The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to thank Blair Kimball for stepping up and serving as MEC Chairperson of the AFA Inflight Service Committee over the past several years. Under Blair’s leadership, the committee has expanded involvement and helped to advocate for Flight Attendants as management has introduced major service changes. Blair will remain in position during the transition period as the MEC selects and appoints a new MEC Chairperson.
Background
The MEC Chairperson of the Inflight Service Committee is responsible for coordinating the activities of the committee at the airline level. The Chairperson works closely with each Local Committee Chairperson to gather feedback and input and represents the positions of the Committee and MEC in interactions with management.
Additional Information From the MEC Policy Manual
INFLIGHT SERVICE COMMITTEE
1. SCOPE
a. The Inflight Service Committee shall act to support the Union’s interest with respect to inflight service and sales onboard flights. The Committee shall meet with the Company to discuss any change in inflight service or sales, procedures to be followed and other pertinent matters prior to the implementation of such service
2. POLICY/RESPONSIBILITIES
a. The MEC Inflight Service Committee shall consist of the MEC Inflight Service Committee Chairperson and the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairperson from each council.
b. It shall be the policy of the Union to make any significant change in inflight service or sales subject to negotiations between the parties. The Union shall always place Flight Attendants’ health and safety as its first priority when considering the feasibility of any inflight service or sales change and the location of inflight service or sales items in galleys or other stowage locations.
c. The MEC Chairperson shall:
(i) Immediately contact the MEC President should the Company override his/her objections and proceed to implement changes in inflight service or sales against his/her recommendation
(ii) Compose informational and educational articles of interest to the membership and provide them to the MEC Communications Chairperson to be included in MEC communications and posted to the MEC website.
d. The Committee shall:
(i) Represent the Flight Attendant point of view to the Company in all matters pertaining to onboard sales and service policies, procedures, and practices
(ii) Work with the Scheduling Committee to determine available service time, projected loads and staffing when the Company determines a certain service is required on a flight
(iii) Monitor feedback from all domiciles on flights where services, load, staffing, or flight time cause the Flight Attendants difficulty in completing the standards of performance
Qualifications
- Robust working knowledge of inflight service procedures, including all positions and routes (including short haul, Mexico, Hawaii, midcon, and transcon)
- Ability to attend meetings as required, including being present in Seattle on occasion
- Strong computer skills. Excellent working knowledge of Inflight Mobile Device, Google email, and Microsoft Office.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills. Ability to write membership communications, respond professionally to internal and external e-mail, prepare reports, and plan meetings agendas and take minutes.
- Ability to meet deadlines, delegate responsibilities, and follow up on assigned tasks
Duties
- Participate in reviews of inflight catering, packing, service, and sales with management
- Review Flight Attendant complaints or concerns regarding catering and inflight service. Gather information and work with management to satisfactorily resolve each issue.
- Schedule, plan, and conduct quarterly meetings of the committee and other meetings and conference calls as needed
- Correspond with the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons and MEC regularly to provide status updates. Prepare and send a monthly committee report to the MEC.
Time Commitment and Flight Pay Loss Reimbursement
- This is position eligible for Flight Pay Loss (FPL) reimbursement 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.
- Estimated 8-10 hours per week (24 to 30 TFP per month). Some work may be accomplished remotely. Regularly required to be in Seattle to work on projects and attend meetings.
Working Relationships
With The Inflight Service Committee
Constant interaction with the Local Inflight Service Committee Chairpersons. Frequent interaction with Local Inflight Service Committee Members.
With The Master Executive Council
This position reports to the Master Executive Council. The MEC executive sponsor for the committee is the MEC Vice President.
With Alaska Airlines Management
Constant interaction with inflight management, particularly the Manager of Inflight Experience (Matthew Coder) and Director of Catering Operations (Susan Morse)
Expressing Interest and Interview Scheduling
- The MEC will hold interviews during the April MEC meeting on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. Bid around the interview date or plan to arrange 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 South 192nd Street, Seattle, WA 98188.
- Submit a declaration of interest and resume to MEC Secretary-Treasurer Yvette Gesch at yvette.gesch@afaalaska.org no later than 5 PM Pacific Time on Friday, April 1, 2016. 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, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt
