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Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

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Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

Due to Vacation Open Time date change, we have decided to cancel the LEC Base Virtual meeting tomorrow and will reschedule the meeting for December 7, 2016.

The meeting will be held at the same time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm.

Also, we have received feedback from members that they would also like to attend the meeting in person. Your officers will try to accommodate this request and find a place to host both an in-person and virtual meeting.

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to seeing you next month!

Annual Benefits Enrollment

AFA Base Sits

Annual Benefits Enrollment is here ~ October 31 to November 16th. This is the time to double check your plan details, make changes, and choose a plan that is right for you and your family. You can also make HSA & FSA contributions and sign up for Optional Short Term Disability coverage. Go to myalaskabenefits.com for more information on your plan and upcoming premiums for 2017.

Your Seattle AFA Benefits Committee will be holding Base Sits in the Inflight Office to provide any assistance you may need or answer questions you might have.  Here are the dates and times:
November 10th – 5:00 am – 1:00pm
November 13th – 6:00 am – 2:00 pm
November 15th – 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
November 16th – 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
You may also reach out to your SEA LEC Benefits Committee Vice-Chairs by phone, text, or email:
Kathy O’Malley @ 425-238-8219 or BenefitsAssist@hotmail.com
Terry Taylor @ 425-941-7579  or tltfa@aol.com

Members of your Master Executive Council (MEC) and Alaska Airlines management met earlier today to review the problems with Vacation Open Time trading and to address Flight Attendants’ frustrations and concerns with the system.

After several hours of troubleshooting with the IT department, the parties have agreed to re-open Vacation Open Time trading beginning Wednesday, November 2nd at the same published times for each domicile:

  • SAN – 9am PDT
  • PDX – 10am PDT
  • ANC – 11am PDT (10am local)
  • LAX – 12pm PDT
  • SEA – 2pm PDT

You will be able to log into the vacation trading site beginning at 12:01am on November 2nd to view open vacation days and to split/merge vacation slots in preparation for Vacation Open Time trading opening. Actual trades will not be processed until the published opening time.

Management has agreed to honor all successful Vacation Open Time trades that occurred on Friday prior to pulling down the system. At AFA’s request, management will also restore Vacation Open Time availability to the same levels they were prior to the Friday start. If you are planning to trade into or out of the first five days of January, management will still allow those days to be traded for at least 24 hours before restricting the days in order to accommodate PBS bids.

However, the MEC continues to recognize these accommodations do not make up for TFP lost due to wasted schedule adjustments, for restoring open vacation days nor for lost opportunity for those who cannot adjust their schedules to be available for trading on November 2nd. We will be connecting with management tomorrow to further address these unresolved issues.

The MEC will provide another update after that meeting.

In Solidarity,

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

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) and management have been in contact throughout the day regarding the challenges with Vacation Open Time trading. At this time the parties have tentatively agreed to re-open Vacation Open Time trading beginning Wednesday, November 2nd at the same published times for each domicile.

 

If you are planning to trade into or out of the first five days of January, management will still allow those days to be traded for at least 24 hours before restricting the days in order to accommodate PBS bids. Management has also committed to honor any vacation trades made prior to pulling down the system.

 

However, the MEC recognizes those accommodations do not come even close to making up for TFP lost due to wasted schedule adjustments or for restoring open vacation days. MEC officers will meet with management on Monday to address our members’ frustrations and concerns and to finalize the go forward plan.

 

The MEC will provide another update after that meeting.

 

In Solidarity,

 

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

Vacation Trading Issue

Due to log in problems associated with vacation trading, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has requested that management suspend vacation trading effective immediately. We are seeking to reset the vacation schedules and try again on a different day in the near future. 

LAX and SEA Vacation Open Time windows will not be open for trading today.

We understand this is an extreme inconvenience to those who adjusted their schedules in order to trade vacation days, but unfortunately the system is not working as anticipated. 

The MEC realizes that SAN, PDX, and ANC bases were affected by the technical issues, and we will address these issues with management.

Stand by for more information!

In Solidarity,

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

As the term of office for the current MEC officers will end on December 31, 2016, your Master Executive Council (MEC) conducted interviews this week for the upcoming MEC Officer term.  We would like to thank the candidates who expressed a willingness to serve and interviewed for the positions.

In accordance with the AFA-CWA Constitution and Bylaws, each of the five Local Executive Council (LEC) Presidents is afforded one vote for each officer position.  After thorough deliberation, the LEC Presidents have elected the following candidates:

MEC President Jeffrey Peterson

Jeffrey Peterson grew up in Anchorage, AK, and graduated from A.J. Dimond High in south Anchorage.  Jeff achieved a Presidential Scholar Award in 1991 and went on to attain a BA in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego.  Prior to becoming a Flight Attendant, he spent several years in hotel management working for Marriott International and a franchise company associated with Marriott Hotels.  He started out his Flight Attendant career in 1999 in the Los Angeles domicile.  Jeff has also been based in Seattle and now San Diego.  He has served as AFA-CWA Alaska MEC President since July 1, 2011, and this will be his third term of office.  Jeff currently splits his time between his family’s condo in Puerto Vallarta and the AFA office in Seattle.

MEC Vice President Brian Palmer

Brian started his career with Alaska Airlines as a Flight Attendant in 2006.  Initially based in Anchorage, he also spent time based in Los Angeles and Portland, and is currently based in Seattle.  Brian first became involved in AFA work in 2009 as a member of the Council 39 Portland Reserve Committee when he became frustrated with the quality of life that he and other reserve Flight Attendants were experiencing.  He went on to serve as Council 39 Reserve Chairperson and LEC Vice President.  Brian was first elected MEC Vice President in January 2014 and is honored to have been reelected to a second term of office.

