Search Results for: Quarterly Productivity Premium

Scheduling Committee Meeting (Feb ’17)

February 28, 2017 18:35

Our local Council 30 Scheduling Chairperson, Justin Wetherell, attended the monthly Scheduling Committee Meeting in Seattle and compiled these notes for our base. Please direct any questions or feedback to anc.scheduling@afaalaska.org.

AFA:

NavTech PBS:

The plan for the new bidding system is to start in July for the month of August bid.

The system needs to change because NavTech will stop supporting the old system (it will shut down). The transition to the new system should be smoother as it is already used by Delta pilots, so it is not a prototype.

Flight Attendants will be able to “parallel bid” using both systems for three months.
Base Sits will be scheduled so you may come in for tutoring and assistance.
The difference in bidding systems is less drastic than that from eMaestro to JCA.
AFA began preliminary testing and asked to test bid prior to July.

Pairings:

You may have noticed a lot of changes to “premium flying” (i.e. 4K, high time turns) in the last bid. This is due to network/schedule changes and all bases were affected.
The Pairings team is working to keep the 1 and 3 pos crews together more often.
4 pos pairings after the 400s retired were considered; this is on hold with the merger.

Scheduling:

The MEC appointed a new MEC Scheduling Chairperson, Zac Weeks. His term is through Dec 17, 2019.
If you receive incorrect or contradictory information from Crew Scheduling, please send an email with as much information as possible so we may follow up.
Programming an easy print of pairings directly from your roster is almost completed.
The Scheduling Chairpersons were all trained on a new system AFA will use to submit and track scheduling issues. This system will help track data, trend issues, and ensure you receive timely responses.

Management:

Pay:

Please email any questions you have regarding pay during the JCA changeover
Quarterly Productivity Premium.

At this time, the only way to check is by adding the TFP from your trips.
The calculator is being updated so “estimated” for the month will be real time.
AFA requested three numbers: Awarded, Projected, and Current (real time).

AFA requested the original Pairing Number remain with sipped/adjusted trips so TFP and pay can be compared.

Scheduling:

Contractual fixes in JCA have priority, but AFA has a list of all requested fixes.
Find recent JCA fixes and FAQs at Scheduling & Bidding>Crew Access Help.
Cross training for Airbus is planned to start January 2018; no specifics at this time.
Van changes will be notified when: TransCon/Hawaii 60+ min, other 30+ min.
The last few forms from First Class are being updated for the FA Website.
Attendance Scorecard is being developed for the FA Website.
AFA requested an update on Out of Domicile Jetway Trades.
AFA requested an update to the Ground Delay form.
AFA requested an update for Flight Loads on the FA Website.

Hotel:

JCA should be updated with the correct hotel info, but no van times.
An update in June will notify API when hotel or transportation changes are needed.
In the meantime, AFA requested the Hotel Lookup be returned to the FA Website.
A link from the Roster with a hotel/van page similar to eMastro is being developed.
For any hotel-related issues, contact Council 30 Hotel Chairperson Dori Marron.

Thank you for continuing to send all scheduling and JCA issues/feedback to anc.scheduling@afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

Justin Wetherell, Council 30 Scheduling Chairperson

2016 Performance Based Pay

February 10, 2017 14:00

Performance Based Pay is 8.73% of 2016 eligible earnings

Pursuant to CBA §29.A [Profit Sharing and Retirement: Performance Based Pay], all Flight Attendants will receive a Performance Based Pay (PBP) payout today on all eligible earnings described in the Alaska Airlines, Inc. Profit Sharing Plan. This year, line employees are receiving about a month’s pay or 8.73% of their 2016 eligible earnings. This is the eighth consecutive year Alaska has exceeded the 5% payout target, and PBP has averaged 9.14% over 5 years. Prior to 2009 Flight attendants participated in the Variable Pay Plan (VPP), which had a maximum payout of 7.0% of eligible earnings.

PBP eligible earnings

What are PBP eligible earnings? In general, it should be everything except for the prior year’s PBP payout, the Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP), Operational Performance Rewards (OPR), per diem, expense reimbursements and imputed income.

Some of you have been doing your own calculations and questioning why your PBP payout is not consistent with eligible earnings. Well, the most probable reason is that the Company has likely been calculating PBP incorrectly for Flight Attendants since at least date of signing for this contract in December 2014. At a minimum, we believe that Sit Pay and Longevity Premium have not been included in the calculation for PBP 2014-2016.

PBP grievance

Consequently, AFA has filed Grievance 36-99-2-8-17 Violation §29.A Failure of Company to Include All Eligible Earnings in Calculation of Performance Based Pay (PBP). AFA believes the remedy would be a “make whole” recalculation and payout for the excluded eligible earnings. Management is currently in the early stages of research, which may take awhile due to the complexities of the issue. In the meantime, enjoy your 2016 PBP payout, and congratulations to all!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams

2017.02.10 Grievance 36-99-2-8-17 Violation §29.A Failure of Company to Include All Eligible Earnings in Calculation of Performance Based Pay (PBP)

Irregular Ops Informational Handout

January 4, 2017 01:36

Irregular Operations

You may have experienced irregular operations with your flight today and we wanted to share some helpful contractual information that may apply to your situation. If you have specific questions please contact your appropriate Council Officers or Scheduling Committee. If you are a Reserve and have a specific question related to Section 11 of the contract please reach out to your reserve committee chairs in your domicile.

Domicile	Officers	Scheduling Committee
ANC	anc@afaalaska.org	Anc.scheduling@afaalaska.org
PDX	pdx@afaalaska.org	Pdx.scheduling@afaalaska.org
SAN	san@afaalaska.org	San.scheduling@afaalaska.org
LAX	lax@afaalaska.org	Lax.scheduling@afaalaska.org
SEA	sea@afaalaska.org	Sea.scheduling@afaalaska.org

Tarmac Delay in Excess of 60 minutes:

Section 21.J. – Ground and Block Delays, requires activity claim form

Diversion:

Section 21.J.3 – Ground and Block Delays, also see Addendum to Section 21, question #1, requires activity claim form.

Irregular Operations:

Section 8.F. – Flying over duty of 12:30, minimum 1 tfp paid at 2.0x the rate. File activity claim

Section 8.G. – Projected or actual 14 hours, if at domicile/co-term may be replaced. Outstation may require you to remain on sequence.

Section 8.H. – Compensatory “Double Out” Rest. Flying in excess of 12 hours 30 minutes requires rest double the time spent on duty upon return to domicile. You may choose to remain on trips that fall within the double out rest period, within legalities, and be compensated 1.5x the rate of pay for affected duty period(s) in the subsequent sequence.

Important FYI. If your duty day did exceed 14 hours, crew scheduling is required per CFR 121.467 b.7. to provide at least 12 consecutive hours of rest when a FA has duty more than 14 hours but less than 20 hours.

Section 8.I. Night Rule. If you are on duty at 4:29 local time (initial departure station time of that duty period) and have an irregularity in your pairing you may qualify for pay protection, removal from sequence or additional compensation for remaining on the trip.

Section 8.K. – Reduced RON Rest under 9 hours 30 minutes:

If a Flight Attendant on a multi-day sequence receives less than nine hours and thirty minutes (9:30) rest from release to report, the Flight Attendant may // be required to remain on the sequence and be paid at two and one-half times (2.5x) // the trip rate for flights flown, including any surface deadhead, for the entire sequence in addition to any applicable Minimum Pay Rules and/or Sit Pay at straight time.
2. If the Flight Attendant is replaced at the SIP by Crew Scheduling the Flight Attendant will be paid for the entire sequence at straight time.

3. For a Reserve, s/he will be paid at one and one-half times (1.5x) // the trip rate for flights flown, including any surface deadhead, for the entire sequence in addition to any applicable Minimum Pay Rules and/or Sit Pay at straight time above guarantee and // will be credited at straight time toward guarantee.

Section 8.L. – 48 hours rest every 7 days. If you did not waive your 48/7 and want it restored you must contact Crew Scheduling to receive the restoration.

Section 8.M. – Domicile Rest. 11:30 rest, may operationally be reduced to 10:30 rest. If you waive your rest below 11:30, then you could be reduced to 8 hours rest (CFR).

