AFA Alaska

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council

Click here to report an issue to AFA
Menu
  • Local Councils
    • Anchorage (Council 30)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Los Angeles (Council 18)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Portland (Council 39)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • San Diego (Council 15)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Seattle (Council 19)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • San Francisco (Council 35)
      • Officers
      • Committees

    • More About Local Councils >>
    Close
  • Master Executive Council
    • Officers
    • Close
  • Committees
      • Air Safety, Health, & Security (ASHSC)
        • Air Quality
      • Benefits
      • Communications
      • Employee Assistance Program & Professional Standards
      • Government Affairs
      • Grievance
      • Hotel
      • Human Rights
      • Inflight Service
      • Inflight Training
      • Membership
      • Mobilization
      • Reserve
      • Retirement
      • Scheduling
        • Pairing Construction
        • Preferential Bidding System (PBS)
      • Uniform

    • More About Committees >>
    Close
  • Contract
      • Contract Home
        • Current Contract
        • Ask Contract Questions
      • Contract Resources
        • Read Contract Q&A
        • Explanatory Videos
      • Contract Negotiations
    • Close
  • Resources
      • Issues & Campaigns
      • Newsroom
        • AFA Alaska News Now
        • Message from the MEC President
      • Event Calendar
      • Membership Services
      • New Members
      • About
      • Links
      Close
    • Negotiations
    • Contact Us
    You are here: Home / Council 19 SEA / Council 19 November 12th Q and A

    Council 19 November 12th Q and A

    November 8, 2014 17:37

    Dear Seattle Flight Attendants,

    As many of you may have seen, the TA summary was released on line this morning. If you missed the blast email, please follow this link to view the TA Summary:

    http://afaalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AFA-ALA-TA2-Summary-11.7.14.pdf

    Along with the TA Summary email this morning the LEC Presidents released a memo stating their reasons for the stance on the TA. The LEC Presidents of ANC, PDX, SAN and I voted “yes” to send the TA out for your consideration, but we did not take a stance on how you should vote. You may be wondering why we are taking this position now; versus the “Yes” stance we took with TA1. Well, the answer is simple: We do not believe it is our responsibility to tell you how to vote.

    After TA1 failed I personally promised many of you that I would not vote to send out a TA the second time unless I believed it would meet or exceed your expectations. I truly believe that this TA meets, and in many cases, exceeds your expectations for pay and quality of life issues. The negotiating committee did an amazing job of regaining many of the provisions that were lost in TA1 and gained incredible pay increases across the pay scale.

    Why do I not support encouraging you to vote YES? Again, I believe that YOU have to consider this TA and vote according to your individual circumstances. I was elected to represent your best interests and I believe that I am doing this by affording the ability to make you own informed decision.

    In case you are wondering if I will vote YES on this TA? Absolutely! This is an incredible TA that will set new industry standards not only for us, but also for all Flight Attendants.

    November 12th SEA LEC Q & A Session

    Want to discuss the TA Summary? Have questions or need clarification? Join your LEC Officers on November 12th and we will be happy to help you understand the changes.

    Where: London Room, SEA TAC Airport Conference Center

    Time: 9am-4pm

    Parking on all floors except 4 is FREE.

    If you cannot make this event, please attend a road show in December. Seattle road shows will be on December 5th and 10th. Locations: TBA

    Make sure you update your address with AFA International by November 12th to ensure your ballot is mailed to you!

    The vote closed on December 17th.

    Update On Vacation 2014 Open Time:

    Many of you had issues, once again this year, with Vacation Open Time. I met with Chad Koehnke, Director, Crew Strategy & Administration and Elizabeth Ryan, Managing Director of Labor Relations to discuss the problems. I put forward the following issues:

    1. IT issues and no ability to contact a “live” person in a timely manner,
    2. Base Trade calendars not updated prior to the opening,
    3. The ability to view open days prior to opening,
    4. “Overwhelming” of the system and no access at midnight.

    Chad is tasked with working with IT on these issues to make some improvements for the 2015 Vacation Open Time, and will meet with AFA in September next year to ensure that these issues are addressed in time for 2016 bidding.

    One question posed to Chad and Elizabeth is the reasoning for the 12:00am start date. The answer to this question is this: The system that Vacation Open Time lives in is separate from any of our other FA IT systems. This antiquated program is “hard wired” to start on a certain date only. There is no ability to set a start time on the given date.

    Hence, the reason why Vacation Open Time begins at midnight- it is actually starting on the day. We expect this problem will be fixed eventually with the new crew tracking system, but until then Chad and Elizabeth have promised to work with AFA to ensure that we address as many of the problems possible considering current system limitations.

    December Pairings

    Every December the company experiences a reduction in passenger traffic during the first few weeks of December. Historically, the company has managed the reduction by reducing the schedule in the front half of the month.

    The department in charge of our flight schedules is network planning. Their job is to allocate aircraft based on flight schedules. When passenger demand decreases, as they do certain times of the year, network planning has to reallocate aircraft to meet this need.

    In addition, this Fall, one airplane a day is pulled off line for the interior cabin design upgrade and the live streaming addition.

    What does this have to do with your December pairings?

    The first part of December’s flight schedules has been reduced. In the second half of the month, our planes are in the air an average of 150 more hours per day in comparison to the first half of the month.  This imbalance makes it very difficult to build consistent pairings throughout the month.  This change did impact the pairings in early December and we want to remind you to double check your bids! Make sure you are considering the impact of the reduced pairings and are bidding enough to cover yourself.

    Chad Koehnke realizes this extreme change will impact the Flight Attendants normal bid schedules this year and is working to reduce the impact for the 2015 December schedule. year and is working to reduce the impact for the 2015 December schedule.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email

    Filed Under: Council 19 SEA

    Comments

    1. Steve P says

      November 9, 2014 at 09:39

      Great info, Laura! Thanks so much

    Need Help?

    Have an issue or concern to report to AFA?  Click here to access the AFA Alaska online support center.

    Connect with Us on Facebook

    Connect with Us on Facebook

    Follow Us on Twitter

    Tweets by AFAAlaska

    Instagram

    Latest news from our Negotiating Committee about Session 11 of contract negotiations, including a TA on LOA 5: Sick Family/Sick Child, discussion on Leaves of Absence, General - Association, and Training, and updates on current progress.
    Members of our Master Executive Council (MEC) and other AFA Representatives will attend the AFA Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting next week. The BOD meeting is where business affecting all AFA airlines is conducted. Your LEC President is your representative at the BOD meeting and will be voting on your behalf regarding the approval of the AFA International budget. If you have any questions about the BOD meeting, please contact your LEC President.
    As an AFA and CWA Member, you and/or certain eligible dependents have the opportunities for at least two different scholarships. An additional opportunity, the Union Plus Free College Benefit, offers the ability to earn a degree with no out of pocket expense for tuition, fees, and e-books. Check out the links below for eligibility requirements, application information, and other important details for each opportunity.
    Our AFA EAP/Professional Standards Committee (Members helping Members) seeks to assist Members, their families, and partners experiencing personal and work-related problems that could or are affecting their health and well-being on and off the job. Our EAP committee is a Union-sponsored support service provided by Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants, their families, and partners. EAP Peer Representatives are trained to provide three distinct but interrelated services: Assessment, Support, and Referral Services; Professional Standards; and Critical Incident Response.
    Our AFA Government Affairs Committee met with their representatives on Capitol Hill and urged them to pass the FAA Reauthorization Bill. This bill will improve aviation safety and conditions onboard the aircraft for flight crew and passengers. Top priorities discussed with Congress include cabin air safety, and stopping disruptive passenger abuse towards crew members and gate agents.
    Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, March 9 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent and advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants. The Committee also met with management to review a number of specific concerns that were brought forward by Flight Attendants. Your Local Reserve Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any reserve related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

    Latest News

    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 24, 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 17, 2023
    • Upcoming 2023 AFA Board of Directors Meeting
    • 2023 College Scholarship Opportunities
    • EAP/Professional Standards Committee News – March 2023
    • Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 10, 2023
    • Help Support SkyWest Flight Attendant Organizing in LAX & SAN!
    • April 2023 Bidding – Analyzer Tool Error
    • March 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

    Upcoming 2023 AFA Board of Directors Meeting

    March 16, 2023

    Master Executive Council (MEC) Next week, our Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers, Local Executive Council (LEC) Presidents, and many other LEC Officers and Committee Chairs will be attending the 50th Annual AFA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting being held virtually. They will join representatives from the other airlines that make up AFA to conduct the business of […]

