April 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

Master Executive Council (MEC)

• Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week on Tuesday, April 11, to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
• As part of the meeting, the MEC met with members of inflight, crew planning, and labor relations management to discuss issues and concerns that are facing our work group and need to be addressed.
• The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9. Please don’t hesitate to contact your LEC President if you have any questions.

The April 2023 Regular MEC Meeting was held this week on Tuesday, April 11.  The meeting consisted of updates from our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work. 

Meeting with Management

As part of most Regular MEC Meetings, our MEC meets with management to review the current issues and challenges that Flight Attendants face.  Attendees from management this month included Managing Director of Inflight Services Gloria Chow, Director of Crew Scheduling Sara Cook, Managing Director of Operation Staffing and Resource Management Brittany Audette, Director of Crew Planning Mike Ostler, Director of Payroll Leah Ables, Managing Director of Labor Relations Carmen Williams, and Senior Labor Relations Program Manager Mike Link.

Some of the topics discussed include:

• Operational safety debriefs letter of agreement (LOA) implementation challenges. Management appears to lack alignment regarding how the recently signed operational safety debrief LOA provisions are to be implemented. Additional guidance is needed regarding who in management is specifically responsible for what when an operational debrief becomes necessary. Management agreed to work on developing additional guidance and will meet with AFA Representatives to review and implement it.
• Ongoing issues with non-rev travel. Our MEC and numerous Flight Attendants have brought forward issues surrounding inconsistency with how non-rev travelers are cleared from the priority list on the day of travel. In addition, there have been reports of a perceived lack of coordination and communication with how aircraft weight and balance is calculated, resulting in non-revs being unnecessarily left behind. These issues have been reported to different members of management in various departments, and despite promises to investigate, our MEC continues to receive reports, and there appears to be no noticeable action being taken to address the concerns.
• Continuing issues with transition to new leave/absence management vendor. Numerous employee reports have revealed that management’s transition to a new vendor for leave and absence management has been full of issues. Employees have reported not being paid correctly, a lack of responsiveness from the vendor, and other issues. Management indicated they would escalate the matter to Human Resources to determine what action is being taken to address the problems.
• Flight Attendant hiring and initial training. Management shared updates about the anticipated number of initial training classes this year and adjustments to hiring projections. 
• Recurrent training (RT). Management is evaluating when Airbus drills will be removed from RT based on the fleet retirement schedule. Planning is also underway for the 2024 RT curriculum.
• Distribution of iPhone 13 Inflight Mobile Devices (IMDs). Management continues distributing iPhone 13 IMDs to Flight Attendants with iPhone 7 or 8 Plus IMDs. Currently, over 1000 Flight Attendants still need to be issued new devices. Base management will contact those Flight Attendants by company email to offer a reminder and share options on how new IMDs can be picked up. (Note: to view the iPhone 13 IMD distribution LOA, click here).
• Staffing adjustment leaves & KCM eligibility.  Update on previous request from AFA that management continue to allow Flight Attendants access to KCM while on staffing adjustment leaves to the extent TSA policy allows.  Management indicated they are making progress and are working to make sure the process covers all foreseeable scenarios while being compliant with TSA requirements.
• Pairing construction and 4-position pairings. Management is continuing to analyze the possibility of building 4-position (A/B/C/D) pairings versus the current practice of building separate 3-position (A/B/C) and 1-positon (D) pairings. They are analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the change and evaluating possible impacts on pairing quality. This work is ongoing.

Action on Agenda Items

The MEC took action on one agenda item that was submitted in advance of the meeting.

• The proposed annual budget of the AFA Alaska MEC was adopted as proposed. The MEC budget is based on the allocation of funding provided to our MEC from our monthly dues.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please get in touch with your LEC President.