As many of you know, Seattle open time did not go smoothly~ again. Moving the date of open time to the 17th of the month was supposed to help the on-going issues Seattle faces every month with access to the system: A system that cannot handle the amount of users on a normal day, let alone open time day. However, this month another glitch caused many of you to lose out on your ability to access open time.
I have asked Ron Calvin to address the latest technical issues with Seattle’s access to February open time, but I want you to know I have heard your frustrations and I believe it is important to address this issue with you first hand.
On the morning of February 17th eMaestro, and your ability to access eMaestro, was affected by the release of the must read bulletin for the new manual revision. Specifically, “Alaska IT was able to track the problem to another database inflight uses when issuing bulletins. The slowness occurred while the system was verifying that bulletins had been read.” We all know this was more than a slowness to the system. Flight Attendants were flat out denied access open time or kicked out if they were already in. Moving forward, I have requested management to take appropriate actions during periods of higher volume usage, specifically the commencement of open time, to ease the burden on this outdated and fragile system.
We did not receive any reported issues with January’s open time. So, I believe that we are on the right track, to protect your access to open time, with the decision to move Seattle open time to the 17th. Now we need to ensure that access to open time is not impacted by other systems or IT glitches.
It is extremely frustrating that Seattle continues to experience issues with open time and that Flight Attendants are expected to deal with a substandard system. AFA continues to address these issues with management, but there is no quick fix. We have high hopes for the new JCTE system that comes on line this fall, but as with any new system, it is likely that we will experience a few hiccups along the way.
Also, I want to address some of the concerns I am receiving about the new open time rules. In reviewing the historical data since the changes to open time, AFA notes that many Flight Attendants are successfully dropping trips into open time. So successfully, in fact, that the days are closing within minutes. Remember, all days are open with the commencement of open time and only close when the Threshold Sequence Number, TSN, is met. Once the day is closed you have to be mindful of how you can trade or drop your trips. Remember, the only way the day opens back up is by Flight Attendants picking up enough sequences to drop the TSN number below the threshold~ Currently 11 for Seattle.
The closing of days on open time day is not tied to the IT glitches that plague eMaestro. Days closing in the month are directly tied to your ability to drop trips into open time. And again, Flight Attendants are successfully utilizing this new ability.
The “Open Time Trial” officially begins with February Open Time. Although Seattle experienced a rough start to the trial, it is our hope that you learn how to use the new system and maximize your ability to work your schedule. I will continue to seek your feedback, over the next year, during the open time trial, and place a vote for Seattle based this feedback.
There is a learning curve with the new trading system. We encourage you to review the language in Section 12.F and read the blast emails sent out from AFA that offers helpful hints for successful trading. Also, you can email your scheduling committee, sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org or any of your LEC Officers for advice and assistance.
Thank you for your emails~ It’s important to hear from you so we can address questions, concerns, and comments.
In Solidarity,
Laura Masserant
LEC President Council 19
Seattle
