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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2019

AFA CONTACT: Taylor Garland, press@afacwa.org, 202-550-5520

MESA AIRLINES CONTACT: Brian Gillman, media@mesa-air.com, 602-685-4051

Flight Attendant Union and Mesa Airlines Seek Release of Selene Saavedra Roman

Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2019) — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) and Mesa Airlines are calling on the Administration and the Department of Homeland Security to immediately review the case of DREAMer Selene Saavedra Roman, release her from detention, and drop all charges against her after she was detained during while working as a certified flight attendant. 

“We are deeply sorry Selene and her husband have had to endure this situation. It is patently unfair for someone to be detained for six weeks over something that is nothing more than an administrative error and a misunderstanding,” said Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. “We are doing everything in our power to ask the administration to release Selene, and drop all charges stemming from this horrible situation.”

“Our union is mobilizing and we will not stop fighting until Selene is returned home and all charges dropped,” said Sara Nelson, AFA President. “We will fight with every tool at our disposal until justice is done, Selene is reunited with her husband and cleared of these outrageous charges.”

Selene came to the United States as an undocumented child from Peru at 3 years old. She grew up in Texas, graduated from Texas A&M, attained legal status under Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA), and married a U.S. citizen. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have already granted her I-130 Petition, which puts her on the path to lawful permanent residency.

Despite the fact that she is lawfully in this country with the ability to work and has a pathway to permanent residence, Selene has been held since February by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a privately-run detention facility in Conroe, Texas. She is threatened with deportation to Peru, a country she has never known. 

“She has followed the rules, paid taxes, and is currently in process to citizenship,” said Nelson. “The United States is her country and we need to bring her home.”

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The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 73 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.

About Mesa Air Group, Inc. – Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Mesa Air Group is the commercial aviation holding company of Mesa Airlines, a regional air carrier providing scheduled passenger service to 121 cities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas. As of February 28, 2019, Mesa operated a fleet of 145 aircraft with approximately 605 daily departures and 3,400 employees. Mesa operates all of its flights as either American Eagle or United Express flights pursuant to the terms of capacity purchase agreements entered into with American Airlines, Inc. and United Airlines, Inc.

Your Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers, Local Executive Council (LEC) Presidents, and many other LEC Officers and Committee Chairs will be attending the 47th Annual AFA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting next week in Denver, Colorado.  This annual meeting is where AFA conducts the business of our Union at the international level.

Schedule of Events

Tuesday, March 19Executive Board Meeting (MEC President from each airline)
Wednesday, March 20Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, March 21March Regular MEC Meeting

BOD Meeting Agenda Items

Your LEC President represents you and the other members of your Local Council on the Board of Directors and will be casting votes on your behalf at the BOD meeting.  Your MEC Officers serve in an ex-officio capacity on the BOD but do not have voting privileges.

This year, as in all odd numbered years, the only advanced agenda item for consideration by the Board is the annual AFA-CWA budget. Each LEC held a Local Council meeting over the past several weeks to discuss the proposed budget and gain your feedback.  You can find details about the proposed 2019-2020 AFA-CWA budget at http://afa-bod.org/index-of-agenda-items.

Questions?

If you have any questions or thoughts about the BOD meeting or the proposed AFA-CWA budget, please contact your LEC President.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

The AFA Air, Safety, Health and Security Committee (ASHSC) has brought forward a member’s safety concerns regarding the interior aft assist handles at the L1 and R1 exit doors on the reconfigured Alaska (“Aura”) Airbus 319, 320 and 321. AFA is also reviewing the placement of seats with relation to the L2 and R2 mid-cabin exits and the potential for those seats to interfere with the expeditious activation of the exits and to impede egress in an emergency evacuation. To keep this communication shorter, we will focus on the L1 and R1 aft assist handles but be assured that AFA is working both issues.

What are the concerns?

The reconfigured Aura bulkheads that are immediately aft of L1 and R1 (separating 1AC from the forward jumpseats on aircraft left and 1DF and the forward galley on aircraft right) have been relocated farther forward than the bulkheads on Legacy Virgin America (“Red”) aircraft.

Why is this a concern?

The bulkheads are now very close to the aft assist handles, effectively rendering the handles unusable.

This is significant because many if not most Flight Attendants cannot maintain a grip on the forward assist handle while simultaneously pulling the inflation handle at the exit. In such circumstances, Flight Attendants have been trained to ‘monkey’ over to the aft assist handle in order to maintain a protected position while pulling the inflation handle. The Flight Attendant is then supposed to ‘monkey’ back over to the forward assist handle prior to commanding abled bodied persons (ABPs) to initiate the evacuation. If a Flight Attendant cannot use the aft assist handle, it is more likely the FA will be pushed out of the aircraft while pulling the inflation handle. This situation unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.

What is being done?

Management’s response

Once management was alerted to the issues by AFA, it has been very responsive. On Wednesday, March 6, management and AFA conducted a joint site visit to an Aura A320 during the aircraft’s turn time in Seattle in order to better understand AFA’s concerns. Management posted the following alert on the Inflight webpage later that evening:

AFA has brought forward concerns to Inflight management that the new Aura retrofit interior on A320 and A321 aircraft have a narrow space between the bulkhead wall and the aft assist handle at the L1/R1 exits.

Although the Aura retrofit interior is FAA approved, we are currently working with Maintenance & Engineering and the vendor who installed the interior to determine improved functionality. In the next several days, management will be holding cross-divisional meetings to explore alternate options.

We want you to be safe. Our advice is if you cannot use the aft assist handle, secure yourself by any means necessary to ensure you are protected. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Management conducted a follow-up safety risk management (SRM) assessment on the issues earlier today (March 8, 2019). In the SRM meeting, management pledged to actively explore long-term solutions to the concerns. More meetings are scheduled next week.

AFA’s response

Besides AFA bringing the issue to management’s attention over the past week, the Master Executive Council (MEC) filed two contractual grievances yesterday:

  • Grievance 36-99-2-40-19 Violation of Section 25.B Failure to Provide a Safe and Healthy Workplace alleges that management failed to provide a safe and healthy workplace when it installed new bulkheads on the retrofitted Airbus (“Aura”) aircraft that effectively renders the aft assist handles near doors L1/R1 as unusable and unnecessarily increases the likelihood and potential severity of Flight Attendant injury during an emergency evacuation.
  • Grievance 36-99-2-41-19 Violation of Section 25.D.2 Failing to Notify MEC President and ASHSC of Reconfiguration or Re-design Prior to Final Decision alleges that management failed to notify the MEC President of a decision to reconfigure or re-design the interior of the Airbus aircraft and to discuss with the ASHSC the parties’ interests and concerns for inflight safety prior to making a final decision on the reconfiguration/re-design.

AFA ASHSC representatives participated in the SRM meeting earlier today, and AFA will continue to actively interface with management on these issues until long-term solutions to our concerns have been implemented.

In the meantime, AFA recommends that Flight Attendants submit a confidential Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) report in order to document their safety concerns. These confidential reports are tracked and actioned upon by the FAA, the Company and AFA.

Be assured your safety is of paramount importance to us and stay tuned for further developments!

In Solidarity

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee; MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams; MEC Air Safety Health and Security (ASHSC) Committee Chairperson Seth Heiple and ASHSC Vice Chairperson-Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Brad Young

AFA is pleased to report that management has announced it is “pushing pause” on the revised Outside Employment Request Form and policy until management can “thoughtfully review the concerns brought forward.” Inflight management notes that it received “significant feedback” from Flight Attendants and AFA leaders on the revised form and policy. This information was formally disclosed in an email from management to the Master Executive Council (MEC) and it was posted as an alert on the Inflight webpage.

The MEC applauds management’s responsiveness on this issue and its decision to reconsider the policy in the short term. The alert states that “More information will be forthcoming,” so be assured AFA will actively monitor any additional developments and remains committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring contractual compliance.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee; and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams

Open-Time Negotiations Update

Yesterday, the AFA Negotiating Committee met with the MEC to present an Open Time Agreement-in-Concept. After the MEC reviews the full text Agreement, the MEC will vote on whether or not to send the Agreement out for membership ratification.

In anticipation of the MEC approving the Tentative Agreement for membership’s consideration, please save April 30, 2019 to attend a live presentation of the Open Time TA in Seattle.  As this will be the only live event, we will be posting a video with the information for those that cannot attend the SEA date.  Stay tuned for more details.  

Once the MEC has made their final decision and voted on the TA, more detailed information will be provided.

Click here for additional background regarding why we are negotiating a new Open Time system. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to your Council 35 officers at sfo@afaalaska.org.

In solidarity,
Melissa, Aladrian and James


So Many New Rules—Help!

Now that we are no longer under the L-VX Work Rules and have integrated into the JCBA, the Council 35 Scheduling and Reserve Committees have been busy fielding questions about the many changes L-VX Flight Attendants must now be familiar with as they fly the line.  As a result, your Council 35 officers decided that a special “Scheduling Edition” of our monthly newsletter would be helpful to SFO members.  Please remember to refer back to the JCBA for the sections referenced below.

Scheduling FAQs

New Name, Same Function

L-AS refers to CSS as “crew scheduling,” or abbreviated as “CSKED.” CSS or Crew Support Services is no longer the appropriate term to use when referring to “scheduling.”

Reduced Rest—§8.K

Reduced RON rest provisions include:

  •  2.5X the trip rate for the entire pairing if your rest falls below 9:30 on one of your overnights
  • CSKED may contact F/As during rest (once is allowed) to adjust report time to above 9:30
  • F/As that acknowledge the change before report time, the report time (and consequent duty day) will be adjusted to reflect a new rest time
    • Important note:  2.5X rate is not applicable if F/A acknowledges the change to increase rest or scheduling makes contact with you regarding the reassignment
    • Refer to §8.Q for contactability requirements when on a layover and returning CSKED’s call after the commencement of the F/A’s next duty period

Reserve Contactability—§8.Q

  • Reserve F/As are required to contact CSKED as soon as possible at the beginning of the next duty period 
  • Reserve F/As are to remain contactable during all duty periods

Pre-Cancellation and Reassignments—§10.S.2 & §10.S.3

If pre-cancellation occurs day prior to scheduled assignment before 2000:

  • F/A may be offered an alternate assignment
    • If assignment is outside of original footprint in excess of 2 hours earlier or release later, F/A may decline and request another reassignment 
  • F/A may decline and waive pay protection
  • F/A may decline and request an alternate assignment 
    • If no reassignment is available F/A will be released with pay protection
    • F/A may decline reassignment and waive pay protection 
    • If footprint limitations aren’t met, F/A may decline with pay protection
  • If F/A fails to acknowledge CSKED/CrewAccess notification, F/A must report at original report time
  • Acknowledgment of pre-cancellations and reassignments to CSKED must be by phone

If pre-cancellation occurs between 2000-2359 the night prior to scheduled pairing: 

  • F/A is pay protected
  • F/A must acknowledge cancellation with CSKED by phone
  • Failure to acknowledge will result in potential points assessment (refer to §32 Attendance Policy)

If pre-cancellation occurs while flying:

  • F/A must acknowledge cancellation with CSKED by phone no later than release at domicile
  • Failure to acknowledge will result in potential points assessment (refer to §32 Attendance Policy)

Same day as scheduled pairing:

  • Considered a reassignment

Calling-In Well/Sick Leave Make-Up—§16.L&N

The new procedure for calling-in well/sick leave make-up are different than the process outlined in the L-VX Work Rules/Playbook.  Please review §16.L&N for specific details before calling-in well or making-up sick leave to understand the differences.

FAR Violations—FAM 7.200

In the event of a potential FAR violation (i.e. rest below 8 hours/ less than 24/7, etc.) be aware that it is the responsibility of the Flight Attendant to know FAR violations and to contact Crew Scheduling (CSKED) to adjust the pairing if necessary.  

Activity Claim Form

Not all pay provisions are automatically added to your monthly TFP. To see a list of the activities that require an Activity Claim Form (ACF), please visit:

Alaskasworld>> Inflight WebPage>>Administration>>Pay&Benefits>>Activity Claim Form

A drop-down menu provides a list of all the pay activities that require a separate claim.  Failure to file an ACF will result in nonpayment for the activity. Additionally, some items will be added automatically.  For more information about ACF, please visit: 

Alaskasworld>> Inflight WebPage>>Administration>>Pay&Benefits>>Activity Claim Form Instructions

Pairing Construction

To understand the AS pairing construction process, please visit the Pairing Construction 101 page on our website.  AFA is an active participant in the pairing creation process and is always seeking ways to improve desired pairings for each base’s needs.

For the month of April, AFA’s pairings were chosen which increased the amount of 4 days to 11.3% (February was 9%). Please keep an eye open for a survey from the PBS committee about preferred pairings to provide guidance to the pairing analyst when creating soft locks (most desired trips) for SFO in the future.

NavBlu/Crewaccess Base Sits

More base sits will be scheduled for March, April and May to assist with bidding and scheduling adjustments.  Dates and times will be published on the NavBlu info page.

For more scheduling information, please reach out to the SFO Scheduling (Line-holder) Committee  sfo.scheduling@afaalaska.org or the or Reserve Committee sfo.reserve@afaalaska.org:

In Solidarity,
Your Council 35 Officers – 

Melissa
Aladrian 
& James


We will be having our Joint Local Council Base Meeting in March. This is the pre-Board of Director’s meeting, when we will review the Advance Agenda items. The primary focus of this meeting is to review the BOD Agenda Items, however there will be time for questions and answers from Members as well. This will be a joint meeting with Members from Compass and Horizon. 

DATE:  March 15, 2019

TIME:  11:30am – 2:30pm

WHERE:  SeaTac Towers Office Complex (same building as 13 Coins), South Tower, LP Level, Earhart Room, 18000 International Blvd.

PARKING: Parking is available free of charge. You can park in front of the building for up to 3-hours. Parking is also available behind the building. If you park in the rear, please take your ticket with you to the meeting for validation. 

We look forward to seeing you there. 

Save the Date!!!

We are happy to announce that AFA has reached a tentative agreement for Open Time which will be presented to the membership on April 30th. Time and location will come out soon, however it will only be available in Seattle. If you are unable to come to Seattle, the presentation will be available live online and will also be recorded and posted for future viewing. 

Please bid appropriately if you would like to attend and standby for a future communication with the specifics. 

**Please Note: This agreement is still awaiting final language approval from Management, so the dates could push back at the last minute.

APRIL PBS SUPPORT

Your Seattle PBS, Scheduling & Reserve Committee are offering support for the transition to the new PBS webpage. The cutover to using ONLY the new website is May 1st.  When bidding in May for your June schedule you will be required to use the new PBS website. 

There will be support offered in May, however April will be the most robust support schedule. Classes will fill up quickly if March was any indicator. Base sits are on a first-come, first served basis. Bring the device you plan on using to bid if possible (if attending a class you must bring your own device.). Please click here to watch the training videos. We ask that you watch them prior to attending a class or base sit.  

Seattle

April 5th: SeaTac Office Center (same complex as 13 Coins) Click here to Sign Up. There will also be a base sit in the Inflight Office from 5:00am – 7:00pm

April 6th: SeaTac Office Center (same complex as 13 Coins) Click here to Sign Up. There will also be a base sit in the Inflight Office from 5:00am – 7:00pm

April 7th: Base Sit (Inflight Office) from 5:00am – 7:00pm

April 8th: SeaTac Office Center (same complex as 13 coins) Click here to Sign up. There will also be a base sit in the Inflight Office from 5:00am – 7:00pm

April 9th: Base Sit (Inflight Office) from 5:00am – 7:00pm

In Solidarity, 

Your Council #19 PBS, Scheduling & Reserve Committees and Council #19 Officers

Management just released a new requirement that Flight Attendants who are being compensated for outside employment must fill out an outside employment request form. This must be done within 30 days of the publication of Bulletin Bundle 2019-0027, which occurred on February 28, 2019. This new requirement is regardless of whether or not the outside employment is a conflict of interest to the Company. Many AFA members have raised concerns that the form is an invasion of privacy and violates the contract. Although management has an arguable right to ensure an employee’s outside employment does not create a conflict of interest for the Company, the Master Executive Council (MEC) believes the form goes too far.

The MEC has formally expressed our concerns and objections to management. Management has been responsive and active conversations continue between AFA and Inflight, Labor Relations, People and Legal departments. Realistically, an understanding or resolution will not occur before next week. In the meantime, the MEC recommends that affected Flight Attendants should hold off on filling out the form until you hear an update from us. If you have already filled out the form, that is okay.

Be assured that AFA is committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring contractual compliance. Stay tuned for more soon!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee; and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

November 1 marks the beginning of Native American Heritage Month in the United States. Also known as National Native American Heritage Month, this celebration originated from efforts to recognize an American Indian Day in the early 20th century. In 1916, New York became the first state to officially proclaim American Indian Day following a declaration […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – October 2025

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, October 28, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met in person at Alaska Airlines Corporate Headquarters 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), […]

Sick Leave Survey Now Open

Your Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) prioritizes your health and well-being and seeks to understand which aspects of our paid sick leave policy matter most to you. We encourage you to participate in the survey, which is open until Tuesday, November 11 at Noon PT, to ensure your voice is heard in shaping our support for your healthcare needs.

SEA Domicile Negotiations – October 2025 Update #2

This session was marked by the Negotiating Committee’s strong advocacy for protections and enhancements that would support the Seattle base as a viable option for transferring Flight Attendants. With insights from Ryan St. John, the Vice President of Finance, Planning, and Investor Relations for Alaska Airlines, the Negotiating Committee highlighted the necessity of combining data-driven strategies with hands-on experience and sufficient resources for long-term success.

Joint Contract Negotiations Session 8 – October 2025

During our recent negotiations, the Joint Negotiation Committee focused on key sections, particularly reaching a Tentative Agreement on Lodging and Transportation, which improves food availability and transportation safety. We also engaged with Council 19 to clarify negotiation processes and differences between contracts. Stay tuned for our upcoming session with management from November 18 to 20.

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