^03.16.2018

 

Why does the Company want to speed up the process and why is it a benefit?

The Company can only achieve the synergies of the merger by fully integrating all the employee groups. The sooner they can achieve this, the sooner they will experience the benefits of the merger. There is no certainty that the Full Integration of Flight Attendants will be moved up earlier than the target date of March 2019. The Company is already starting to move the fleet and move the Boeing E-W and Airbus W-S. However, they are not able to open up new Flight Attendant domiciles where one already exists (so no L-VX base in SEA, ANC, etc.) so that somewhat limits how crew planning can route aircraft and flying because the two Flight Attendant groups are separated on the metal.

 

What will happen to the bases and opening them up?

There will not be a master bid if the TA is ratified. Effective the first month after Full Implementation, vacancies that open up may be filled in all bases by any Flight Attendant in seniority order. Currently, the Company is targeting March 2019 for Full Implementation so that would mean that base swaps could occur, and base vacancies would be filled by the combined Flight Attendant group starting in April.

 

When will the Retro check show up on my paycheck? Or will it be a separate check?

The Company is trying to have it in the L-AS April 20^th check; however, AFA is cautioning that it may be May 20^th just to be safe.

 

I do not understand the PPP blocks and the payout.

The total annual premium amount is the same: $2500. However, now vacation (both paid and unpaid/blocked) included in the PBS bid award will count toward TFP credit for achieving the PPP. Today the premium is paid out two months after it is earned. Going forward, the PPP will be paid out on the 20^th check the month after it is earned.

The PPP blocks are as follows:

Individual months: $350 each month

June, July, August, December

Block of 8 months: $1,100 for all 8 months

January, February, March, April, May, September October, November

In order to achieve the PPP, a Flight Attendant must be credited with an additional 5 TFP (you do not have to make up your vacation under the PPP) each month for individual month blocks, and the equivalent of 5 TFP each month for the 8-month block (This combined 40 TFP may be achieved at any time during the 8 months).

 

Why is there the Red Circle provision in this TA for L-VX?

L-VX as a company allowed any employee to be hired into a different work group and retain “company seniority” for pay purposes. L-AS does not have that practice. Therefore, the pay disparity issue needed to be addressed.

 

Holiday pay “show no go”?

If a Flight Attendant goes to the airport and the flight does not go, s/he will receive cancellation TFP pay for the trip’s straight credit and 1 TFP “show no go” paid at double time.

Example: 6.0 TFP turn = 6.0 TFP @ 1.0x pay protection + 1.0 TFP @ 2.0x holiday premium

 

Implementation and what happens to the company if this we vote this down?

Management is emphatic that if the TA is voted down, they will wait until October of this year to enter Section 6 negotiations. No one has a crystal ball, and there is no telling what the Company will actually do. If negotiations go into Section 6 for a new CBA, then the L-VX Flight Attendants will still be under their L-VX pay and work rules. We would go into negotiations with two Flight Attendant groups under different pay and work rules.

 

Is it true that that if this contract passes that there would be a lawsuit because the L-VX Flight Attendants don’t pay membership dues?

Under AFA’s Constitution and Bylaws, AFA members do not pay dues and have full membership rights (e.g. such as voting on a TA) prior to having a first contract. Any lawsuit would have no legal standing.

03.15.2018

The insurance coverage for FA’s when you retire and what is the change?

You can retain your coverage when you retire but you can’t change your coverage. There are 10 years of service you need to be age 62-65.

 

The Productivity Premium Program (PPP) why was it re-structured and was it the union or company that wanted the change?

It is a combination of both. AFA wanted to recapture vacation counting toward the QPP/PPP goal. AFA was able to achieve that, but the company also wanted to restructure the program to highlight their high-travel months. The resulting provision (PPP) was a compromise on both of our positions. We were able to achieve vacation (even pre-blocked, unpaid vacation) counting toward meeting the goal; however, management demanded in exchange that Flight Attendants be credited with 5 additional TFP per month. Recurrent training, all the Minimum Pay Rules, and CBT are credited above the bid award and will count toward meeting the 5 TFP additional per month.

