Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – October 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants

On Tuesday, October 27, our pre-merger Alaska 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), Russel Rivinius (PDX), Jaqui Bellenie (SFO), Kanako Yamado (LAX), and Kitty Cohen (SAN). MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell, PBS Subcommittee Member Adam Clarey, MEC Grievance Committee Payroll Representative Julie Thornton, 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 Inflight Crew Scheduling Terrance Chariandy, Manager of Inflight Crew Scheduling Goose Hlaingmyint, Managing Director of Operations Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Trisha Bennett, Manager of Crew Planning Colin Beard, ITS Technical Product Owner Nathan McFerren, Manager of Crew Pay Debbie Bakke and other management representatives from Crew Planning, Crew Scheduling, information technology (ITS), and payroll.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, November 24.

Topics of Discussion

Local Highlights & Issues

• Anchorage (ANC):
  • Some Flight Attendants traveling to recurrent training have reported falling ill upon arriving at their hotels. Currently, there is no accessible, written guidance outlining protocol when travel delays impact contractual legal rest or when a Flight Attendant must call in sick from a training hotel. The Committee is asking for clear, published procedures and locations for these documents.
• Seattle (SEA):
  • The Committee reviewed the SEA Open Time settlement for 1 TFP, and follow-up tickets on the AFA Alaska Online Support Center will be updated accordingly.
  • A payroll dispute is actively being challenged after action taken by aircraft mechanic changed sit time and payroll improperly denied the resulting compensation claim; this case is being pursued to establish clear protections for schedule changes driven by maintenance.
  • Sn overlap between the October and November bid months blocked a Flight Attendant from viewing schedule information until ITS manually released it.
  • The Committee called on management to update the outdated “Known Issues” portal, which has languished without updates since February 18.
• Portland (PDX):
  • Crew Planning is reviewing concerns regarding PDX turns featuring extended sits—often exceeding two hours—in outstations without domiciles or designated crew rest facilities (such as PHX, LAS, SNA, and SAN). The committee is advocating for tighter turns and the elimination of non-productive ground time.
  • Inquiries were pressed regarding mid-sequence trip reassignments occurring without obvious operational disruptions like delays or misconnects.
  • Some Flight Attendants inquiring about sick bank changes have faced conflicting instructions from Crew Scheduling; members needing to change sick leave bank usage are reminded to submit a Rainmaker inquiry.
  • Regarding ANC–NRT flying, the route is expected to be locked for three months, and the Committee is seeking to clarify how future seasonal flying will be treated (hard lock vs. soft lock).
• San Francisco (SFO):
  • The committee addressed an incident where a Flight Attendant picked up a premium turn, misconnected, was forced to overnight, returned to duty on a multi-day trip, and was subsequently held in Seattle for 24 hours on a scheduled day off. While the Legality Desk intervened and made the Flight Attendant whole, the Committee is seeking clarity on how 24/7 rest is calculated and managed during irregular operations.
• Los Angeles (LAX):
  • The LGB station designator problem (which mistakenly linked LGB flying to BUR) has been resolved.
  • The Committee continues to push for a fix to month-end out-of-base trades; currently, trades crossing the month-end boundary cannot process directly, forcing Flight Attendants to post and pick up trips manually. AFA has requested this defect be published on the Known Issues log.
• San Diego (SAN):
  • No new local contractual or scheduling disputes were reported for this period.

PBS & Pairing Construction

• November Award Delays: Processing times for November bid awards were substantially prolonged across the system, culminating in a 17-hour final award run in Seattle and doubled run times in other domiciles. Concentrated coverage demands across seven consecutive days forced the solver algorithm to build from limited legal pairings. The Committee is closely tracking December and January—which also feature consecutive high-demand holiday windows—to prevent repeat bottlenecks.
• Bid Protests & Coverage: Most November bid protests involved heavy coverage constraints preventing the system from building legal lines to minimum TFP.
• December Pairing Selection: For the December bid period, the “operational run” was selected. Although it represents the most expensive construction option for the company, it provides better quality of life: more turns, an increased number of two-day sequences, commutability considerations, and 1,000 fewer aircraft swaps.
• Software Testing: PBS Release 26.5 is in User-Acceptance Testing (UAT). The Committee identified a significant flaw and will not approve advancing the release until management resolves it.

Crew Planning & Staffing Outlook

• December Flying: System flying is projected at 342,540 block hours with an average line value of 80 TFP. Reserve staffing is budgeted at an average of 21.6% across bases, with PDX elevated to 23.6%. No Staffing Adjustment Leaves (SAL) or Low Bid Options (LBO) will be available in December.
• Red-Eye Flying & Commutability: System red-eye flying averages 21% (highest in SEA at 26%; lowest in LAX and SFO at 13%). Commutability remains particularly difficult in SFO and PDX.
• IROP Mitigation & Teaming: In-and-back flying will continue through December to reinforce operational stability. Pilot teaming is scheduled to roll out on December 16 through that Friday.
• New-Hire Pipeline: One class is currently in session and will graduate to the line in mid-December. Management projects hiring and onboard training for approximately 500 new Flight Attendants across the first six months of 2027.

Crew Scheduling Operations & Reserve Trends

• Absences & Sick Leave: The system absence rate was 13.4% in September (down slightly from August) and is trending at 13.7% for October. Total absences are up 22% year-over-year (86,194 through September 2026 vs. 70,654 in 2025). Sick online incidents totaled 104 in September (with 58% occurring during RONs) and 59 month-to-date in October.
• Low-Bid Program Review: While September low-bid lineholders recorded an absence rate of 11.0% (compared to 13.6% for the broader population), October partial data showed low-bid absences climbing to 14.5% (against a 13.79% population average). Management is no offering low bids over the coming months, but they remain open to offering it in the future. Instead, they will raise reserve thresholds, while studying reserve utilization, worked TFP, and absence data through January.
• Reserve Utilization & Reassignments: System reserve utilization sat at 92.5% in September (down from 94.5% in August). Schedulers executed 823 involuntary reassignments under Section 10.R.4 in September. The Committee pressed management on the operational fallout and downstream burden that frequent reassignment churn creates for Flight Attendants.
• Drops & Fatigue: Premium pay spending remains high to backfill open flying, while schedule flexibility remains tight: only two Personal Drops were granted in September and none in October to date. Flight Attendants submitted 23 fatigue reports in September (17 reserves, 6 lineholders) and 17 reports month-to-date in October.

Crew Pay & Rainmaker Updates

• Inquiry Volume & Timing: Crew Pay resolved 1,635 Flight Attendant inquiries out of 2,716 received in September.
• Avoiding Unnecessary Inquiries: Flight Attendants are encouraged to consult the contractual timelines in the Pay Guide prior to filing. In September, 723 inquiries were submitted before Crew Pay had even reached its regular audit deadlines, and 536 were non-applicable. Routine audits catch most pay discrepancies automatically.
• Duplicate Submissions: Crew Pay analyst response times average several business days. Submitting duplicate inquiries after an analyst has already replied slows resolution times for the entire membership.
• Hardware Replacement: If your IMD is replaced, a crew pay inquiry is not required unless you are currently on an active leave of absence.
• Guide Updates: Rainmaker and payroll procedures are undergoing comprehensive joint review; updated guides are scheduled for publication in mid-November.

Inflight Technology (ITS)

• Open-Time Performance: A total of 92,477 trades processed in October without system outages, with 98.02% (90,646 trades) finishing in under 10 seconds.

What The Committee Is Working On

1. Crew Access Update: Anticipating and actively testing the JCTE update for implementation scheduled for October 21. The committee will provide full updates on system changes once testing is completed. The update is rescheduled for November 11, 2026. 

2. Chime In-App Chat: The Committee and Crew Scheduling are collaborating on a direct chat feature inside Chime, allowing Flight Attendants to communicate with Crew Schedulers without waiting on hold.

3. Rainmaker Joint Review: The next quarterly meeting focused on Rainmaker enhancements and workflow fixes is set for November 18.

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 + Hawaiian website.