Section 8.N. – Waiver of Contractual Rest. A Flight Attendant who waives any contractual required rest, and who then operationally would fall below the CFR-required rest period, will be pulled from sufficient flights to resolve the CFR illegality. The FA will not be pay protected. If you are stranded due to the illegality, file for stranded pay.

Section 10.E.1.a. – Flying into a day off, minimum days off. You must block in after 12:01 into your day off with a release of 12:16 or later and the irregularity must take you under the 12 days off at the time of the incident. For Reserve you are guaranteed 12 days in a 30 days bid month and 13 days in a 31 days bid month. Additional 4 TFP on top of all other compensation is due if you qualify.

Section 10.R. – Reassignments. This is where you will find contractual information for pay, legalities and order of reassignment.

Section 10.R.7. – Unscheduled overnights. If a stranding leads to a RON that results in flying during a duty period starting on a scheduled day off, you are paid as if you were Junior Assigned per Section 9.D.1.d.. The compensation is 2.5x the rate of pay, but excludes sit premium and minimum pay rules.

Section 10.S. – Pre-cancellation. Find out about your options when your flight downgrades or cancels.

Section 16.A.4. (sick leave not accrued on stranded) – This is just an FYI, that you will not accrue sick leave on your stranded pay.

Section 21.N. – Stranded pay. Also see Addendum to Section 21, question #9. Stranded pay is negated by pay protection. You get the greater of the strand or the pay protect. Each crew member must file their own activity claim form for the appropriate pay. There are two applications of stranded pay:

Regular stranding – your departure is delayed 2 hours 1 minute from scheduled. You get stranded from the time you were scheduled to depart until you actually depart the station or domicile/co-term. Each subsequent 4 hours you receive an additional 1 TFP of stranded pay.

Stranded overnight – you become stranded overnight in a station. You accumulate the stranding from the time you were scheduled to return to the station or domicile/coterm until you actually return. Same application of first 2 hours and 1 minute, then each subsequent 4 hours you receive additional 1 TFP of stranded.

Section 21.J. – Covers diversions, over block and delay pay. If your actual block time exceeds your scheduled block time by eleven minutes (:11) or more, you are paid one- half (0.5) TFP per hour, prorated and rounded up to the nearest one-tenth (0.1) TFP, at the Flight Attendant’s step rate including the first eleven minutes (:11) for block and ground delays. Block delays will be paid automatically with a few exceptions that you must submit an Activity Claim Form for:

a. Block delays over sixty minutes (:60).

b. Block delays on a flight that crosses midnight (12:00 AM) at any time. Section 21.J. [Block and Ground Delays] [See Arbitration #37-94 (Gaunt 2/5/96).

Section 21.M.3. – Pay protection. You have the ability to pick up on top of pay protection and you receive both the pay protection and picked up flying.

Section 21.Q. – Flying greater than scheduled. If given a reassignment on a scheduled day of work, you are paid 1.5x the rate of pay on flying that exceeds what you were scheduled on a day by day basis. Also, see Section 10.R.5. for reassignments.

Section 21.R. – Quarterly productivity premium. What counts? Everything, except sick leave and vacation. This includes but is not limited to pay protection, jury duty, sit premium, minimum pay rules, bereavement, stranded pay, delay pay, overblock pay and any other compensation paid in TFP.

Activity Claim Form – Go to the flight attendant webpage, click administration, click benefits and pay, click activity claim form. Fill out the form with the flt #, sequence # (pairing number), month and day. Fill out what you believe you are due. If unsure, put 1 TFP in “Other/General”. Then write out the situation in the comments. The pay analyst will reply to your request for compensation usually within a week.

Please note this is a quick reference guide and summary to the CBA provisions and there may be individual circumstances which differ. Please reach out to your local officer for clarification.

Keep a copy of this with you by downloading the following link:

irregular ops

Temporary Waiver to Allow Crew Scheduling to Withhold Trips from Open Time for Assignment to Reserves at Noon

December 23, 2015 13:16

Temporary contractual waiver in order to minimize Junior Assignment

In order to minimize Junior Assignment for tomorrow, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has granted the temporary ability for Crew Scheduling to pull trips from Open Time for Christmas Eve assignment to Reserves effective immediately (approximately 12:30 PM PT at the time the waiver was granted).

