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On March 22, 2017 at 9am (pst) the polls open 

for 

Council 19 Officer Elections.

 

If you didn’t receive a nomination ballot, make sure you verify your mailing address with AFA International:

http://www.afacwa.org/change_of_address *

* You may verify your mailing address by following the link above, but ballots have already been mailed to the current address on file. Changing your mailing address using the link will not send another ballot to the new address. If you have not received your voting instructions by March 22, 2017, see “Credentials for Voting” below.

Also, you can call to verify your voting credentials:

Credentials for Voting
If you have not received your Voting Instructions by March 22, 2017, please contact the AFA Ballot Helpline at 1-800-424-2401 EXT 706 (press 1 then 706). If the call is not answered, please leave a message. All calls received by 5 pm ET will be returned the same day.

The AFA Ballot Helpline can provide you with a new 16-digit activation code. This will allow you to enter the voting system and cast your vote. The 16-digit code will be sent via email along with instructions for voting via the internet or telephone.

When calling to obtain a new 16-digit activation code please verify your email address and current status with AFA. If you must leave a message, please make sure you leave your name, airline, employee ID & telephone number along with your email address. The email should be in your inbox however be sure to check your spam/junk folder just in case.

Final list of candidates for the upcoming Council 19 Election:

Polls Close April 11, 2017 at 12:00 (pst). Make sure you cast your votes!

 

Earlier today, the National Mediation Board (NMB) responded to AFA’s application to have the board investigate whether Alaska Airlines and Virgin America are operating as a single transportation system for the craft or class of Flight Attendant. The NMB ruled that the carriers are indeed a single transportation system.

The NMB will now address Flight Attendant representation at each carrier, and AFA is expecting to be declared the representing union at both carriers shortly after a 30-day waiting period. Until then, the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) will continue to serve as the representative for the Inflight Teammates (ITMs) at Virgin America.

Once AFA represents the Virgin America ITMs, it will be appropriate for us to establish communications and a leadership structure pursuant to the AFA Constitution & Bylaws. We will then proceed to the next steps in the merger process. AFA will provide another update once the NMB rules on representation.

If you are a Virgin America ITM or an Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant, you may sign up for AFA Alaska electronic newsletters by clicking here.

In Solidarity,

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

AFA has become aware that the combi that was being used as a freighter these past few weeks is actually contracted by Fed Ex.  We reached out to management with our findings and have been working with them to get all of this figured out.  Here is what we know at this time:

  • Fed Ex has contracted Alaska Airlines to provide freight service for a period of time (not yet confirmed by management).
  • This flying appears to be operating 6 days/week (everyday except Saturday).
  • This flying was originally being placed into OT and picked up, but management has agreed this is a Charter and will be placing it out to be bid in First Class.  These trips is still visible in OT, but can’t be picked up any longer as they now have a charter designation.
  • For those FAs who do not have access to First Class, CS will accept an email sent to FA.Charter.Bids@firstclass.alaskaair.com.  Look for a communication from CS with the information/format that should be included in the email when bidding for the Charter.
  • Those who have previously flown this pairing will be paid charter pay for the trip(s) they flew.
  • For the remainder of March, CS will place the pairing into First Class to be bid a week at a time as this is when the information feeds into their system.
  • For the month of April AFA has requested all the flying be built and placed into First Class for the entire month to be bid and awarded accordingly as it is being indicated this pairing can’t be put into Navtech for April bids.
  • Tracey and her team continue to work to help us find out information about this flying and will be putting out some instructions relating to checking-in and parking for this Charter.

We know this situation is less than ideal, and we will continue to research and ask for clarification, information and details on this flying.  We will also continue to request this flying be built and placed into the bid packet as outlined contractually.

In Solidarity,

Your LEC Officers

Welcome to the March edition of your Local Council 30 Newsletter, Arctic Ascent!

This monthly newsletter has important dates, ANC FAQs, Inflight Service changes, Reserve and Scheduling tips, and other information we hope will help you on line.

Dates:

March 30th,
11:30am – 3:00pm

Pairings Discussion

Alaska Airlines Regional Headquarters
 April 7th,
10:00am-1:00pm

Bidding 101

 Alaska Airlines Regional Headquarters

 May 5th,
1) 9:30am-12:30pm
2) 1:00pm-4:00pm

 Bidding Tutorials:
1) Bidding 101
2) Beyond the Basics		 Alaska Airlines Regional Headquarters

May 8th,
10:00am-1:00pm

Local Council 30 Meeting

Alaska Airlines Regional Headquarters

FAQs:

Sida Badge Clarification:

  • You must clear TSA screening when you are deadheading.
  • You must clear TSA screening when you are non-reving, jumpseating, meeting a flight, or shopping/eating in the airport.
  • You may only access the secure area with your SIDA badge when you are working crew (not DHD).

Text Notifications:

  • Council 30 now has Text Notifications! This bulletin explains how to sign up.

Charter – Combi as Freighter

  •  CS would prefer you bid for the Charter in First Class. If you can’t use First Class, send an email as discussed in info bulletin 2017-0039.

Inflight Service:

Straws added to First Class. Use straws if possible; they are cheaper than pokies!

Extra chocolates added to EWR, ORD, and DCA flights.

Icy Bay IPA replaced Fremont IPA this month.

Crew price for Pringles and M&Ms now added to BOB app.

Ramekins for salad dressing  added to Hawaii and TransCon flights.

First class meal ratios changed to 70% meat, 30% vegetarian.

Send catering feedback to Catering.Feedback@alaskaair.com, CC Betsy Demay.

Reserve:

The Reserve Self-Assignment timeline in ANC has been fixed. Reserve Self-Assignment is now contractual, 10:00am-2:00pm PT or 9:00am-1:00pm AKST the day prior to an assignment.

  • A patch for Crew Access fixed Self-Assign for APSB; you no longer call CS.
  • Self-Assigned APSB do not count toward maximum four from CBA § 11.F.14.
  • You are still contactable during normal hours after Self-Assigning a trip.
  • Your Self-Assigned trip may only be changed for operational necessity.
    • Please notify Matt Cook if your trip is changed so he may monitor.

The tentative timeline for posting/trading/splitting reserve on Crew Access is April.

Don’t forget: check your Alaska email at the end of every trip for further assignments!

If you have any Reserve questions or concerns, please email Matt Cook.

Scheduling:

Because of pairing number issues, April bids are extended to March 11th at 9:00 PT.

Due to changes in active FAs for April, the posted line average is 78.0, not 76.5.

CS turned off updates to phone calendars because of the multitude of discrepancies.

  • The calendar will not update until IT has resolved various issues.
  • In the meantime, view your schedule on Crew Access>Roster or Calendar.

Print and view your trip easily by clicking the Trip Number hyperlink in your Roster.

The new bidding system is anticipated to begin use in July for August bids.

  • There will be a three month overlap/parallel bid with both systems.
  • More details will be sent as we get closer to the launch.

We return to our contractual Trading Timeline this month:

Posting Trips:
14th @ 1900 AKST
(2000 PST)

FA – FA Trades:
15th @ 1000 AKST
(1100 PST)

OT & Recurrent Trades:
15th @ 1000 AKST
(1100 PST)

There was an issue with the pairing numbers in Navtech PBS that impacted some of the bases and required a fix.  It is our understanding this did not impact the ANC pairings.  That being said, it is still a good idea to double check your bids if you entered any pairing numbers in you bid for April.  As a result of this issue, the bidding window will now be extended and will close on March 11th at 0900 PT.

In Solidarity,

Your Local Council 30 Officers and Scheduling Committee

Given the complications inherent in communication with our mobile workgroup, we have a new way to help stay in touch and keep you informed. You may now subscribe for optional text message alerts from your local LEC Officers and Chairpersons. This is a great way for us to send important information to you quickly, without the hassle of social media or email.

We will not overwhelm you with texts, and again, it’s completely optional. All the information we share through text will still be available on AFAAlaska.org, the Anchorage Council 30 Facebook page, and in our regular emails.

The enrollment process is easy; just send a text message from your personal phone:

  • Open your text messaging application
  • In the “send to” field enter 81010
  • In the body of the text enter @ANC30
  • Press send

You will receive a reply asking you to enter your full name. Once you send your name, you will receive a text from a number for Lisa Pinkston and a number for Justin Wetherell. You may save both numbers in your phone. Most text notifications will come from your Communications Chairperson – Media, Justin Wetherell.

We are borrowing this free technology from school districts, so please ignore the question asking if you are student, parent, or teacher. Also, disregard the link to download the Remind app on your phone. You do not need the app to receive texts.

We hope you like our new service. Send feedback and questions to Justin Wetherell. Please help us spread the word and get your fellow crew signed up!

In Solidarity,

Your Council 30 LEC Officers and Communications Chairperson – Media

Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

We have been hearing from a great number of you that you would like the ability to receive updates and/or important information in a quicker form other then email or going to the Alaska AFA webpage. We have been keeping a close eye on a text service that SAN and LAX implemented a few weeks ago, and we are impressed with what we have seen so far.
Starting now, Seattle will be offering the same service. Please note, we will not text you with “every little item”. We will try to limit the amount of texts that we send for issues that we feel are of a higher importance. Please remember that this service is completely optional. All information that we share via this text service will still be available at http://afaalaska.org, our regular emails and our Facebook page.
The enrollment process is easy, just follow the directions below:
  • Open your text messaging application
  • In the “send to” field, enter 81010
  • In the body of the text enter @sea19
  • Press send

 

You will receive a reply asking you to enter your full name. Once you send your name, you will receive a text stating that you have joined “Alaska AFA Council 19”. If you ever want to stop receiving the texts, simply reply @leave and you will no longer receive them.
Please note, we are are borrowing this free technology that is made available primarily to school districts and there is no cost to AFA to use it. Please disregard if it asks you if you are a student, parent or teacher. Also, it may ask you to download the Remind app to your phone, you do not need this to receive the text messages.
We hope you like this new optional service. Please let us know what you think by emailing sea@afaalaska.org.
In Solidarity,
Your Council 19 LEC Officers and Jarod McNeill, Communications

Cancelled! 