Now that vacation counts toward meeting the PPP goal, consider that a Flight Attendant who has 28 days of vacation per year would have to fly an additional 112 TFP under the QPP in order to meet all QPP targets for the year (28 days x 4TFP/day = 112 TFP). Under the PPP program, a Flight Attendant would have to have an additional credit of 60 TFP per year (5TFP additional credit needed per month x 12 months = 60 TFP).

Because the program month blocks have been restructured, the JNC believes that it will be easier for Flight Attendants to target and meet the PPP goals.

 

Are we ready for negotiations in October? 

From a union structure standpoint, it would be tight. Given all that is going on at the moment (JCTE fixes, Open Time negotiations, Merger issues, and normal day-day membership representation duties), AFA is spread pretty thin. If the TA is voted down and we go into Section 6 CBA negotiations in October a lot would have to happen:

1. A new negotiating committee would have to be interviewed and elected.
2. A negotiations survey would have to be prepared and sent out to all L-VX and L-AS members to complete. The responses will help define our bargaining priorities in negotiations for a full new CBA. The L-VX Flight Attendants will still be flying under the L-VX Work Rules and the current L-VX pay. However, as part of our union, their priorities must be considered in constructing the opening proposals.
3. The new negotiations committee will construct our opening proposals to management which must be reviewed and confirmed by the MEC.
4. During this period and the negotiations, L-VX Flight Attendants will be working under different work rules. The concept of our 480 is foreign to them. They must work a minimum of 70 block hours per month.

The JNC and MEC believes if we bring them into our journey and onto our Contract prior going into full Section 6 negotiations, we will be a stronger force, rather than a divided work one going into Section 6.

 

It sounds like we can throw a wrench into the timeline from the Company’s webcast yesterday if we vote this down?

Of course, management would like to integrate all the work groups as soon as possible in order to achieve the synergies of this merger and recoup some of the costs. If the TA was not ratified and the Flight Attendant groups are not integrated, then the rest of the airline could “merge” around the Flight Attendants. This is the case at AA/US and UA/CA where the pilots are integrated, but the Flight Attendant groups are not. Obviously, this is not optimal and the Company would not capture all the benefits of this merger in this situation.

 

Why is IT so screwed up and then they force things on us that don’t work?

I feel your pain and unfortunately this is what we have to work with and the merger is going to happen and we can’t hold up the merger because of Jeppesen. Those things need to be fixed and OT and Payroll hasn’t been forgotten. We are not apologizing for company, but AFA is maxed out. The system sucks and is barely workable. We are truly sorry for the OT debacle.

 

Why didn’t the Company agree to change the 480 and why don’t they want to tackle this?

Honestly, management doesn’t want to go there and they don’t feel they even have to address the 480 in Merger Negotiations. They feel that this is a matter for Section 6 negotiations. If we are going to be effective in addressing the 480 issue we need to start educating the L-VX Flight Attendants and the newer L-AS Flight Attendants also.

 

Will cross fleet flying happen soon?

This will happen and actually is starting to happen because the Boeing aircraft works better E-W and Airbus S-N. Crew Planning is looking at optimizing the abilities of both aircraft type in the network.

 

It seems that there are only good things in this TA. Is there anything that is bad?

The TA does only contain improvements for the L-AS Flight Attendants. Some Flight Attendants feel that the increased duration of the JCBA (December 2021) is a negative because it delays the start of AFA negotiating the next CBA. There are different ways to look at this additional wait time before going back into negotiations. This additional time provides for the L-VX Flight Attendants to work under the L-AS work rules and provisions and understand their importance and then we would go into Section 6 negotiations as a unified group. However, it does delay our ability to address other contractual provisions that are important to the membership in negotiations.

 

Isn’t an extension usually just extending an existing contract?

Yes, you are correct and with this extended duration we worked to achieve some benefits to the existing CBA while also maintaining things that the company wanted to take away. However, we were able to achieve several improvements for the L-AS Flight Attendants in addition to the negotiated percentage increases to the pay scale.

 

How does the insurance premiums frozen at the 2019 rates work?

Under our current CBA in force, there is a provision that freezes the medical insurance premiums at the 2019 actual $ rates. The 2019 rate is determined by percentage caps in our current CBA Section 23.A.1. If the TA is ratified, the rates would be frozen at the 2019 rates through 2021 and realistically 2022 because we would be in negotiations at that point.

