This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants
On Tuesday, October 28, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met in person at Alaska Airlines Corporate Headquarters 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), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Joey Lawrence (SAN). MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—PBS Virginia Fritz, and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones were also present.
The Committee met with Managing Director of Inflight Operations & Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, and other management representatives from Crew Planning and Crew Scheduling.
The Committee is next scheduled to meet in person on Tuesday, November 25.
Topics of Discussion
The Committee reviewed several topics during internal AFA-only conversations and when meeting with management. Some items discussed include:
- Upcoming Meetings: MEC Scheduling Committee meetings are next scheduled for November 25 and December 16 (in-person). Meetings for 2026 have also been scheduled.
- Special Reports & Meetings: Scheduling Review Board (SRB) meetings are set for November 6 and December 4, 2025. Alternate Dispute Resolutions (ADR) Meetings are scheduled for November 6, November 20, December 4, and December 18, 2025, with other dates into 2026. JCTE Update is on November 17, 2025. Pairing Selection Meetings are November 18 and December 16, 2025.
- Tentative Agreement (TA) Implementation: Key items will have a timeline of ratification plus 1, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days.
- ELP Meeting: A meeting for the new vacation bidding and trading vendor is set for November 4, 2025.
- MEC Committee Chairperson Report: Topics included Crew Backlog Review, Bi-Monthly Reviews with ALPA, Crew Access Issues, Rainmaker Crew Pay System, Fatigue Review Board, NAVBLUE Monthly Calls, JCTE Open Time Performance Quarterly Review, and Personal Drop Report Process updates. Disputes regarding Pyramiding Pay and 4k compensation were also discussed.
- Local Committee Chairperson Reports: Various issues were reported from PDX (hotel assistance, IT outage, jury duty, vacation award), SAN (double out rest, Daylight Savings pairings), ANC (Crew Access tickets), LAX (pre-cancel issue), SFO (missing pay, communication with flying reductions), and SEA (multiple days off, transportation issues, sick leave form availability).
- PBS Subcommittee Report: Noted good participation in November holiday bidding, legal solutions for SEA pairings, steady bid protests, and monthly meetings with NAVBLUE. Upcoming releases for 2026 bidding and TA2 updates are expected.
- Pairing Construction Report: Focused on cost-effective December pairings and in-person collaboration days for pairing building with Crew Planning in Seattle.
- ITS Report: Covered NAVBLUE/PBS testing and personal drop form in production. Noted that Open Time trades had lower transaction numbers this month, with steady transaction times.
- Crew Scheduling Report: Highlighted the major internal outage. Had to switch to manual scheduling during the outage, with significant manual work. Sick leave monitoring (October absence rate at 9.6%), reserve utilization (over 90% for the last four months), and scheduler staffing plans were also reviewed.
- Crew Planning Report Summary: Anticipated increase in block hours for December (+33k hours, primarily at the end of the month), no staffing adjustment leaves will be offered, focus on operational efficiency, and future planning.
What The Committee Is Working On
- Crew Access Issues: Addressing challenges affecting operations and Flight Attendant satisfaction. Meetings with Jeppesen management and internal/external debriefs regarding a recent outage are scheduled.
- 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.
- ISA for Reserves Implementation: Working to finalize a new system for ineligibility for self-assignment (ISA) for Reserve Flight Attendants, with the next Crew Access release expected in early October 2025.
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.