Meet the Candidates Forum 

March 29th, 2017

Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Meet the Candidates Forum on March 29th, 2017, is cancelled.

However, you still have several ways to contact candidates and ask questions:

1. Many of the candidates have an election Facebook page,

2. Candidates have an opportunity to send out their campaign letter via the AFA Newsletter system,

3. You may find candidates in the airport handing out campaign literature,

4. You can always directly contact candidates and ask questions.

Remember, polls open March 22, 2017 and close April 11, 2017 and once you vote you cannot change it!

Make sure you take the time to educate yourself on the candidates and remember to VOTE!

In solidarity,

Council 19 LEC Officers

Open Time negotiations this week

The AFA Negotiating Committee (NC) and Alaska Airlines management met again February 28-March 1, 2017, in Portland to negotiate a new Open Time system. As you may recall, our current open time system was implemented on a trial basis. AFA chose to end the trial, which put us into negotiations for a new system. Our contract states that we will revert “Back to Book,” which was the Open Time system in effect under the previous contract. For information, see “Back to Book” following the signature block below.

Meanwhile, the parties will negotiate a new system. However, this cannot be accomplished until some computer programming is done, which may take several months. The current system remains in effect until then.

We are very close to reaching a tentative agreement

The NC is pleased to report that we are very close to reaching a tentative agreement (TA) with management. Both sides have worked hard to create an Open Time system that is easier to understand than the current one, gives Flight Attendants more schedule flexibility and does not negatively impact the operation. The parties will meet again on April 18th in Seattle, and we hope to be able to announce a TA after that session.

Master Executive Council approval, membership ratification and roadshows

If everything goes according to plan, the NC will present the Open Time TA to the Master Executive Council (MEC) at the scheduled meeting April 25-26. The Local Executive Council (LEC) presidents will vote whether or not to accept the TA for membership ratification. If the MEC approves the TA for membership ratification, all members in good standing (dues current) will have the right to vote on it. Assuming the TA is approved by the MEC for a membership vote, the NC is anticipating roadshows sometime during the month of May.

The Negotiating Committee thanks you for your support and patience, and we hope to see you at a roadshow somewhere around the system in May!

In Solidarity,

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

 

Back to Book

AFA has received several requests from our members to refresh the group on the “Back to Book” provisions. We are definitely intending to put together a membership release dedicated to that topic as soon as we get a chance. As you can imagine, the Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) cutover and the subsequent fallout has kept AFA busier than usual. If you would like to familiarize yourself with “Back to Book,” refer to Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) §12 Exchange of Sequences: Back to Book, which follows the regular CBA §12 of your contract; most of the related provisions are in CBA (BTB) §12.F [Trades with Open Time]. See also AFA Grievance No. 36-99-02-18-11 “Withholding Open Time Award” at the back of the contract immediately following LOA 6 [Contract Implementation Schedule].

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 2nd Quarter 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Thursday, June 4, representatives from our pre-merger Alaska AFA Reserve Committee met to discuss ongoing work advocating for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Conner Gallager (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Kanako Yamada (LAX), Adrian Alcantara (SAN), and MEC Reserve Committee Vice Chairperson—New Hire […]

Joint Contract Negotiations Session 15 – June 2026

The JNC has been actively negotiating key sections of the contract, focusing on vacation, sick leave, and temporary duty assignments. A tentative agreement was reached on Section 37 (Temporary Duty Assignments), ensuring financial protections and fair treatment for Flight Attendants during temporary assignments. These ongoing discussions demonstrate a commitment to integrating the best benefits from both Alaska and Hawaiian CBAs for all members.

Celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month

Every June, we come together to honor LGBTQ Pride Month in the United States—a time to celebrate the remarkable resilience, diversity, and achievements of the LGBTQ community. Pride Month began as a tribute to the Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan in 1969, a pivotal moment that ignited the modern LGBTQ rights movement. The inaugural Pride March, […]

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

On Wednesday, May 20, our Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) representatives met virtually to discuss ongoing safety concerns, operational challenges, policy updates, and workplace improvements impacting Flight Attendants across the operation. Representing you at the meeting were Deb Wallstrom (ANC), David Lake (SEA), Kalin Lackey (PDX), Bradley Young (SFO), Bryce Sarmiento (LAX pmAS), […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – May 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, May 26, 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 Rebekah Olds (ANC), Rita Tillou (SEA), Melodie Anderes (PDX), […]

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