec 2023/Jan 2024, down 12.5% due to the booking environment. Industry fare and cost structure analysis provided. Imbalance in departures and arrivals, optimization challenges.
• Hotel improvements and teaming to improve recovery, encourage following each other. Focus on SEA, optimizing routes, aircraft, and profits. Open to discussions and potential changes.
• Overall, the discussion covered various topics related to reserve utilization, absence rates, premium numbers, personal drops, reassignments, winter operations progress, planning challenges, and optimization strategies.

What The Committee Is Working On

1. NavBlue. The PBS Committee seeks feedback on how they can better assist flight crews with bid awards and understanding results. In-person and virtual meetings were available for this purpose.
2. Pairings Survey. A survey on pairing construction is being discussed, along with the possibility of a virtual session or town hall. Meeting with management occurred June 5, 2023, with a follow-up meeting to be scheduled. No update or ETA yet.
3. Teaming. Crew Planning is reviewing pairing construction and optimizing teaming to keep costs low and ensure crews (pilots/Flight Attendants) stay together for multiple segments. Currently, the system teams around 10-15%, but enhancements aim to increase it to 20-35% for winter operations. December pairings will reflect this change. Management will communicate about teaming. In December 2023, approximately 23% of sequences will be teamed together, while 52% of duty periods will be teamed.
4. In and Backs. Network/Crew Planning is reviewing initiatives to restart operations when crews are stranded and flights are canceled. The 2023/2024 IROPs plan was reviewed by Alaska management in September/October, creating opportunities to clear flight schedules on the day of operations.
5. Chime Communications. Flight Attendants may chat with crew scheduling via app/Microsoft Teams to reduce phone calls. Flight Attendant-initiated contact. Early stages of development, to be discussed with AS Labor Relations and AFA. Testing and implementation to occur in the next few weeks. We are working on a letter of agreement for implementation. 
6. Crew Scheduling. Monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covering reserve utilization, detailed breakdowns, sick leave (week by week and YoY), premium, personal drops, and other relevant agenda items.
7. Crew Planning. Monthly review of PowerPoint presentations covering subsequent month staffing, trip length distribution, Flight Attendant block hours, special initiatives (e.g., IROPs), commutability, and other relevant agenda items.
8. ITS. ITS representatives join scheduling meetings to provide updates on NavBlue, Crew Access, internal systems, and Block2Block. Includes performance updates, data review, and future release information. 

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.