Prior to his career as a Flight Attendant, Brian held various leadership positions in the hotel and retail banking industries.  He currently splits his time between Atlanta and the Seattle area.

MEC Secretary-Treasurer Linda Christou

Linda has been with Alaska Airlines since 1980.  She started out as a Union volunteer and became more involved by joining the Council 19 Seattle Inflight Service Committee and was eventually appointed Local Chairperson of the committee. While serving on that committee, Linda had a desire to do more to help and subsequently ran for and was elected Council 19 LEC Secretary.  Linda has served in that role, along with being a Grievance Representative, since July 2011.  She is very excited to start her new position as MEC Secretary-Treasurer and looks forward to serving all of our Members.

Prior to being with Alaska, Linda attended Green River Community College and had an emphasis in Political Science which is what drew her to get involved with Union work.  Outside of work, Linda enjoys spinning and gardening.  She also enjoys cooking, entertaining, and collecting wine with her husband.  Linda also enjoys volunteer work, focusing on raising money for The Moyer Foundation, which is a foundation for “children in distress”.

The newly elected MEC Officers will serve a three-year term of office from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019.  More information about their duties and responsibilities can be found in the AFA Constitution and Bylaws and the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual

In Solidarity,

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

Council 19 Membership Committee Update

The Seattle base now has over 2055 flight attendants…can you believe that??

Please remember that all AFA dues are deducted from the 20th paycheck and those dues are for the current month, not the previous month (like your flying).  If you didn’t fly enough or if you are on a leave and not coordinating sick leave/vacation, or you are coordinating but do not have enough TFP to cover everything that is deducted, you will owe dues.

If you have moved it is important to update your information with AFA. When you update this information with Alaska the change it not automatic with AFA. Also, if you have changed your email you need to update this information. You can update with AFA International by going to http://www.afacwa.org/change_of_address

Did you know that not one penny of your dues is used towards any political agenda.  Donating to Flight Pac is what helps causes that better our working environment for our profession.

Over the past 3 years 97% of the Seattle members have paid their dues and our Council has been recognized for this achievement and we thank you for fulfilling your obligation to pay your union dues! The majority of the monthly budget covers pay for local work done on behalf of your local council AFA committee members and hotels for committee trainings.

If you ever have any questions about your dues please feel free to call or email me at 206-409-0354 or at linda.christou@afaalaska.org

Council 19 LEC Committee Chairperson: Linda Christou

http://afaalaska.org/sea

http://afaalaska.org/membership

Council 19 Retirement Committee Update

The method of paying the Administrative Charges for the 401(k) plan have changed, as was noted in the last Retirement Board meeting minutes last spring.  All plan participants have been notified, and a legal notice is available on the Vanguard website.  For some, although the fees were not transparent earlier, the fees will actually decrease.  The original method was a ‘sliding scale’ which was based on account balance.  The new plan is a flat $12/per participant each quarter.

Have you logged on to your Vanguard account? It’s easy to do and everyone should know how to monitor their allocations, make changes, and track their retirement accounts.

Log on to Alaskasworld/Benefits/Retirement to view the retirement website. There is helpful information located on this page that you should review.
Locate Vanguard.com to log on to your 401(k) account.
There is a new feature that allows you to increase your 401(k) allocation each year.
Are you considering retirement? Please review the information listed on the Retirement page on Alaskasworld and contact your AFA Retirement committee with any questions!

Council 19 LEC Committee Chairperson: Tim Roddy

http://afaalaska.org/sea

http://afaalaska.org/retirement

MEC Officer Interviews

MEC Officer Interviews will be held during the MEC Meeting October 24th-26th. MEC Officers serve a three year term.  We will be interviewing candidates who expressed interest in holding one of the MEC officer positions for the upcoming term of January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019.

Position Candidate(s)
MEC President Jeffrey Peterson
MEC Vice President Brian Palmer
Kelly Letourneau
MEC Secretary/Treasurer Linda Christou

The five Councils will be represented at the MEC Meeting and will each cast one vote for each position.

LEC President Laura Masserant will represent Council 19 at the October MEC Meeting.

Please email  Laura.Masserant@afaalaska.org with any comments.

The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council is passing along this important message from our International officers as a service to our members who had their primary residence impacted by Hurricane Matthew. Please note the AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Fund is open to contributions either by check or electronic payment. Information on how to make a donation is now available at www.afacwa.org.

afa-cwa-disaster-relief-fund-logo

Help from the AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Fund For Hurricane Matthew

We know that disasters can change lives forever. While we can’t stop destructive events from happening, we can, as a Union, assist our members with their recovery. AFA established the disaster relief fund after September 11th to assist our members whose lives were placed in harms way. AFA members and retirees, whose primary residence is in the counties listed below and who have suffered damage and/or dislocation, are eligible for $200.00 from the AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Fund. It is a gift made possible by the generosity of your fellow union sisters and brothers with AFA.

Florida Counties: Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia.

Georgia Counties: Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, McIntosh, and Wayne.

North Carolina Counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Pender, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson.

South Carolina Counties: Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, Lee, Marion, Orangeburg, Sumter and Williamsburg.

If you would like to apply for AFA-CWA Disaster Relief Funds, download the Disaster Relief Fund Application and fax it to the International AFA EAP Department at 202-434-1411 or mail it to AFA-CWA EAP Department, 501 Third Street NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001-2797.   You can also e-mail this same information to lfoster@afanet.org or phone in the necessary information to 1-800-424-2406.

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to AFA members affected by Hurricane Matthew and their families during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Sara Nelson, International President

Debora Sutor, International Vice-President

Kevin Creighan, International Secretary-Treasurer

afa-cwa-application-for-disaster-relieve-fund

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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