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After ten years of service in his position, Portland-based flight attendant Jeff Stein is retiring from his position as AFA Pairing Analyst. Consequently the Master Executive Council (MEC) is in search of qualified individuals interested in becoming the new AFA Pairing Analyst. This is in addition to the Scheduling Chairperson position previously announced several weeks ago (that is now closed and interviews scheduled for next week).

Background

  • The official title in the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual for the AFA Pairing Analyst is MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction. The Pairing Analyst is chairperson of the Pairing Construction Subcommittee. See below for additional information.
  • The pairings in our bid packets are “optimized” (usually for least cost) and built using a computer program designed by Jeppessen.
  • Currently our pairing building vendor Jeppessen produces pairings remotely in Montreal with input from Alaska Airlines and AFA. Efforts are currently underway to migrate pairing production “in house.”

Additional Background from the AFA Alaska MEC Policy Manual

4. PAIRING CONSTRUCTION SUBCOMMITTEE

a.Scope

(i)        The Pairing Construction Subcommittee will work with the company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to build Flight Attendant pairings

b. Policy/Responsibilities

(i)        The Pairing Construction Subcommittee shall consist of the MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson—Pairing Construction.

(ii)       The Subcommittee shall:

(A)       Regularly communicate with and provide updates to the MEC Scheduling Chairperson on the activities of the subcommittee

(B)       Meet on a monthly basis with the Company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to review problems and suggested resolutions regarding construction of Flight Attendant pairings and monthly lines of flying.

(C)       Maintain a permanent file for all local schedules for the use of the MEC Scheduling Committee.

(D)       Keep the MEC informed on all activities relating to the pairing construction process.  When meetings or communications are due to unusual scheduling activities, a written report will be made.

(E)       Keep the membership informed of the results of the pairing construction process on a monthly basis throught the MEC Communications Committee Chairperson.

(F)       Solicit feedback from the membership regarding desired pairings, trip lengths, and types of flying through Local Scheduling Committees and advocate for such during the pairing construction process.

(G)       Discuss any problems occurring within the pairing construction process with the Local Scheduling Committee Chairpersons on a monthly basis and will provide any suggestions for remedy of problems to the MEC.

Skillset/Requirements

  • Strong computer skills are a must.
  • Ability to independently meet several deadlines throughout the month.
  • Potentially frequent travel to Seattle for training and meetings. However, duties may generally be fulfilled remotely.

Duties

  • Review, validate and comment on the monthly pairing solutions.
  • Write a monthly pairings report.
  • Correspond with flight attendants regarding pairing solutions and related concerns.
  • Advocate for flight attendants in the pairing building process.

Time Commitment

  • Estimated 20-30 hours per month, most of which may be accomplished remotely.
  • The time commitment for the position has varied between 10-21 hours/month in the past 6 months, with an average of approximately 16 hours/month. This is likely to increase for the near future.

Compensation

  • This is a paid position compensated by the Company under 27.P Company Business (CB) Flight Pay Loss with a 5% override and “A” pay. CB is compensated at 0.75 TFP per hour of work.
  • Flight Pay Loss for this position has averaged 12 TFP per bid month over the past six months. However, once pairing building is brought back in house, the process is likely to become more complicated and therefore time consuming for at least a period of time.

Reporting Structure

  • Directly reports to the Scheduling Committee Chairperson, who in turn reports to the MEC.

Interested?

  • The MEC will hold Interviews on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Bid around the interview date or arrange to adjust your schedule accordingly to accommodate.
  • Interviews will be at the AFA Alaska MEC office in Seattle. Our office is located in the Alaska Airlines Flight Operations and Training Center, Suite 280 at 2651 S 192nd St, Seattle, WA 98188.
  • Submit a declaration of interest and resume to MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch at yvette.gesch@afaalaska.org no later than February 20, 2015. Yvette will be able to provide additional information regarding transportation and booking of flights if necessary.

 

* * *

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

MEC 5B Logo

Friday, February 6, 2015 @ 1030 PT

Incorrect pairings file requires a completely system shutdown and reload

 

Due to an inadvertent error, the incorrect pairings file was loaded into Navtech’s PBS. A complete system shutdown is required in order to load the correct pairings file. This is anticipated to take approximately two hours.

 

Bidding will not resume until at least noon PT and bids will close 12 noon PT February 11th

 

Bidding will not resume until at least noon Pacific Time, so the close of bids will be extended (from the normal 9am PT on February 10th) to 12 noon PT on February 11th. At this time the Joint PBS Committee is anticipating that bid awards will still be on time despite the 24-hour extension to the closing of bids.

 

Pairing numbers and/or layover cities will change in some cases

 

Because the pairings file will be a different file, some pairing numbers and/or layover cities within the same pairing numbers will change. AFA recommends that you take a very close look at your bid prior to submitting it—particularly if you bid by pairing number.

 

More information forthcoming on Company media outlets

 

Please check the Company media outlets (Navtech’s PBS, Inflight Splash page, bulletins and/or Outlook email) for more information as it becomes available.

Unforeseen kink prohibiting automated JA trades…and a solution

 

As of this writing there have been twelve Junior Available (JA) assignments in Seattle for “Big Game” Sunday* under the new JA rules that went into effect yesterday. There has been an unforeseen kink in the ability to automatically post and trade JA assignments. The good news is that AFA and management have already developed a workaround until the issue can be resolved through automation.

 

“P” label prevents automated trades via eMaestro

 

JA’d flight attendants usually have a “P” label added to their position on the sequence, which indicates premium pay—now at 2.5x premium for JA. New labels are being developed for Premium Open Time. Unfortunately the “P” prevents eMaestro from allowing JA trips from being traded automatically, which would require that any FA wishing to trade a JA to call Crew Scheduling (CSKD) for assistance.

 

CSKD will remove the “P” label and F/As will use the “Comments” field until the process is automated

 

Going forward, CSKD will remove the “P” label when a JA is made and CSKD will add the label back in after the trip is flown so that the flight attendant is paid correctly. This will allow flight attendants to trade JAs. However, there will be no visible code to notify other flight attendants that the trip is JA so a flight attendant who posts a JA trip will need to use the free form “Comments” field for now. AFA suggests “JA 2.5x” or something similar.

 

No need to follow up with CSKD to replace “P” label but submit and Activity Claim Form as back up

 

There is no need to follow up with Crew Scheduling even if the trip is traded because CSKD has the ability to track the pairing’s history. AFA recommends flight attendants fill out an Activity Claim Form as a back up in order to ensure proper payment. Currently there is no “2.5x” field on the Activity Claim Form, so flight attendants will use the “Other” field for now. AFA will follow up to ensure the Activity Claim Form is updated. Detailed instructions follow.

Activity Claim Form JA instructions

 

World of Inflight (http://asainflight.alaskaair.com) –> ‘Forms’ –> ‘Pay Forms’ –> ‘Activity Claim Form’. Fill in the “Other: (Trips/Dollars/Explain Below)” field with the appropriate TFP value at straight time and in the ‘Comments:’ field indicate “2.5x JA pay.” You must fill in the other required fields (base / flights / sequence / pay month / activity month / activity day) as appropriate.

 

***

 

In solidarity,

 

Your Contract Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

 

 

*AFA Alaska probably would not be violating any copyright laws by directly referring to today’s “Big Game” event by name (see http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/01/the-nfl-wants-you-to-think-these-things-are-illegal/ for one explanation). However in order to avoid a hassle, AFA is refraining from doing so because of popular misconception about such copyright restrictions. We also are avoiding a potential “cease and desist” letter from the National Football League. P.s. Go Hawks!

 

MEC 5B Logo

JA in Seattle: January 31, 2015

Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

It has come to the attention of your LEC Officers that JA’ing is occurring in our base today. Many of you may not have seen the earlier blast stipulating the new JA language is in effect today, January 31, 2015.

Please read Section 9 for more detailed information, but here are a few important points!

Junior Available (or Junior Assignment) (JA) — When a Flight Attendant is required to work on her/his //scheduled day off, or when Crew Scheduling assigns a Flight Attendant any additional flying after a completed scheduled sequence. Such additional flights or sequences must be legally scheduled. A Flight Attendant may be required to remain on duty after being JA’d at the completion of a sequence up to twelve hours and thirty minutes (12:30) for that duty period [See Arbitration number 48-98 (Knowlton 2/23/99)].

MEANS OF CONTACT FOR JA:

Flight Attendants may be contacted for JA duty by the following methods only:

When contacted in person on Company property or at the airport during scheduled duty on a scheduled day of work.

Telephone contact at the Flight Attendant’s primary contact number on file with Crew Scheduling after scheduled check-in for her/his sequence. Flight Attendants must provide a contact number to Crew Scheduling.

***Crew Scheduling will be placing the JA trip on the JA’d Flight Attendant’s schedule and will send an ACARS message for that Flight Attendant to call Crew Scheduling.

If the JA assignment will cause the Flight Attendant to go below twelve (12) minimum days off, or will not provide forty-eight (48) hours rest within seven (7) days, Crew Scheduling must inform the Flight Attendant and s/he may decline the assignment. If accepted, all pay provisions will apply to the JA assignment.

Remember, you can give away your JA assignment and the JA pay, 2.5x,  follows the trip!

Please reach out to your LEC Officers if you have any questions!

What goes into effect today, Saturday, January 31, 2015?

 

New Junior Assignment provisions

 

If the operation requires flight attendants to be Junior Assigned, Crew Scheduling will no longer call flight attendants at home in addition to JA’ing F/As on duty. JA will move exclusively to F/As on duty only in inverse seniority order of those legal for the assignment. If your phone rings and you are off duty, no more worrying about whether or not it is CSKD!

 

Voluntary Junior Available (VJA) is still in effect through the April bid month. Premium Open Time will replace VJA in May.

 

Management flying as an extra

 

Management may fly as an extra position. The program is likely to start slowly but Inflight management’s latest goal is for each base supervisor to fly one sequence per month with one overnight sequence per quarter. However, there is no limit to the number of times a supervisor may fly as an extra.

 

Inflight has pledged a good faith effort to notify crews in advance of the flight that a supervisor will be part of the crew compliment as an extra position. Although there is no contractual requirement, notification is being targeted for the day prior if possible. Members of senior Inflight leadership such as Ron Calvin are determining the supervisors’ assignments.

 

Discipline may not result from a supervisor working as an extra being a “sole source” of discipline. This means in order for crew to be subject to discipline there would have to me multiple sources of information to corroborate an observation made by a supervisor working as an extra. Safety issues will be eligible for submission under ASAP. If you have less than a positive experience with a supervisor working as an extra, please contact your LEC leadership to provide feedback so AFA can pass this along to upper management.

 

Section 3 Scope D.1.c.1-4:

 

3.D1.c.   Inflight management may work as a Flight Attendant on a sequence under the following provisions:

 

(1.) The Inflight management employee may work a scheduled sequence only in an open position as the D FA on a three (3) person crew or an E FA on a four (4) person crew.

 

(2.) S/he will be considered a working member of the crew and must follow all requirements in the Flight Attendant Manual (FAM) and all limitations in the applicable Sections of the CBA (e.g. duty and rest provisions). S/he will be considered a “crewmember” for the purpose of this provision. Her/his effective seniority will be considered to be the most junior Flight Attendant on that flight.

 

(3.) The Inflight management employee must work an entire sequence or a portion of a sequence broken at a SIP. The sequence must be legally constructed out of a Flight Attendant domicile.

 

(4.) No single-source discipline may result from the Inflight management employee’s presence on the sequence. Safety issues will be eligible for submission under the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP).

 

* * *

 

 

In solidarity,

 

Your Contract Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

 

Second Weekly Implementation meeting this past week

 

AFA and management are making good progress towards implementation of the new contract. Additionally, the parties continue to resolve various challenges as we continue further into the implementation process. In the past week the Alaska Airlines Information Technology (IT) department has done much work on the various TFP calculators. AFA will work on vetting the usability and accuracy of the calculators but for now we recommend the calculators be used only as a very tentative guide.

Reserve ER “conversion” pay!

 

Good news for flight attendants sitting reserve in December, January or February! Due to technological constraints, ER days could not be removed from Reserve’s schedules as quickly as the parties originally anticipated during active negotiations. Some of you noticed there was a modification to the Implementation schedule between the published version and the 12/29/2014, which delayed when pre-plotted ER days went away. In consideration of the Reserves, AFA and management agreed Reserves may submit for extra pay essentially as if the pre-plotted ER days were already gone. Pre-plotted ER days will be removed in the March bid schedule.

 

In the meantime, Reserves may submit additional pay for activity between between December 2014 and February 2015 as follows:

 

  • 1st and 2nd ER day in the month = free
  • 3rd ER day in the month = 1.5x the trip rate for activity during an ER duty period or 1 TFP paid above reserve guarantee (!) if not used
  • 4th ER day or more in a bid month = 2x the trip rate for activity during an ER duty period or 1 TFP paid above reserve guarantee (!) if not used

 

Submit via an Activity Claim Form in the World of Inflight (http://asainflight.alaskaair.com) –> ‘Forms’ –> ‘Pay Forms’ –> ‘Activity Claim Form’. Fill in the “1.5 x Standard Trip:” (for 3rd ER) or “2.0 x Standard Trip:” (4th or more ER) for activity flown during the ER duty period at the appropriate premium rate. Otherwise fill out the “Other: (Trips/Dollars/Explain Below)” field with “1.0” and in the “Comments:” field indicate “1.0 TFP ER day not used.” You must fill in the other required fields (base / flights / sequence / pay month / activity month / activity day) as appropriate.

 

Minor typo in the 12/29/2014 Implementation Schedule

 

Due to an inadvertent clerical error, there is an error on line 73 of the revised Implementation Schedule dated 12/29/2014. The line reads “New Junior Assignment provisions and Premium Open Time.” However if Premium OT goes into effect on 1/31/2015 that conflicts with line 119 which states Premium OT will be implemented on 5/1/2015: “9.E. – FA’s will be allowed to pick up trips posted in open time (OT) at premium rate. FA’s are not able to trade a trip into OT to pick up a trip designated as premium in OT.”

 

The Contract Committee has definitively confirmed via our bargaining notes and other records the phrase “and Premium Open Time” should be deleted on line 73 to resolve the conflict and correctly reflect intent between the parties. A link to the corrected version of the Implementation schedule follows this paragraph. Please note the deletion of those four words on line 73 is the only difference between the version published on 12/29/2014 and today. AFA apologizes for any confusion.

 

Implementation Schedule 12/29/2014 v2

 

Meeting next week in Portland to focus on finalizing the document for publication

 

The parties’ Contract Committees and several subject matter experts will meet next week in Portland, OR, to focus on finalizing the TA2 document for publication. It is our goal to publish and distribute the new contract as soon as possible.

 

* * *

 

 

In solidarity,

 

Your Contract Committee—MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Jake Jones, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

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