Management could not change provisions of the medical insurance plans to recoup any money. Our CBA (and the JCBA) stipulates that the Flight Attendant medical plans be the same as those offered to pilots. In the pilots’ CBA, all the provisions of the plans are outlined and detailed and cannot be changed. The pilots’ CBA is in place through 2020 and will continue during any amendable period when they are in negotiations.

 

Why can’t we get retro pay for all of the new compensation such as stranded pay for the L-VX FA’s?

Stranded pay is a manual process. It would be complex and further overwhelm the L-AS pay analysts (and there is no one on the L-VX side to process this) who are already overwhelmed by our many manual pay provisions. At the end of the day, it is a cost/financial issue.

 

People think the AFA officers are getting additional TFP?

This provision is more a “reallocation” of who pays for the additional TFP. Under the JCBA, the additional TFP will be paid by the Company and not by Members’ dues dollars. This will free up additional dues dollars for other member services. Keep in mind that LECPs are always on call and can hardly fly but currently are getting paid 65 TFP, which is less than the Reserve guarantee of 90 TFP or even the line average of 75 TFP. The provision brings them up to 75 TFP. The MECP pay has not changed since the mid-2000s. Local and MEC budget are available for member review upon request.

03.08.2018 (AM)

 

If the TA does not ratify, why can’t the L-VX Flight Attendants just get on our work rules?

First of all, management would never just “give” the L-VX Flight Attendants the L-AS work rules. They would use it as a bargaining chip in merger negotiations with AFA. Aside from that, there are other reasons that the L-AS work rules cannot immediately apply to the L-VX Flight Attendants. Sabre (the crew tracking program for the L-VX Flight Attendants) no longer supports the software program and no changes can be made to it to accommodate the L-AS scheduling rules. So the L-AS work rules cannot be programmed into the Sabre system. As far as using the L-AS programs, they cannot be quickly migrated to JCTE because one of the programs that tracks airplane movement only tracks one aircraft type. It must be reprogrammed to accommodate the Airbus. All this will take some time.

 

If we vote this down will they (company) come back to the table?

There is no way to provide a definite answer to this question because we can start Section 6 negotiations in October 2018 on a successor CBA. L-VX will be sitting out there with no pay increases and working under their current work rules. Management has stated adamantly that they aren’t coming back to the table.

 

Why did they (VX) stop moving forward on their own contract with TWU?

The L-VX Flight Attendants voted down their TA1 reached under TWU. TWU was deciding whether or not to put out the TA again for a vote, but decided against it. A few months later, AFA gained representation rights for the Flight Attendants, and AFA was able to secure an immediate pay raise and other improvements.

 

How would the “Vacation Coordination Bank” help me bridge to LTD after 6 months of a medical leave?

If a Flight Attendant did not have paid vacation accrual due to not achieving the 480 TFP threshold the year prior, a “vacation coordination bank” would be created to essentially place “no-credit” vacation days in each month of a Flight Attendant’s medical leave so she or he could maintain medical insurance at the active employee rate until reaching Long Term Disability (LTD) coverage. At that point, the Flight Attendant would be eligible to continue medical insurance at the active employee rate until the earlier of 25 months or reaching Medicare eligibility.

 

When can I use sick leave TFP for healthcare for 62 years of age?

If a Flight Attendant retires with ten years of service, and is between 62 and 65 years of age, she or he may continue medical insurance by using accrued sick leave. 20 TFP of sick leave would substitute for the insurance premium and the Flight Attendant would be able to continue the insurance at the same coverage level (employee-only, employee-spouse, family, etc) at the time of retirement until age 65.

 

Can the company get the Integrated Seniority List (ISL) without a ratified agreement?

AFA controls when the ISL is released to management. AFA’s position is that the ISL will not be released without a ratified JCBA.

 

Why doesn’t Alaska want to be the #1 paying airline?

Alaska management’s position is that they provide good pay and benefits. They absolutely do not wish to be number 1 in pay. They are fine behind Delta, American, and Southwest. In the pilots’ arbitration, Alaska management’s position was that the pilots should be number 5 in the industry, which is where the arbitration award placed them in industry pay.

 

Seniority and a CSA: Why isn’t AS part of this red circle?

It’s just pay not seniority for L-VX FAs that are affected by the Red Circle LOA. Management rejected the JNC’s other proposals to honor pay based on AAG seniority for transfers to Inflight.

 

Why did we negotiate versus just putting VX on our current contract?

Any tentative agreement reached would have to be ratified by the L-AS and L-VX Flight Attendants. The MEC and the JNC made the strategic decision that the L-AS Flight Attendants would not support an agreement which provided no improvements for them – especially since the current CBA in place passed by a slim margin.

The results of the Negotiations Survey identified several areas that both groups identified as bargaining priorities.

 

What is the most senior at VX? Would that change our date of hire?

The date of hire of the most senior L-VX Flight Attendant is September 2006.

 

Where is the ISL posted?

The Integrated Seniority List (ISL) is not posted. The list is not given to management or made public until there is a ratified JCBA.

 

If TA is ratified and FA’s hired after it is where do they fall in?

Flight Attendants hired going forward will have their seniority dates determined by the first date of their initial training class.

 

How is seniority established on the L-VX side?

 

Flight Attendants at L-VX accrue seniority from the first date of initial training. That will continue to be the practice for Flight Attendants hired into the L-VX partition, also known as the Alaska “Airbus” partition. In the past, seniority was determined in each class by randomly-generated employee numbers. Starting with the current class, it will be determined by the last four numbers of the Peoplesoft number.

The L-AS “seniority synch-up” provision provides for L-AS Flight Attendants’ occupational seniority to be adjusted back to their first date of initial training. This is the new occupational seniority date on the Integrated Seniority List (ISL).

 

Is anyone going to get bumped out of his or her base?

No. There will be no “system rebid” as a result of the Full Implementation.

 

When will the occupational seniority sync up new dates be in effect?

The adjusted seniority occupational date will become effective at Date of Ratification if the TA is ratified. Any adjustment to a Flight Attendant’s pay step (increase to next step) will be retroactive to 1.1.18.

 

Work Rules – When would VX get our work rules?

The full L-AS Flight Attendant work rules will apply to the L-VX Flight Attendants at Full Implementation, which is targeted to happen March 2019. If the company misses that target date, then all L-VX pairings must be built using the L-AS work rules such as the 10.5 hr duty day and augmented layover rest.

 

 

Who is it that administered the work rules for VX?

L-VX Flight Attendants are governed by the L-VX Inflight Workrules, v.5 and Val Jenkins, Managing Director, Inflight, is the individual who manages the VX side right now.

03.14.2018

  

If the March 2019 date to implement is met when can trading and swapping bases start?

Trading and swapping of all bases between the combined Flight Attendant group will start the month following Full Implementation. So, if Full Implementation happens in March 2019, then awarding and swapping of bases will begin in April. There will be no base re-bid. No one Flight Attendant will be able to “bump” another out of her/his base.

 

Why aren’t the L-VX Flight Attendants on the Alaska pay scale now?

As soon as AFA won representation rights for the L-VX Flight Attendants in April of 2017, AFA went in immediately and demanded the AS payrates for the L-VX Flight Attendants. Management said no, but AFA was able to negotiate an interim pay increase of about 20%, but not full parity.

This same question was asked of Alaska CEO, Brad Tilden, and his response in an employee meeting was that management made a calculated bargaining decision and decided NOT to allow the L-VX Flight Attendants to have the AS rates in order to put pressure on AFA in merger negotiations. They wanted full pay parity to wait and be part of the merger negotiations.

If the JCBA is ratified, the L-VX Flight Attendants will have the L-AS JCBA rates retroactive to 1.1.18.

 

If the TA ratifies when will they receive our pay rates?

L-VX Flight Attendants will receive the L-AS JCBA pay rates retroactive to 1.1.18.

 

What about the work rules such as duty day?

The L-AS work rules will apply to the L-VX Flight Attendants at Full Implementation (target date, March 2019). The current L-VX crew-tracking system (Sabre) cannot be reprogrammed with different work rules – Sabre no longer supports this software program. The L-VX Flight Attendants cannot go onto the L-AS JCTE program because “visops” which tracks the aircraft movement and feeds into JCTE only recognizes one aircraft type. Until Full Implementation, both groups are partitioned into their separate crew tracking systems.

 

What if it doesn’t ratify?

Upper management is insistent that if the Tentative Agreement is not ratified, they will NOT go back and negotiate TA2. They insist that they will wait for “Section 6” full contract negotiations to start in October.

If that happens, then we will go into full contract negotiations with two Flight Attendant groups that are flying under different contract/work rule provisions and at different rates of pay. The company cannot combine the two groups without a ratified JCBA that stipulates AFA giving the company the Integrated Seniority List.

There is no way to tell with certainty how determined the company is to not go back and agree to a “TA2”. That is the $64,000 question and there is no way to realistically answer that question with any degree of certainty.

 

Duty days and could L-VX do a SEA-PHL turn on an Airbus?

The Negotiations Protocol Agreement restricts the company from opening a Flight Attendant domicile where there already is a Flight Attendant domicile (e.g. No L-VX FA domicile in SEA). Until Full Implementation, no L-AS Flight Attendant can work on an Airbus. So there could be no SEA-PHL “turn” on an Airbus. However, a SEA-PHL-SEA segment could be part of an Airbus (L-VX) multi-day pairing. In that situation, the L-VX crew would be forced to layover in SEA.

 

How many will be affected by the Red Circle Letter of Agreement?

Approximately 100 L-VX Flight Attendants would be affected by this.

 

FA’s that were fired from Alaska that now work for Virgin will they still be on the seniority list?

If a Flight Attendant is on the seniority list at L-VX and in good standing, they will have a place on the Integrated Seniority List.

 

When you retire and want to bridge insurance?

If a Flight Attendant retires from Alaska Airlines and is at least 62 years of age and not yet 65 years of age, then s/he can opt to continue the Alaska Airlines medical insurance until age 65 using 20 TFP a month of accrued sick leave in her/his bank. The level of coverage (e.g. employee-only, employee-spouse, family, etc.) in place at the time of retirement will continue.

[See “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties [VX], “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 2 [VX], “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 3 [VX] and “Full Implementation” Guarantees / Penalties 4 [VX] for more info.]

Q:     I realize now that there are penalties to the Company if the groups are not integrated by March 2, 2019. Do you know if this will be enough of a penalty?  AA/US and CO/UA have also ratified joint contracts and are still flying separately. I was curious if you know the reason why AA/US and UA/CO are still flying separate and if they had any integration penalties in their joint contracts as well?

 

A:     There are several questions contained in this one post, so we will answer them separately:

 

1. There is no telling if any penalty is ever enough to prevent something.  However, it is important to remember that management desperately wants to merge all labor groups as soon as possible.  If the March 2, 2019, “target” integration date is not achieved, then the TA provides for all L-VX pairings (trips in the bid packet) to be built using the L-AS CBA rules (i.e. 10.5 hr duty day and layover rest) starting in March.  When you consider that the L-VX FA pairings are currently built using 14 hr scheduled duty day and FAR minimum rest on layovers, using the L-AS provisions would significantly impact how much flying could be accomplished. Management would have to figure out how to cover that additional flying and significant cost would accrue to the Company. Additionally, there is significant pressure on management because they have promised Wall Street, their investors and outside analysts that this merger will happen by mid 2019.  Upper management is under extreme pressure to achieve merger target dates. That pressure is more significant than any penalty we could achieve in negotiations.
2. Flight Attendant groups at United/Continental and American/ US Airways are both slated to be fully integrated in October of this year.  Those merger agreements were negotiated some time ago and yes it has been a long road to achieve that. The situation is further complicated because both carriers being “absorbed” had contracts in place and Flight Attendants are transitioning off of those provisions.
3. There were no penalties in either the AA or UAL merger agreements.
4. Technology has played a significant part in the delay.  However other complications have also contributed. UAL has separate international and domestic bases, and the entire membership had to vote on the system going forward.  Cross training is also a significant hurdle considering the multiple equipment types and the number of Flight Attendants involved. At AA, there was a dispute about when the AA Flight Attendants would be transitioned onto PBS (AOS system), and that resulted in a grievance which is now at the system board level.  The position of APFA (the union representing AA FAs) is that integration cannot go forward absent the dispute being resolved. In an unusual turn of events, management just recently filed its own grievance in protest

[See also Maternity Extension Leave [VX]]

[Note: This post has been revised with updated information. Clarifications or edits are indicated in strikeout font for deleted text and underlined font for added text. – Edited 03.15.2018 jtp]

Q:      I’m wondering what the work requirement would be to ensure time off for L-VX FAs on Maternity Extension Leave. As you know, VX used to require 504 duty hours in order to qualify for the 12 weeks baby bonding. Does AS require the same amount of work in order to take the additional 8 months leave? Or do you just have to have worked for AS for 6 months? Have flown 480 TFP? Or are all expectant moms guaranteed maternity leave regardless of how much and how long they’ve flown for VX/AS?

A:     It’s complicated. Alaska management is requiring any L-VX FA who applies for intermittent baby bonding under the California Family Right Act (CFRA) after 1/1/2018 must have achieved 1250 hours in order to be eligible. This is the Company’s interpretation of its obligation for 12 weeks of intermittent continuous baby bonding under CFRA, which is not contractual. To qualify for the contractual Maternity Leave Extension of eight months, the FA is automatically qualified upon expiration of her Maternity Leave if she applies for the Maternity Leave Extension. In order to remain covered for healthcare insurance at the active employee rates, she must have available sick leave and/or vacation in order to coordinate with the leave pursuant to §15.M; otherwise, the leave is unpaid and she would be responsible for the full cost of healthcare insurance. A L-AS FA has available sick leave after the completion of probation (although a new Washington Paid Sick Leave law allows sick leave access earlier, so that law is currently working its way through the courts) and available vacation after the first year of service as long as she has achieved the appropriate 480 thresholds. L-VX FAs will be able to immediately access Maternity Leave Extension upon ratification of the Merger Agreement, and the FA will be on an unpaid leave but remain covered by healthcare insurance at the active employee rates until Full Integration; at Full Integration, the contractual requirement to draw sick leave and/or vacation will take over in order to maintain healthcare benefits at the active employee rates and to be paid. AFA strongly suggests any L-VX FAs who are currently on or anticipating to be on any type of Maternity Leave to contact your local union leadership (vx@afaalaska.org) to discuss your options.

[See also VX “Red-Circled” Pay Rates: Intra-Company (e.g. GST) Transfers [JCBA]]

Q:     I am hoping someone can clarify this for me. If an Alaska employee is a CSA (or any other work group) and they change over to a FA—the only thing that “carries” over is their years of service related to vacation accrual. As far as FA seniority and pay, they start at the bottom. Word on the street is that at Virgin, this is not the case. As an example…let’s say there was a Virgin employee that was a CSA for six years—and at year seven she became a FA. Now it is two years later…so her company seniority is 9 years and her FA seniority is two years. It appears Virgin’s company policy is to have that person grandfathered in at her company seniority on the FA seniority list, i.e., as if she had been a FA for nine years, and year nine on the pay scale as well. Is this true? And if it is not true…can you tell me how it is being handled?

A:     A L-VX FA who was a GST (CSA) for six years and who now has been a L-VX FA for two years has eight years of Company Seniority and two years of Occupational Seniority. At L-VX, s/he accrues vacation and is also paid as an eight year Flight Attendant, but s/he bids for vacation days and her/his schedule as a two year Flight Attendant. A L-AS FA who was a CSA for six years and who  now has been a L-AS FA for two years also has eight years of Company Seniority and two years of Occupational Seniority. However, at L-AS this FA accrues accrues vacation as an eight year Flight Attendant, but s/he is paid, bids for vacation days and bids for her/his schedule as a two year Flight Attendant. As you can see, there is a difference in how the FAs are paid at L-VX vs at L-AS. Seniority applications are currently and will continue to remain the same for bidding at L-VX and L-AS. There is a provision to retain and “red circle” (i.e. ‘freeze’) the current pay step for L-VX intra-company transfers into L-VX Inflight. This is addressed in the VX Red Circle Pay Rates Letter of Agreement. The L-VX FAs and the L-AS FAs in this example bid as two year Flight Attendants; the L-VX FA would be “red circled” as a eight year FA (until her/his FA classmates catch up to Year 9), and the L-AS FA is paid as a two year FA. All L-VX intra-company transfers are currently and will continue to be treated the exact same as L-AS intra-company transfers for bidding purposes. In other words, all L-VX and L-AS FAs bid using Occupational Seniority no matter where they came from. Again, this is a pay application only.