Q:    Will pmVX being getting back pay for per diem too?

A:     Yes.  Section 22.A. (Per Diem) of the L-VX Agreement states that effective “date of ratification”, per diem will be two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) per hour away from domicile. This per diem rate will be retroactive to January 1, 2018.

Q:    Am I correct in assuming that lead pay (pmVX, pre-TA) will be recalculated to AS “A” pay for back pay purposes?

A:    That is not the correct assumption.  If the TA is ratified, the L-VX ITL program pay will not be changing until two bid months following the bid month of ratification (April).  Any ITL “retro” pay back to January 1, 2018, would be calculated at the new JCBA pay rates and the current ITL premium.

See Monthly Parking Stipend – $75 >

Q.  When does incentive override phase out and when does AS PPP start for L-VX FAs?

A.  The incentive pay will phase out for the L-VX Flight Attendants at Full Integration – when both groups of Flight Attendants fly together after being awarded schedules following a combined PBS bid.  The company is targeting the March 2019 bid month for this milestone.  At that point, the L-VX Flight Attendants will transition to the AS Productivity Premium Program.

Q.    VX retro pay – will this include my ITL override and my incentive pay?

A.    Yes. The pay increases retroactive to January 1, 2018, will be applied to all incentive and premium pays.

Q.    What does legacy mean?

A.   Legacy refers to the “pre-merger” partition of either Virgin America (VX) or Alaska Airlines (AS). The terms we use are Legacy-VX (L-VX) and Legacy-AS (L-AS).  This denotes the partition that a Flight Attendant was initially hired into, no matter when.

It is somewhat confusing, because we are all Alaska Airlines Flight attendants now that the FAA has granted the Single Operating Certificate (SOC).  However, the Flight Attendant groups are kept separate for pay and work rules and flying.  Management continues to hire on “both sides of the partition” and uses the term “Alaska Airbus Flight Attendant” to refer to L-VX Flight Attendants and “Alaska Boeing Flight Attendant” to indicate a L-AS Flight Attendant.

Note: This JNC blog post was revised and updated. See Commuter Policy: Ground Commuting [JCBA].

See Monthly Parking Stipend – $75 >

Q: Will our hire/step date/rate be revised to this new date in the synch up so in other words, will it be the same date for all things?

A: For pmAS FAs, the new “synch-up date” will be the same date for competitive bidding seniority and Occupational Seniority.

Historically these have always been the same date for pmAS FAs, and we do not want to change that because of the merger. Although this has been long standing practice as required by our contract, it is theoretically possible that your competitive bidding date for bidding purposes could be a different date than your Occupational Seniority date for pay raises and such.

The JNC is anticipating that the Seniority Merger Integration Committee (SMIC) will be giving credit to pmAS FAs’ competitive bidding dates for time spent in Initial Training. The job of the SMIC is to merge the lists and to certify the Integrated Seniority List (ISL) in a fair and equitable manner consistent with the Merger Policy in the AFA Constitution & Bylaws.

The revised Occupational Seniority date will then align with the new competitive bidding date just like it always has for the vast majority of FAs. The new Occupational Seniority date will apply everywhere the current Occupational Seniority date does in the current CBA: for pay rate increases, Longevity PTO qualification, Longevity Premium, etc.

Additional background info: For FAs who were hired directly into Inflight as a Flight Attendant from outside the Company, your Occupational Seniority date (i.e. the date you were hired as a FA) is the same as your Company Seniority date (i.e. the date you were hired as a Company employee). For FAs who transferred into Inflight from within the Company, the two are not the same date.

Q: Is VX voting on their TAs and AS voting on their TAs, or is VX and AS voting together to get the Merger Agreement ratified?

A: All Flight Attendants (VX and AS) must vote collectively on the entire Merger Agreement.

Under AFA’s Constitution and Bylaws, all pre-merger Virgin America and pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants are in one Master Executive Council. The pmVX and pmAS transition agreements are part of the Merger Agreement. The Merger Agreement also combines both groups under one Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA). At Full Integration (currently estimated March 2019), all Flight Attendant will be working under the JCBA.