This message is for both pre-merger Alaska and Hawaiian Flight Attendants
Your Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is working diligently to understand and improve the vacation benefits for our Flight Attendants at Alaska and Hawaiian. Your input is essential in ensuring that the vacation provisions we adopt reflect your needs and preferences.
To gather your perspectives, we invite you to participate in our Vacation Survey. This survey will help us assess which vacation benefits matter most to you, given the significant differences between the Alaska and Hawaiian vacation systems. The survey is currently open and will close on Tuesday, September 24 at Noon PT. We encourage you to take a moment to click the survey link and share your thoughts, so the JNC can accurately represent your interests.
Our goal is to combine the best aspects of both contracts to enhance your quality of work life. However, we recognize that management may prioritize productivity over flexibility, and it is our responsibility to advocate for your interests.
Please take a moment to review the Vacation Quick Reference Guide, for more detailed information there is a comparison chart included in the survey to help you evaluate the potential improvements for your vacation benefits.
To Access the Survey
- For pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants, enter your PeopleSoft Number
- For pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants, enter your Employee Number (without leading zeros)
Some important notes:
- Once the survey is submitted, your responses cannot be edited. Please ensure your selections are final before hitting ‘Submit’.
- For ranking questions, all choices must be ranked. You may skip these questions, but remember to rank all options if you choose to respond.
We encourage you to take the time to participate, as an informed and engaged membership is our strongest asset during these negotiations. Thank you for your continued commitment to our collective success. If you have any questions about the survey, please reach out to the JNC at jnc@afaalaska.org.
Debbie Kane says
Pop up trip bank hours are paid at 3 hrs per day? Is that correct? At Alaska we’re paid 4 TFP per day for a vacation day. Whats the advantage to this pop up at a lower rate?
Brian Palmer (MEC Communications Committee Chairperson) says
The difference lies in the contractual pay rates. Under the Hawaiian contract, all vacation is paid at a rate of 3 hours per day, which includes pop-up vacation and pop-up trip bank. In contrast, the Alaska contract pays vacation at a rate of 4 TFP per day.
Lucienne Havey says
What is a pop up vacation day on the Hawaiian contract?
Martin Gusman (Joint Negotiating Committee Member) says
The Hawaiian contract provides for two types of pop-up vacation. Both are normally less than seven days long. One – Pop-Up Vacation – is used before a Flight Attendant is awarded their flight schedule for a bid month. The other – Pop-Up Trip Bank – is used after a Flight Attendant is awarded their flight schedule for a bid month.
Pop-Up Vacation (used before a flight schedule is awarded)
– A vacation period that is between one and six days long.
– Vacation days are from the Flight Attendant’s vacation accrual.
– Vacation slots must be available to be awarded.
– May be requested during the third bidding period of the annual vacation bidding period for the following calendar year. No flight schedules have been awarded at this point.
– May also be requested during the calendar year – between one and two months prior to the intended month. The flight schedule for the intended month has not been awarded at this point.
– Pay is three (3) hours per day.
– Example: A Flight Attendant sees that vacation slots for November 15-16, 2025 (Saturday and Sunday) are available. They may submit a request for pop-up vacation today for those two days, which will be awarded if the slots are available at the time of processing. If they are awarded the pop-up on those days, when the PBS awards are awarded for November, they will have vacation on the 15th and 16th and six (6) hours of credit on their schedule for line building.
Pop-Up Trip Bank (used after a flight schedule has been awarded)
– Used to remove (drop) specific trips (or blocks of days for a reserve) on a schedule.
– During annual vacation bidding a Flight Attendant designates the number of days they would like to use for their pop-up trip bank. Vacation days are converted to pop-up trip bank hours at the rate of three (3) hours per designated vacation day.
– Pop-up Trip Bank slots must be available for the entirety of the trip or reserve day(s) to be awarded.
– May be requested and awarded after the PBS awards have been finalized, up until 0900 the day prior to the trip or reserve day.
– Pay and credit is for the value of the dropped trip or 4:10 per reserve day. In the event the Flight Attendant’s pop-up trip bank balance is less than the value of the trip, they will be paid and credited with the balance of their remaining pop-up trip bank.
– Example: A Flight Attendant has a 3-day trip on September 24-26 on their schedule. The trip has a credit of 12:30, but the Flight Attendant only has a balance of 7:59 in their pop-up trip bank. There are pop-up trip bank slots available on those days and they submit a request to be removed from the trip. The pop-up trip bank vacation is awarded and they will be paid and credited 7:59 for those three days.