Therefore Section 10.E.d [Open Time] should be temporarily interpreted as the following:

Crew Scheduling may remove sequences from OT no earlier than 2:00 12:00 PM PT for reserve assignments for the following day except as provided for in Section 7.F.1.a. [“Job Familiarization” Flights…]. Any sequence not assigned to a Reserve by 6:00 PM PT will be returned to OT. Any sequences that become available after 2:00 12:00 PM PT will be subject to the withholding provisions of 1.d., below.

Any other contractual citations that refer to the withholding of trips at 2:00 PM PT for assignment to Reserves should be temporarily interpreted as noon. Example of 10.E.1.c [Open Time]:

Crew Scheduling may withhold a sequence from OT for up to fifteen minutes (:15) when necessary to determine a Like Sequence pursuant to Section 10.R. [Reassignments] and 12.J. [Crew Scheduling Trading Errors], or a Reserve or JA assignment. This includes sequences that become available between 2:01 12:01 PM PT and 6:00 PM PT the day prior to report. If Crew Scheduling does not assign the sequence within fifteen minutes (:15) but neglects to return it to OT, a Flight Attendant may contact Crew Scheduling and request the trade/pickup on a first-come, first-served basis. If the Flight Attendant then flies the sequence, s/he will be paid one (1.0) TFP in addition to all applicable compensation.

Although the contractual time is 2 PM under the current contract, trips could be pulled at noon in the previous contract. Therefore, the MEC does not anticipate a significant impact compared to the benefit received by minimizing JA.

“Premium” Premium Open Time

Inflight management has agreed to start widely using “premium” Premium Open Time, so we are appreciative of the step in the right direction. Crew Scheduling has posted double time (2x or $$ in eMaestro), but AFA will continue to strongly advocate for the use of additional premiums in order to further minimize JA and protect the operation.

Premium pay

Any premiums are paid on flights flown and not on Minimum Pay Rules (MPRs) or Sit Pay. All TFP is credited at straight time towards your 480 TFP thresholds, Quarterly Productivity Premium (QPP) and other similar provisions. For example, a 5.0 TFP trip at 2x premium is paid at double your trip rate but still credited at 5.0 TFP towards your thresholds. It is somewhat of a flight attendant urban legend that “the trip is worth 10.0 TFP.” It is true that the trip is worth the equivalent of 10.0 TFP at straight pay, but it’s really not paid out that way.

* * *

We apologize in advance if anybody is inconvenienced by this temporary departure from the norm.

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt

AFA Alaska MEC Grievance Update August 2015

August 7, 2015 17:00

The Master Executive Council (MEC) has recently filed numerous grievances on your behalf.

Grievances Settlements

First and foremost, we filed and settled two very important grievances:

Grievance No. 36-99-2-17-15: Assigning a Failure to Report after Successful Check In.

This grievance was filed due to the Company’s violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Section 32 [Attendance Policy], when it assigned failure to report occurrences after a Flight Attendant’s successful check in.

In certain circumstances management had been assigning a “Late Report” when a Flight Attendant arrived late to the gate or arrived late to the gate at RON, this was after a successful scan in at the beginning of her/his sequence. AFA’s long-standing position has been that “Late Report” occurrences only applied when a Flight Attendant failed to scan in at domicile. All other situations, which might result in a Flight Attendant arriving late to the aircraft, were handled as general performance issues; these will now be referred to as “Late Arrival to Aircraft”. Please note this does not change a Flight Attendant’s requirement to be at the aircraft 45 minutes prior to departure.

Management agreed and a settlement was reached with the following clarifications:

1) A Flight Attendant may only be assessed a Late Report (formerly Failure to Report) when s/he checks in after the scheduled check in time and has not been assessed a No-Show for the same event;

2) When a Flight Attendant is late to the aircraft at any time during a scheduled sequence, s/he will not be assessed any attendance points, these occurrences will be considered a performance issue and will be handled under the Company’s progressive discipline policy; and

3) The Company agrees to remove attendance points from any Flight Attendant who received them for being late to the aircraft during a scheduled sequence, provided the points were assigned in the 18 months preceding May 19, 2015.