    2023 College Scholarship Opportunities

    March 16, 2023

    AFA International As an AFA and CWA Member, you and/or certain eligible dependents have the opportunities for at least two different scholarships for the pursuit of higher education.  The time for applying is now! Brought to you by our Union, these benefits of union membership have become very popular with Members.  Please see the respective links for […]

    EAP/Professional Standards Committee News – March 2023

    March 15, 2023

    EAP/Professional Standards Committee Our AFA EAP/Professional Standards Committee (Members helping Members) seeks to assist Members, their families, and partners experiencing personal and work-related problems that could or are affecting their health and well-being on and off the job. Our EAP committee is a Union-sponsored support service provided by Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants, their families, […]

    Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023

    March 13, 2023

    Reserve Committee On Thursday, March 9, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Teran Eason (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN).  Also present was MEC Reserve […]

    Help Support SkyWest Flight Attendant Organizing in LAX & SAN!

    March 10, 2023

    AFA International SkyWest Flight Attendants are organizing to form their Union and join AFA-CWA! Help support their efforts by joining in an upcoming SkyWest AFA “Concourse Chats” visibility event. The goal of the events is to engage 1-on-1, in-person and have conversations with SkyWest Flight Attendants to learn their issues and priorities and invite them […]

    Response to the November 18th Inflight Town Hall Webcast

    November 18, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    California meal & rest breaks Management’s continued scare tactics and speculative “what-if’s” as put forward during the Inflight Town Hall webcast today regarding California meal & rest breaks are unnecessary and extremely disappointing. Although it is true there are some challenging aspects of compliance with California meal & rest break laws for commercial aviation, AFA […]

    ALPA Alaska Approves Tentative Agreement for Pilot Ratification

    September 23, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Alaska Airlines leadership recently announced they approved a tentative agreement (TA) with Alaska Airlines management for pilot ratification. Click here for the Alaska Airlines Pilots TA Quick Guide (September 2022) > At a quick glance, the TA contains impressive improvements to scope, […]

    Masks Are No Longer Required in Airports or Onboard

    April 18, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    The CDC and TSA report the federal mask mandate is no longer in effect after today’s court ruling. Additionally, Alaska Airlines management just announced via multiple channels that the mask mandate is lifted effective immediately on all aircraft.

    RSS Negotiations News

    • Negotiation Session 11
    • Negotiation Session 10
    • Negotiation Session 9
    • Negotiation Session 8
    • Negotiation Session 7
    • What commuter improvements can we expect?
    • The commitment from management on industry leading pay is great news! However, pay rates are only part of the picture – are we sacrificing work rules and benefits for leading pay rates?
    • Can you clarify the pay components included in our Opening Proposal (Ground, Flight, Delay, Stranded)?
    • Negotiation Session 6
    • Negotiation Session 5

    Recent Posts

    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 24, 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 17, 2023
    • Upcoming 2023 AFA Board of Directors Meeting
    • 2023 College Scholarship Opportunities
    • EAP/Professional Standards Committee News – March 2023
    • Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 10, 2023
    • Help Support SkyWest Flight Attendant Organizing in LAX & SAN!
    • April 2023 Bidding – Analyzer Tool Error
    • March 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

    Local Councils

    • Anchorage
    • Los Angeles
    • Portland
    • San Diego
    • San Francisco
    • Seattle

    Master Executive Council

    • MEC

    Negotiations

    • Contract 2022 Home
    • Negotiating Committee
    • Negotiations Feedback
    • Negotiations News
    • Negotiations Process

    Contract

    • Contract Home

    Committees

    • Air Safety, Health, & Security
    • Benefits
    • Communications
    • EAP/Professional Standards
    • Government Affairs
    • Grievance
    • Hotel
    • Human Rights
    • Inflight Service
    • Mobilization
    • Reserve
    • Retirement
    • Scheduling
    • Uniform

    News By Month

    News By Category

    AFA Alaska News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX Council 19 SEA Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Want To Stay In The Loop?

    The best way to stay connected with up-to-date AFA Alaska news and information is through a subscription to AFA Alaska emails!  Click the button below to sign up.  Already a subscriber?  You can make changes to your email by clicking below!
    Sign Up

    Connect With AFA

    • Contact Us
    • Online Support Center
    • AFA International
    • CWA
    • AFA Alaska Social Media Guidelines
    • AFA-CWA Mutual Respect Policy

    Copyright © 2013-2023 Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO