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In June of this year, the AFA Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) presented Your Air Matters, a contaminated cabin air awareness campaign.  This month, we’re providing some important reminders and the resources available to help you should you find yourself in a situation where you believe you might have been exposed to contaminated cabin air.  We’d also like to provide some background on how AFA provides assistance and support in suspected air quality exposure incidents.

What Do I Do?

If you believe you might have been exposed to contaminated air aboard the aircraft, follow these steps:

1. Identify The Situation

If you encounter unusual fumes, odors, smoke, or haze:

  • Quickly rule out non-ventilation sources (i.e. ovens, coffee makers, garbage)
  • Report the situation to the pilots immediately.  If the source is the air from the vents in the cabin, there is possibly oil/hydraulic fluid contamination.
  • If no passengers are on board, step off the aircraft, especially if maintenance boards to test systems
  • Avoid breathing fumes coming from vents, if possible

2. Get Help If Sick

  • If in the air, notify the pilots to call Medlink
  • If still at the gate, ask the CSA to call paramedics.  Deplane if possible.
  • Seek medical attention as soon as possible.  Some tests must be performed as soon as possible to detect exposure.  Your symptoms can persist, worsen, or return after another incident.
  • Call AFA for help (call 206-457-2010, extension 1101 or email airquality@afaalaska.org)
  • Print and begin completing the AFA exposure checklist
  • Review the AFA International Air Quality website

3. Report & Document

  • File an I-21 (employee injury report) with the company
  • File an ASAP report with the company
  • Keep printed copies of each report
  • Send a copy of the completed I-21 form to the ASHSC Vice Chairperson.
  • Ask a supervisor to complete their Alaska Airlines air quality checklist with you
  • If sick, file a worker’s compensation claim and see a doctor as quickly as possible.  Claims do not start until you see a doctor.
  • Keep a symptom diary and document everything with a doctor

What Resources Are Available?

AFA Alaska Website

Information on what to do in the event of exposure to contaminated cabin air is available on the AFA Alaska website.  You can find the complete checklist at http://afaalaska.org/ashsc/airquality/checklist.  On your IMD or other mobile device, you can easily access this information by opening the AFA Alaska app or visiting afaalaska.org and clicking the “air quality exposure info” link from the home page.

Air Quality Exposure Quick Reference Card

Wallet size cards explaining what to do in a contaminated cabin air exposure event are available in each base.  These cards can be kept in a badge holder behind your crew ID or in your purse or wallet for when you need to access them quickly.  You can also print your own card from the AFA Alaska website by clicking here.

Local Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) 

The members of your Local Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee are available as a resource to assist you.  You can find contact information for your Local ASHSC on the ASHSC page of afaalaska.org.

What Happens Behind the Scenes?

Once management notifies AFA that a situation involving potential exposure to contaminated cabin air has occurred, a coordinated response process begins behind the scenes. MEC Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Vice Chairperson Yvette Satterlee activates AFA’s response procedures and makes contact with the crew.  Yvette ensures that the Flight Attendants have information about what to do if they’re feeling sick and what reports to file with the company.  The AFA Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Committee also contacts the Flight Attendants to offer their support.  The LEC Officers from the Local Council of the affected Flight Attendants are also notified of the situation and are available to provide assistance if needed.

After the incident, ASHSC, EAP, and the LEC Officers continue to assist the Flight Attendants.  This ongoing support takes the form of providing information about oil and hydraulic fumes for the medical providers of the affected crew members, coordinating operational debriefs with management, requesting aircraft maintenance records, and additional activities to help affected Flight Attendants through the treatment and recovery process.

Questions?

Please contact your Local ASHSC if you have any questions about contaminated cabin air.  You can find contact information for your Local ASHSC on the ASHSC page of afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee and MEC ASHSC Chairperson Seth Heiple

 

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews at the September MEC meeting for the position of MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson. We would like to thank the candidates who expressed a willingness to serve and interviewed for the position. After thorough consideration, the MEC has appointed Stephanie Adams to the position.

Stephanie began her career with Alaska Airlines in 1995 as a Reservation Sales Agent, she spent an additional year as a Customer Service Agent, and in 1997 she became a Flight Attendant. For the majority of her career she has been based in Seattle with a brief time in Portland.

