It is important to note that a “transitional only” agreement would have needed to be ratified by a majority of the entire membership (L-VX and L-AS). The JNC and the MEC were concerned that a “transitional only” agreement would have been challenging to ratify because the current 2014-2019 agreement ratified by only a 10% margin (55% to 45%) on the L-AS side. Based on membership feedback from the Merger Negotiations survey, we concluded that it would have been questionable to put out the same agreement for ratification and expect a groundswell of support if that agreement did not contain improvements.

Q:     What would the integration look like if AFA had not sought improvements to the current CBA for L-AS FAs? In other words, where would L-VX stand with pay and work rules, and how long would it have taken to get them under our contract had the JNC negotiated a transitional agreement (that presumably would have taken less time to negotiate)?

A:     It is likely that L-VX would have been brought up to the current Alaska pay rates (that would not include the additional 4.5% increase in the TA), but it is not possible to say with certainty when those pay rates would have been effective. There would have been no impact to L-VX work rules because the March 2019 target date for Full Implementation is based on aircraft differences training (to be completed by year’s end 2018) and Sabre (L-VX) and JCTE (L-AS) programming constraints. In other words, a “transitional only” agreement would still have the same March 2019 target date for Full Implementation (i.e. transition from work rules to the L-AS contractual provisions). However, a “transitional only” agreement would not have included the additional pay increase, 401(k) match, extra holiday, change from QPP to PPP, no 1/12th reduction for vacation accrual, 4 year medical leave duration, etc., that are contained in this TA.

Q:     I see a lot of FAs asking, “Why couldn’t L-VX just be brought up to the L-AS pay scale and work rules immediately without negotiation?” Admittedly I know there is a process, but I am not completely familiar with the why and why nots. Could AFA please address this particular question?

A:     Management could have brought up L-VX to the L-AS pay scale immediately, and AFA would have agreed to that approach. AFA and management agreed to interim pay rate increases in April 2017 shortly after AFA was certified by the National Mediation Board as the representing union for L-VX FAs, but management would not agree to additional increases in order to maintain some bargaining leverage (as was explained in the JNC blog “Representation and Pay Rate Disparity [VX]” post). Realistically, achieving full L-AS contractual work rules would not have happened any earlier than under the Merger TA because of programming constraints in Sabre and JCTE. Even in a “transitional only” contract, there are many provisions that still would have needed to be negotiated in order to bring L-VX on the L-AS contract, such as sick leave, Attendance Policy, uniform allotment, et cetera, and the related implementation timelines for those transitional provisions.

Q:     Page 3 of the Summary of the VX Transition Agreement states “All 480 provisions will NOT affect L-VX FAs until the calendar year 2021. The qualification year will be 2020.”  On page 2 under “Ability to Trade Trips Below 70 hours” it states “at full integration (targeted for March 2019) VX FAs may trade down to -0-.”  So are the L-VX FAs held to the same 480 rules that L-AS FAs are for the year 2019 and 2020?

A:     The 480 provisions will not affect L-VX Flight Attendants until the calendar year 2021 (with flying in 2020 for qualification). L-VX Flight Attendants will not be flying and working under the JCBA until Full Integration (targeted for March 2019), so L-VX FAs will not have a full calendar year under the JCBA provisions until 2020. Keep in mind that until DOR (April 3, 2018), L-VX Flight Attendants are working under current L-VX work rules, which specify that they cannot drop below 70 block hours per month. After DOR and until Full Integration, L-VX FAs can trade down to 50–but only to another Flight Attendant. That means all L-VX FAs are subject a 70 block hour monthly minimum (50 block hour monthly minimum if traded to another FA after DOR), so all L-VX Flight Attendants will fly well over 480 for 2018 and a long ways toward the 480 up to Full Integration in 2019. Once again, L-VX FAs will be subject to the 480 provisions the very first year after they have a full calendar year of activity as an Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant (i.e. accruing 480 qualifications in 2020 for application in 2021).

Q:     If this TA goes through, will those of us who still have our Stuff Happens Pass (SHP) be able to use it through Jan 2019 or will it be immediately taken away? I understand we will no longer accrue a new one once it is used this year, but will we still have the ability to use the one we have right now in the event the TA passes?

A:     The Stuff Happens Pass is scheduled to sunset per the VX Commuter Policy LOA, this is found in Paragraph H. “Stuff Happens Pass Sunset Clause”:

Stuff Happens Pass Sunset Clause: If the Commuter Policy is extended beyond the four (4) bid month trial period of October 2017 through January 2018 indicated in §G [Trial Period] above, the Stuff Happens Pass (SHP) will be sunset beginning January 31, 2018, on a go-forward basis as follows:

1.  A Flight Attendant will no longer be eligible to ‘accrue’ additional SHPs if s/he uses the SHP on or after January 30, 2017.

2.  The SHP will be fully retired for all Flight Attendants effective January 31, 2019, or whenever the last eligible Flight Attendant uses her/his remaining SHP (no later than January 30, 2019, whichever occurs first.

The sunsetting of the SHP will happen regardless of whether the TA passes or not, but the SHP will continue beyond the ratification date of April 3, 2018. L-VX FAs who still have a SHP will be able to use it through January 30, 2019. If the TA passes, the remainder of the L-VX Commuter Policy will stay in effect until full integration, which is currently scheduled for March 2019.

Q:     Page 2 of the Summary of the VX Transition Agreement states “VX F/A who has a sit in excess of 2 hours will be paid 1 block hour of pay.”  An Alaska FA receives 1 TFP, therefore L-AS FAs will receive less pay for the same amount of time as L-VX FAs.

A:     This was an inadvertent error that was recently corrected. The citation has been revised to read “1 TFP equivalent,” which is 53 block-minutes (0:53). See “Corrected Tentative Merger Agreement Documents” for additional details.

Q:     Please explain why it was decided that a separate monthly bidding process for the A position be implemented. Instead, why aren’t positions added as a preference or after trips are awarded, FAs pick their desired position based on seniority on day one of each trip?

A:     The JNC pushed to move away from the ITL program and align with the L-AS way of bidding. The main issue we could not overcome was that Sabre was not willing to program changes to move from the current two tier (i.e. ITL vs ITM) bidding system to a one tier (mixed A, B, C and D) bidding system; additionally, it was not possible to have no awards for ITL and extra ITM positions. The ‘compromise’ in the TA was the closest we could come to the L-AS way of bidding while ensuring that awards were based on seniority and working within the IT limitations. The good news is, if the TA is ratified, the multi-step  “A” Position bid process will be short term. In addition to opening the “A” Position pool to everyone on a month-by-month basis, the restrictions on open time swap/trades have been eliminated (i.e. any FA can p/u any trip once open time is released) under the TA.

Q:     What protections does this TA give L-VX FAs from base closures?  What protections does this TA give L-VX FAs from L-AS FAs transferring to L-VX current bases and significantly affecting bidding seniority?

A:     The TA  does not contain a specific provision to prevent a base closure, but there are provisions in Section 28 [Domiciles] of the JCBA (and the current CBA) that make base closures very expensive and complicated to carry out. A base closure requires a “master re-bid” (i.e. a “flush bid”) for the entire system in Occupational Seniority order. A master re-bid inevitably bumps out some junior FAs from some domiciles; any Flight Attendants who are involuntarily transferred as a result of a master re-bid are eligible for Company-paid relocation benefits, which are very costly to the Company.

There are no specific protections for L-VX FAs from L-AS FAs transferring into L-VX domiciles. However, there are no “bumping rights” pursuant to this merger. That means L-AS FAs cannot displace L-VX FAs from a domicile–they may transfer into a domicile only when there are vacancies in the domicile; transfers are awarded in Occupational Seniority order. Likewise, L-VX FAs may exercise their Occupational Seniority by transferring into L-AS domiciles (e.g. San Diego) when vacancies exist and their seniority holds the transfer.

[See also Healthcare Insurance Premiums [JCBA]]

Q:     Can we have a provision to have our premiums stay frozen or go down if health care costs go down?

A:     We already do depending on the situation. The contract requires that Flight Attendants pay 20% of the cost of healthcare insurance for 2018 and 2019. That means if the actual cost of healthcare insurance decreases in 2019, Flight Attendant cost share will also decrease. If the 2019 healthcare insurance rates go up, the FA cost share may not increase more than 15% above the 2018 rates regardless of the 20% cost share requirement. Under the JCBA TA, FA Healthcare insurance rates will be frozen at the 2019 rates for 2020 through the duration of the JCBA and its amendable period.