Q:     Why can’t we fight for more Positive Space (PST) tickets? We use those more frequently and we don’t seem to be getting them as often.  Can they be added to the contract?

A:     Pass travel is a Company benefit and therefore management discretion. The only contractual language we have regarding discretionary (i.e. for pleasure) pass travel is that FAs receive the same pass privileges as other employees and that you may continue to have pass travel privileges under certain conditions while on leaves of absence. Management considers pass travel to be a management’s rights issue, so it is extremely unlikely that AFA will be able to negotiate PST tickets.

Q:     Why wasn’t vacation and sick leave counting towards the 480 for paid vacation accrual negotiated and improved?

A:     Improving the 480 was definitely on the table. The JNC tried very hard to recapture vacation counting towards the 480 for purposes of vacation accrual in JCBA negotiations, but management was adamantly opposed. It was one of the very last items that the JNC very reluctantly took off the table at the end in order to reach a TA. That strategic decision was made only after considering all factors and in consultation with the MEC.

Although this does not fix the “hard 480” for vacation, the JNC was able to achieve tangential improvements to vacation:

• Elimination of the 1/12 reduction to vacation accrual when there is no paid time in a month (meaning no more  ‘double jeopardy’ of the “hard 480” and the 1/12 reduction);
• Paid and unpaid vacation and Longevity PTO applies towards achieving the new Productivity Premium Program (PPP); and
• Paid and unpaid vacation and Longevity PTO entitlement can all be used for minimum coordination under §15.M.2 for purposes of retaining medical insurance at the active employee rates. This “vacation coordination bank” includes one’s full possible vacation entitlement per §23.B.1.c even if the 480 requirements are not achieved in the previous year.

Based on management’s approach to the 480 in JCBA negotiations, it seems extremely unlikely that management’s position on the 480 would change in regular Section 6 negotiations.

Q:     What is the difference between merger negotiations and Section 6 negotiations?

A:     The Railway Labor Act (RLA) sets out the provisions governing Section 6 negotiations*. The steps involving direct negotiations, oversight by the National Mediation Boards (NMB), mediation, etc are set in the provisions of the law:

• An RLA labor group’s contract has an amendable date (versus an expiration date);
• The NMB controls the timetable if the parties enter mediation; and
• If granted a proffer of arbitration, both labor and management can engage in self help remedies.

In Section 6 negotiations, the entire contract is open and management is free to ask for “productivity gains,” which is usually what we would call “concessions.”  It is not unusual to take years to reach a tentative agreement under the Section 6 negotiations process.

Unlike Section 6 negotiations, our contract is not amendable in merger negotiations. Merger negotiations normally involve a more limited scope of items focused on the transitions needed for the merger. However, the JNC sought to achieve improvements for FAs from both carriers, so we were put in the position of reaching a “mid-term” agreement with a duration that extends beyond the current contract (i.e. JCBA amendable in 2021 vs. current CBA amendable in 2019) in order to do so.

* The phrase “Section 6 negotiations” comes from where the provisions covering negotiations under the RLA was historically located: in Section 6. Although the RLA has now been incorporated into the broader United States Code of federal statutes, the name stuck.

Q:     It is unclear as to pay increases for a current Lead for VX.  Will Leads be paid as an A FA, and if so, how much of an increase in pay is to be expected?

A:     Under the L-VX work rules, an “AS Lead” translates to a L-VX “Inflight Team Leader (ITL)”.  ITL pay of a 15% override will be retroactive to 1.1.2018.   If the TA is ratified, the current ITL pay will continue until the end of the second bid month after the Date of Ratification (DOR).  Beginning with the third bid month after DOR, ITLs will no longer receive the ITL override, but will be paid the equivalent A pay in the JCBA.  The block-hour equivalent of the $2/TFP that the L-AS Flight Attendants receive is $2.26/block hour (1.13 TFP/block-hour conversion) for a L-VX ITL.

Q:     Why can’t there be a penalty to the Air Group if full implementation isn’t done by  a said date?

A:     Actually, the JNC did achieve an incentive to encourage the Company to keep the anticipated Full Integration date. If the two Flight Attendant groups are not fully integrated by March 2019, all of the L-VX pairings must be constructed using the JCBA work rules (the 10.5 hour duty day and all of the AS rest provisions, etc.). While this will not carry over into the operation once the bid month is active, all L-VX pairings will be constructed using JCBA work rules.

The below language is in the L-VX FA Transition Agreement:

Delay of JCTE

In the event that Full Implementation is delayed past March 2, 2019, then all pairings will be constructed under the provisions outlined in the JCBA in Section 10 [Scheduling]. Additionally, for any pairings created after the initial bid award the Company will make every best effort to construct the pairing in compliance with Section 10 of the JCBA.  

This will be a significant constraint on and financial incentive for the Company to integrate on time because it will take more L-VX Flight Attendants to fly a schedule with pairings constructed under the JCBA work rules.  The L-VX partition would most likely not have the staffing to accomplish all of their flying if the pairings were built using the JCBA work rules.

The JNC strongly advocated for additional penalties during negotiations to pressure management to achieve the targeted dates. Unfortunately, management would not agree to actual monetary incentives.

Q:     Since medical premiums will be frozen, does this include our actual medical plan/benefits? Or can they give us inferior plans to keep the current cost?

A:     Section 23.A [Insurance Benefits: FA Insurance Plan(s)] states:  “The Flight Attendants’ insurance plan will be separated from the Company-wide plan and will provide benefits comparable to those offered under the Alaska Airlines pilot’s pilots’ insurance program.“

Although not obvious from the language, the long standing interpretation and application of “comparable benefits” is that management provides Flight Attendants with the same insurance benefits as the pilots. The provisions of the pilots’ insurance benefits are cemented contractually in their CBA and cannot be changed by management. Management provides the same exact same benefit to the FAs because it is too administratively burdensome to develop a contractually compliant “comparable” program that is not exactly the same.

Under the JCBA, the Flight Attendant premiums will be frozen at the 2019 exact dollar rates.  The provisions of the medical insurance plans will remain those outlined in the pilots’ CBA.

Q:     What is the calculation for converting TFP to block-hours?  When does VX convert to TFP?

A:     In order to convert TFP pay rates to Block hour pay rates, you multiply the TFP base rate by 1.13.  [TFP pay rate in $/TFP  x 1.13 = Block-hour pay rate in $/block-hour]

If the TA is ratified, the pmVX FAs will be paid at the new JCBA 2018-2021 rates found in Section 21 Compensation (converted to block hours). The pay rates will be effective at DOR (Date of Ratification) and paid retroactively back to January 1, 2018. These new rates will also be effective for all rate-based incentives and premium pay.

Example:  Year 6 TFP pay rate at DOR is $35.40 per TFP.  A pmVX FA will be paid $35.40/TFP x 1.13 = 40.00/block-hour. This will be effective DOR and paid retroactively to 1/1/2018.

To calculate retroactive pay, you will receive the difference between your current block-hour pay rate and your new block-hour equivalent Alaska JCBA rate (TFP converted to block-hours).  

Example: Using our example above, a Year 6 pmVX FA is currently being paid  $33.86 per block hour. Their new rate would be $40.00 per block hour.  For all block hours paid from 1/1/2018 to DOR, you would receive the difference of $6.14 for each block-hour as a lump sum retro payment.

$40.00 – $33.86 = $6.14 per block hour

Again these new rates are effective for all rate-based incentives and premium pays. At full implementation, which is currently estimated for March 2019, pmVX Flight Attendants will begin to be paid in TFP (instead of the block-hour equivalent).

Q:     Am I reading it correctly that under the new plan unpaid vacation and PTO would be included for the purpose of earning bonuses or am I missing something?

A:     Yes! Paid vacation (included Longevity PTO) and unpaid vacation will count towards achieving the PPP at 4.0 TFP per day.

Q:     As the quarterly productivity premium is now paid quarterly, how will the new program be paid?

A:     It will be paid on the 20th paycheck following the appropriate PPP incentive period. This is an improvement from the QPP, which is paid on the 5th paycheck two months following the quarter.

QPP:

• Q1 (Jan, Feb, Mar) – $500 paid 05/05,
• Q2 (Apr, May, Jun) – $500 paid 08/05,
• Q3 (Jul, Aug, Sep)  – $1000 paid 11/05, and
• Q4 (Oct, Nov, Dec) – $500 paid 02/05

PPP:

• June – $350 paid 07/20,
• July – $350 paid 08/20,
• Aug – $350 paid 09/20,
• “Block of 8” (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov) – $1100 paid 12/20, and
• December – $350 paid 01/20.

Q:     Will you do a comparison of the QPP and the PPP and the significant differences?

A:     Sure!

QPP: Based on a calendar quarter application (Q1: Jan, Feb, Mar; Q2: Apr, May, Jun; Q3: Jul, Aug, Sep; Q4: Oct, Nov, Dec) and requires your Worked TFP to be at least 0.1 TFP more than your combined monthly PBS bid award equivalent across that calendar quarter. Sick leave and vacation are excluded from achieving the QPP. Payout is $500 for Q1, Q3 and Q4; $1000 for Q3.

PPP: Based on the defined period (Combined block of 8 months: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov; 4 individual months: Jun, Jul, Aug, Dec) and requires your Worked TFP to be at least 40.0 TFP more than your combined monthly PBS bid award equivalent across that block of 8 months (average 5.0 TFP per month) or at least 5.0 TFP more than your monthly bid award equivalent in June, July, August and December. Vacation is now included in achieving the PPP (and sick leave is still excluded). Payout is $1100 for the block of 8 months is $350 for each month of June, July, August and December.

Q:     Why is the PPP based on the base line average instead of the individual line average?

A:     The PPP is based on an individual Flight Attendant’s bid award–the same criteria as the current QPP program. One can make arguments either way for the benefits of an individual line average versus the domicile line average. AFA and management did not change that aspect of the incentive criteria.

Q:      I am seeking understanding why the QPP was changed from quarterly to create the PPP with 4 single high impact months and an 8-month block. Vacation counting towards PPP is better than how it is currently with QPP. However, one now has to fly 5.0 TFP more (60 TFP total for the year) for the PPP instead of 0.1 TFP more in each quarter for the QPP. Why have we lost the flexibility of being able to do our extra flying over a quarter and have now in essence made it harder in single months?

A:     AFA sought to change the QPP so that vacation counted towards achieving the payout. Management agreed but sought to increase the threshold from 0.1 TFP to 5.0 TFP for each month, inclusive of vacation.

Considering even the most junior FA has at least 14 days of vacation at 4.0 TFP per day, that equals 56.0 TFP of vacation credit for the year that now counts towards achieving the PPP. That leaves a difference of only 4.0 TFP to make up for the entire year–and that is before you count in any other pick-up, Sit Pay, ADPG, ground delay, block delay, Stranded Pay, etc. This doesn’t seem like an unreasonable trade-off when one considers that all FAs with 5 years or more of Occupational Seniority have at least 21 days of vacation that equals at least 84.0 TFP more of vacation credit that will now count towards achieving the PPP.

It may be more challenging for some to achieve PPP in the single months, but it will be much easier for others. It really depends on where your vacation days are located within the year.

Q.  Why were no improvements to air commuting negotiated for example commuting offline, load protections etc?

A.  The JNC advocated strongly for both of those improvements in negotiations.  However, besides being adamantly opposed to those provisions, management was very unwilling to make changes that impacted only a portion of the Flight Attendant group because this was not a full Section 6 negotiations.  The JNC understands the importance of those two provisions to air commuters.

One improvement to air commuting is the ability to use the new ground commuting provisions in conjunction with air commuting.  Now, if you are a registered air commuter and have an unanticipated ground commuting issue on your way to your commuting airport in your registered commuter city, then you may utilize the Ground Commuting Policy provisions.

Q:     Addendum to section 15 #5 crossed out personal leaves, parental leaves, maternity but left medical leaves. To me that reads: if a FA accepts a Company-offered personal leave they will not accrue seniority. Is my understanding of this correct?

A:     The short answer: No. A FA will continue to accrue seniority on any approved leave of absence regardless of type. The language you are referencing is a misprint in that particular document (2018-2021 JCBA TA).

The long answer: Excellent catch! The language in Addendum to Section 15 Leaves of Absence, #5 was corrected to clarify that a Flight Attendant will continue to accrue seniority for the duration of any leave of absence.

However, there is an error in the comprehensive document that the JNC will address and correct as soon as possible. Although the JNC has made every effort to ensure the comprehensive document matches the signed TAs, it is not surprising that we missed something. Here is the incorrect language in the 2018-2021 JCBA TA:

5.  Do I accrue seniority while on a leave of absence?

Yes, you continue to accrue seniority during an approved medical leave. [Remainder in strikeout.]

The signed TAs match the language in the Addendum to Section 15, #5 found in the Changes to the 2014-2019 CBA LOA:

5.    Do I accrue seniority while on a leave of absence?

Yes, you continue to accrue seniority during an approved leave of absence. [Remainder in strikeout.]

A small but significant difference!

In summary, a Flight Attendant will continue to accrue seniority while on any approved LOA. AFA will coordinate a correction to the 2018-2021 JCBA TA document as soon as possible this coming week. We sincerely apologize for the error and for the confusion!