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Pairing Construction Subcommittee

What Does This Subcommittee Do?
The Pairing Construction Subcommittee works with the company and the Inflight Crew Planning Department to build Flight Attendant pairings.
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
  • Regularly communicate with and provide updates to the MEC Scheduling Chairperson on the activities of the subcommittee
  • 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.
  • Maintain a permanent file for all local schedules for the use of the MEC Scheduling Committee.
  • 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.
  • Keep the membership informed of the results of the pairing construction process on a monthly basis throught the MEC Communications Committee Chairperson.
  • 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.
  • 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.
Why Would I Contact This Committee?

The Pairing Construction Subcommittee is available to help you with:

  • Questions about how pairings are built
  • Feedback about specific types of pairings

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Who Do I Contact?

For assistance, contact MEC Scheduling Vice Chairperson–Pairing Construction Karen Ferrell at karen.ferrell@afaalaska.org or your Local Scheduling Committee Chairperson.

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Subcommittee News

View the Pairing Construction Subcommittee news archives

Pairing Construction 101

Posted: October 25, 2024

Scheduling Committee Introduction to the Pairing Process Pairing construction is a complex process that occurs every month to create the work schedules, or “pairings,” that Flight Attendants will operate. A team consisting of four individuals—three Company Crew Planners and one AFA Pairing Analyst—work together to build these pairings. Karen Ferrell, our AFA Pairing Analyst and […]

[L-AS] November 2018 PBS Bid Awards

Posted: October 15, 2018

This message is for Legacy Alaska Airlines (L-AS) Flight Attendants Trouble with the November 2018 PBS bid award The Master Executive Council (MEC) was informed on Friday, October 12, 2018, that the wrong one-position (“D”) pairing file was loaded into NAVBLUE PBS.  That file did not contain all the one-position flights—in excess of 1000—requiring staffing […]

Pairing Construction 101

Posted: August 26, 2016

What is involved with pairing construction? Approximately one month prior to the bid month, Network Planning provides a Standard Schedules Information Manual (SIMM), which includes all of the scheduled legs in the system on a daily basis for FA 1-Position, FA Combi and FA 3-Position. Each of the legs are formatted as a single line […]

Introducing AFA Pairing Analyst Karen Ferrell

Posted: January 27, 2016

At the January meeting of the Master Executive Council (MEC) earlier this week, your MEC interviewed candidates for the position of MEC Scheduling Committee Vice Chairperson for Pairing Construction, commonly referred to as the AFA Pairing Analyst.  In total, four candidates interviewed for the position (one Anchorage-based flight attendant, two Seattle-based flight attendants and one […]

AFA Alaska MEC Pairing Analyst Interviews

Posted: November 24, 2015

Your Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to take this opportunity to thank Sherrijon Gaspard for stepping up to the plate as MEC Pairing Analyst for the last six months. Regretfully, she recently stepped down from her position due to unforeseen family circumstances. The MEC is now in search of qualified individuals interested in […]

Meet Our Merged MEC Committee Chairpersons & Representatives

We’re excited to introduce our next group of newly elected merged MEC Committee Chairpersons, who will begin their roles on November 1. These leaders are dedicated to representing the interests of our Flight Attendants as they coordinate activities across the merged committees of both airlines. They’ll work closely with the Local Committee Chairpersons from all […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – October 2025

On Monday, October 13, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met in person in Seattle to receive an update about current layover hotels and transportation providers and discuss concerns with management. Representing you at the meeting were Dori Marron (ANC), Jarod McNeill (SEA), Kelly Hepworth (PDX), Hilary Streem (SFO), Chris Cardenas (LAX), and Kanani Vallot […]

Pre-Merger Alaska MEC Committee Election Results

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of pre-merger Alaska MEC Committee positions to be elected for the upcoming MEC Officer term. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful […]

Merged MEC Committee Chairperson Election Results

During this week’s MEC Meeting, our MEC held interviews for the next group of merged MEC Committee Chairpersons and Representatives. We want to thank everyone who expressed interest in the available positions and their willingness to serve. After careful consideration and deliberation, the following candidates have been elected: MEC Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee […]

U.S. Customs & Border Protection Gender Code Requirement

Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced changes to the rules surrounding how airlines report information about passengers and crew before flights. This system is called the Advance Passenger Information System, or APIS. These changes are in response to a Presidential Executive Order. What is APIS? APIS is a system that airlines are legally […]

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