Stephanie began AFA work when she was elected as Seattle Council Representative in 2014. In 2015 she also became the MEC Grievance Representative. She felt compelled to begin AFA work as it combines her education with her longtime experience as a Flight Attendant. Her goal is to passionately protect all Flight Attendants under the purview of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Stephanie is a graduate of Seattle University School of Law and member of the Washington State Bar. Formerly, Stephanie acted as a family law attorney. She resides in Renton and enjoys spending time with her kids and traveling.

In her role as MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson, Stephanie will work closely with the Local Grievance Committee Chairpersons, AFA Staff Attorney Kimberly Chaput, and the AFA International legal department to represent and advocate for Flight Attendants. Stephanie’s appointment is effective December 1, 2016, and her term of appointment is concurrent with the term of the MEC Officers. She will report directly to the MEC.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

In an effort to help you maneuver through the new Flight Attendant webpage, your LEC Officers have compiled the following information:

Inflight Resource Directory

Click the Administration tab on the left side

Click the Inflight Resource Directory Arrow on right side

This directory lists contact names, numbers, and emails for FAs to contact: Supervisors, payroll, performance supervisors, leave analysts, and much more.

inflight-resource-directory

Point Reduction Form

Click the Administration tab on the left side

Click the Performance tab on the right side

Click Point Reduction Form

If you have questions click on “…see Point Reduction Help…” and if you want to view your submission click on “…Point Reduction Look Up List.” It is important that you verify the dates you enter on this form.

point-reduction-form

Crew Care Form (To report hotel issues)

Click the Hotel Tab on the left side

Click the Hotel Links tab on the right side

Click on My Crew Care

If you have not registered on Crew Care simply enter your Alaska Airlines company email address (outlook email address) and follow the steps to complete the registration.

my-crew-care

Uniform Ordering/Catering Information

Click on Catering and Brand on the left side

Click on Uniforms

Direct links to order: New uniform items from Land’s End, name bars, and bag tags are located here.

Click on Onboard Service 

This tab allows you to look up a specific flight for service details.

Onboard Experience 

This tab provides a variety of information concerning aircraft environment, resources, etc.

uniform-link

If you have an issue with the catering on your flight send an email to: catering.feedback@alaskaair.com

Also, if you would like to read helpful hints from fellow crewmembers you can find these located under Tidbits on AFA’s website:http://afaalaska.org/inflightservice – news

Flight Attendant Performance Supervisor List

Manager: Leslee Cabulagan 206-392-6080, Leslee.Cabulagan@alaskaair.com

Michelle Kirschbaum/Jenn-Marie Mann – PDX, SEA “A” 206-392 6157

Michelle.Kirschbaum@alaskaair.com, Jennifer.Mann@alaskaair.com

Beth Swanson – SAN, SEA “B-I” 206-392-6227, Beth.Swanson@alaskaair.com

Noelle Berner (Starting Nov 1, 2016) – ANC, SEA “J-P” 206- 392-6143, Noelle.Berner@alaskaair.com

Natasha Kemp – LAX, SEA “Q-Z” 206-392-6146, Natasha.Kemp@alaskaair.com

Flight Attendant Payroll List

Brenna Bell (FA last names A-E) 206-392-6135, Brenna.Bell@alaskaair.com

Lois Overman (FA last names F-K) 206-392-6132, Lois.Overman@alaskaair.com

Michele Carcalean (FA last names L-Ri) 206-392-6284, Michele.Carcalean@alaskaair.com

Rachel Leitner (FA names Ro-Z) – 206-392-6133, Rachel.Leitner@alaskaair.com

Flight Attendant Leave Analysts

Ellen Santh Mayor and Tuyet Le

E-mail: faleave@alaskaair.onmicrosoft.com

Phone: (206)392-6079

Fax: (206)392-6198

Co-mail:SEADZ

We have created an Excel spreadsheet to review all the pairings that have been created and awarded in the ANC base.  We are excited to share that spreadsheet with all of you.

Click the following link to view the Pairings Spreadsheet:  Nov 16 Bid.xlsx

The spreadsheet contains:

  • Pairings (Pairing Numbers)
  • Days (Length of Pairing)
  • C/I (Check In Times)
  • C/O (Check-Out Times)
  • TAFB (Time Away From Base) which is listed as hours and minutes
  • ADC (Average Daily Credit)
  • Pay TFP (Total TFP you will be paid if trip is flown.  Inclusive of MPRs)
  • Sit TFP (Indicates how much tfp of Sit Pay is in the pairing)
  • TAFB/TFP (Time Away From Base per TFP value)
  • Duty Legs
  • D/H (DH legs)
  • L/O (Layover Location)
  • Compensation (inclusive of sit pay and per diem) and you can change the TFP Rate (located in the upper right corner of the spreadsheet) to reflect your step rate amount which will adjust the compensation column to reflect the accurate amount each individual FA will receive at their rate of pay.
  • Days (the days of the month that pairing operates)

We hope you find this information helpful and would appreciate your feedback.  If you find value in the document, we will do our best to provide it for you each month. If you have any questions about the spreadsheet, please contact us at anc@afaalaska.org.

Council 19 Scheduling Committee Update

We have recently added a new member to the committee, please welcome Melinda Jorge!!

Your Council 19 LEC Scheduling Chairs, Rita Tillou and Martin Vance attended SME training for JCTE last month. We are looking forward to additional training after modifications to the training mode are complete. Cutover to JCTE is planned for November 1st and base sits will be held during the first two weeks after the cutover.   Please stay tuned for more information in regards to the start date…..

We are receiving a lot of feedback on pairing construction and all concerns/compliments have been forwarded to the AFA Pairing Analyst for consideration. Due to the change in demographics of the Seattle base, we are looking forward to conducting another pairing survey in the first quarter of 2017. Not everyone will always be pleased, but hopefully a nice balance can be found to provide a better quality of life. 

All eyes are on Open Time lately and it appears that Crew Scheduling is still holding trips.  This is an ongoing issue that the MEC is battling during the Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) meetings with management. 

The monthly Scheduling Committee meeting on September 29th provided an opportunity for the Scheduling Committee the ability to address the vacation bidding/trading system. Please remember that Seattle’s Vacation Open Time begins on October 28th at 2:00PM. 

Martin, Grant (Manager, Crew Scheduling) & IT are working together to add more preferences to the Open Time text alerts. At minimum, we would like to see pairing length and report time added to the preferences. 

Please remember to email sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org for your scheduling related questions!

Martin Vance – LEC Chairperson

Rita Tillou – LEC Vice Chairperson

http://afaalaska.org/sea

Council 19 Communications Update

 

Did you know that Council 19 has a Facebook page? Like it today to start receiving up to date information through your Facebook feed! Click the link below and like us!

https://www.facebook.com/AFA-Council-19-Seattle-538630496190284/?fref=ts

 facebook

 

Do you have the AFA Application downloaded to your IMD? Its easy to download:

  1. Open Safari and type afaalaska.org into the address bar
  2. Click the center icon at the bottom of the screen (arrow pointing up inside a square)
  3. Click “add to home screen”
  4. Click “add” in the right corner

 

get-the-application-copy

LEC President Quarterly Update

July 2016 – September 2016

Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

Welcome to Council 19’s LEC President 3rd quarter update. This update is designed to inform and educate the members of the work done by their elected AFA Officers and volunteer committee members. We hope you find this update to be helpful and informative.

This quarter Council 19 is updating how the local AFA committees communicate their updates to you. Starting this week each LEC committee chair will share their updates via the newsletter system and post on Council 19s page at afaalaska.org. For Facebook users, this information will also publish to the Council 19 Facebook page. To find the Council 19 Facebook page follow the link:

https://www.facebook.com/AFA-Council-19-Seattle-538630496190284/

To invite your friends, go to your own personal page, on top you will see the “search” field and type AFA Council 19 Seattle (after you have liked it). On the right side you will see “Invite People to Like this Page” and you can invite people from your friends list.

3rd Quarter Update

The dates below list various meetings, trainings, and local council work performed by one or more of the LEC Officers, Council Representatives, Grievance Chairs, and local committee members.

July 11 ADR:

  What is ADR?

            Alternate Dispute Resolution is a meeting established to review concerns with management on a variety of issues that affect Flight Attendants. The desire is to resolve the issues and alleviate filing grievances.

July 11 AFA 101

Training provided by MEC Vice President, Brian Palmer, for new committee members.

July 14 Grievance meeting

  What is a Grievance meeting?

 Grievance Committee member attends a meeting with FA and management

July 18/19 MEC meeting

  What is an MEC meeting?

The Master Executive Council (MEC) is comprised of the 3 MEC Officers, MEC President, MEC Vice President, and MEC Secretary and the 5 elected Local Executive Council Presidents (LEC) from each base. Each month the MEC meets to address concerns, discuss current topics affecting each base and the AFA committees, and review latest updates/issues from management.

July 19 Inflight Service Committee (ISC) quarterly meeting

MEC/LEC ISC Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues.

July 21 Scheduling meeting/ASHSC meeting/Grievance meeting

MEC Scheduling meeting: MEC/LEC Scheduling Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues.

Air, Safety, Health and Security Committee (ASHSC) meeting: MEC/LEC Safety, Health, and Security Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues.

July 22/23 LEC President flying

July 25 ADR

July 26 LEC P/Leadership development conference call.

LEC President is a member of the AFA International Leadership Development Committee

July 27 AFA introduction to New Hire Class

MEC President, Jeff Peterson, and MEC Reserve Chair, Jarod McNeill meet with the new hire class and introduce/explain AFA to them.

July 28 SEA Benefits committee meeting

Members of the Seattle benefits committee and LEC Officers met to discuss current topics and issues.

July 28 MEC Conference Call

Members of the MEC connect on various issues via conference calls when issues arise last minute.

Aug 3 Grievance meeting

Aug 4 Grievance meeting

Aug 8 ADR

Aug 15/16 MEC meeting/Labor Leaders

For this MEC meeting LEC Secretary, Linda Christou, attended due to LEC President’s vacation.

What is Labor Leaders?

AFA, and other AS labor groups, meet with Alaska executive management to discuss current and upcoming trends/issues/changes.

Aug 17 Grievance meeting/FA graduation

Members of the Reserve committee and LEC Officer group attend the graduation ceremony.

Aug 18 Scheduling meeting/New Hire Orientation

New Hire Graduation and Seattle Base Orientation. SEA Council Rep, Adam Clarey, and LEC Reserve Chair, Carole Babcock, (or designee) attend new hire orientation.

Sept 1 Grievance meeting

Sept 6 ADR

Sept 9 Quarterly Reserve meeting

MEC/LEC Reserve Chair(s) meet with management to discuss current concerns and address issues

Sept 12-15 Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP) Baltimore, Maryland

LEC President, LEC Secretary, and EAP committee attend conference. 43 total Alaska employees attended, including Ron Calvin. Alaska and AFA are discussing the creation of a “return to work” program for FAs who have drug/alcohol work related issues.

Sept 19-21 AFA Leadership Conference, Orlando, Florida

LEC President and LEC Secretary attend conference. The purpose of the conference to is train officers in multiple areas: Conflict resolution, emerging technologies, and mentoring, public speaking, facilitating effective meetings, and fighting empathy.

Sept 21 AFA introduction to New Hire Class

Sept 22 ADR

Sept 26 SEA LEC Officer and LEC Chair meeting

Seattle LEC Officers and LEC Chairs meet quarterly to discuss current committee issues, trends, and concerns.

Sept 27 SEA Government Affairs base walk/Semi Annual Hotel meeting

Get out the Vote campaign led by LEC Government Affairs Chair, Kris Hall, and attended by committee members Adam Clarey and Bev Bullock along with MEC Government Affairs Chair, Krystle Berry.

Members of the AFA Hotel committee, including MEC Chair Laura Hinojosa and MEC Vice Chair/LEC Chair Jodi Snow, meet with management and API to discuss hotel issues.

Sept 28-29 MEC meeting

This packed MEC agenda included meetings with the scheduling committee and management to review/discuss vacation-bidding problems. The MEC also met with Andy Schneider and Ron Calvin to discuss current concerns.

Sept 29 Scheduling meeting

Members of the scheduling meeting worked with management to address vacation-bidding issues. The committee was very helpful addressing the problems with the system and expressing flight attendant concerns with the new program.

LEC President, Laura Masserant, travel schedule for this quarter:

In Greece July 1-14, August 1-14.

Vacation August 15-30.

In Seattle July 14-August 1, September 7 through November 10th.

As always, if you have any questions please contact any of your LEC Officers, Council Representatives or Committee Chairs.

The LEC President, Laura Masserant, does not bid a line, but attempts to fly on weekends when her schedule allows, and spends most days running the council’s day-to-day* business. The Vice President, Jake Jones, who is also the MEC Scheduling Chair, does not bid a line but does pick up flying on the weekend, on days off, when his schedule allows. He spends the majority of his time at the Flight Ops building between the AFA office and his desk upstairs with Crew Scheduling management.

Secretary/Treasurer, Linda Christou, bids a line and attends to AFA work during and between trips. Council Representative, Adam Clarey bids a full line of time and attends to AFA work during and between trips. Council Representative Stephanie Adams is currently off on no bid due to her MEC Grievance Representative position and work she attends on behalf of Council 19. When the LEC President is unavailable the Vice President and Secretary attend meetings, if necessary. Most of the work done on behalf of the LEC Officers is via emails, phone calls, and text messages.

            *Please note that each Officer, on a daily basis, can receive up to 20 emails, multiple phone calls, text messages, and visits in the AFA office from Flight Attendants with questions, comments, and concerns in addition to the meetings we attend. The LEC President can receive more than 30 emails per day from various sources.

The following message is from Heather Healy, Director of the AFA EAP Program and Manager of the Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP).  If you have questions about EAP or the FADAP Program, feel free to contact Heather at the telephone number below or reach out to your Local EAP Committee.  You can find contact information for your EAP Committee Members at http://afaalaska.org/eap.

If today, you are currently a Flight Attendant and in recovery from alcohol and/or drug abuse, please consider completing this short 9-question survey.  Your answers are completely anonymous. You can skip any questions you don’t want to answer.

Click here to access the Flight Attendant in Recovery Survey

The purpose of this survey is to collect data on the value of supporting Flight Attendants through the recovery and return to work process. Your answers could help Flight Attendants still struggling with their substance use. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Please don’t hesitate to call me with any concerns or questions.

Sincerely,

Heather Healy
Director of AFA EAP and Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program Manager
(800) 424-2406

AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to expand the provision of 8.S [Natural Disasters…] in response to Hurricane Matthew. Affected cities now include:

  • Charleston (CHS),
  • Orlando (MCO), and
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL).

The provisions of 8.S remain in effect until such time when Alaska Airlines is able to resume normal operations to the affected areas.

If you have any questions, contact one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers or Scheduling Committee members.

In solidarity,

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC Scheduling Chairperson Jake Jones

SEA Domicile Negotiations Update – February 2026

This message is for pre-merger Hawaiian Flight Attendants SEA Domicile May Vacancy Posting The company has posted vacancies for the SEA domicile. There are 121 permanent vacancies available, effective May 1, 2026 for the May bid month. Bids will close at 11:59 PM HT on Monday, February 16. Awards will be posted by 12:00 PM […]

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee Meeting Recap – January 2026

On Wednesday, January 28, our AFA Local Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Chairpersons met to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Deb Wallstrom (ANC), David Lake (SEA), Kalin Lackey (PDX), Brad Young (SFO & MEC ASHSC Vice […]

AFA Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Town Hall: Join Us Tuesday, March 3

This is your opportunity to connect, share, and be heard! Join us at an AFA Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Town Hall on Tuesday, March 3. Get the latest AFA news and connect directly with our MEC Officers. Bring your questions—this is your chance to get answers directly from AFA Representatives. The Details What: AFA Alaska + […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – January 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, January 27, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met virtually to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), […]

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February 1 marks the start of Black History Month in the United States—a vibrant celebration with roots dating back to 1925, when acclaimed historian Carter G. Woodson first introduced “Negro History Week” to highlight the remarkable achievements of Black individuals. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford expanded it to Black History Month, calling on all […]

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