If you believe that you may have been assessed a Failure to Report incorrectly and it occurred after November 19, 2013, please reach out to a local grievance representative for assistance.

A copy of the settlement language can be found by clicking here.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-26-15: Quarterly Productivity Premium.

The second grievance settlement involved Section 21.R [QPP]. It was filed due to Management’s position that Flight Attendants who had not received a PBS bid award for one or more months of the quarter were excluded from the Quarterly Productivity Premium. A copy of the settlement language can be found in its entirety here.

Grievances Upheld

Management granted the following two grievances:

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-11-15: Violation of Section 27.N [New Hire Initial Training Presentation].

The Company’s violation of Section 27.N, when it failed to provide the Association one hour for the purpose of new hire orientation during a regularly scheduled training day.

Resolution: Management has agreed to ensure that a full hour is provided.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-13-15-Failing to Provide Automated Trading of 4K Pairings.

The Company’s violation of Section 10.DD.6 [Long Stage Length (“4K”) Duty Period] and 12.C.1 [Trading Procedures], when it failed to automate trading of Long Stage Length Duty Period (“4K”) Pairings. In addition when it violated the Contract Implementation Schedule Letter of Agreement paragraph numbers six* (“One-hundred and twenty days after DOS-but no later than May 1, 2015,…”) and nine* (“The Company agrees to make a good faith effort to meet the above implementation time frames…”), when it failed to notify the Association of the delay and discuss the circumstances and necessary adjustments to the implementation schedule.

Resolution: Manual trading is in effect until the next emaestro release scheduled for September 15, 2015. Bulletin 2015-0182 issued on July 16, 2015, addresses how to manually trade “4K” pairings.

Grievances Pending

The following grievances have been filed and are still pending:

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-15-15-Limiting Access to the SAN Domicile.

The Company’s violation of Section 28.I [Company Provided Computers and Printers at Domiciles], when it limited access to the SAN Domicile including contractually required resources to only those Flight Attendants based in SAN.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-19-15-Failing to Pay Flight Attendants for Reasonable Suspicion Drug/Alcohol Testing.

The Company’s violation of Addendum to Section 21 [Compensation], when it failed to pay Flight Attendants for reasonable suspicion drug & alcohol testing.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-20-15-Converting a Line Holding Flight Attendant to ER Reserve Outside of her/his Contactable Period.

The Company’s violation of Section 11.C.3.b.6 [Conversion of Reserves to ER] and 11.C.3.c [ER Contactibility], when it converted a line holding Flight Attendant to ER Reserve outside of her/his contactable period.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-21-15-Section 21.M Compensation.

The Company’s violation of Section 21.M [Pay Protection Due to Weather, Mechanical or to Suit Company Convenience], when it removed a Flight Attendant from a trip and failed to pay protect her.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-22-15-Violation of Past Practice Regarding Manual Revision/Emergency Interim Bulletin (EIB) Insertion Timelines.

The Company’s violation of past practice regarding manual revision/emergency interim bulletin (EIB) insertion timelines, which fails to provide Flight Attendants sufficient time to thoroughly read and insert their revisions and/or EIB’s. Long standing past practice is articulated in the Flight Attendant Manual 6.500 page 1, dated July 6, 2012, which states: “Insert, post and record manual revisions within 14 days of receipt, no later than 30 days after distribution.” A new EIB 14-40 effective November 25, 2014, now states: “The holder of the FAM shall insert revisions/EIBs on or before the effective date or prior to the first assignment following the effective date, whichever comes first.”

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-23-15-Beyond Service Training Exceeding Contractual Training Hours.

The Company’s violation of Section 30.A.2 [Recurrent Training and Other Company-Required (Non-Computer-Based) Training; Hours], by conducting Beyond Service Training after 5:00PM local time, failing to provide a clear break between required training and the optional “Happy Hour” and failing to provide transportation information to Flight Attendants who choose to depart promptly at 5:00PM.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-24-15-Ground Floor Lodging While on Company Business.

The Company’s violation of Section 34 [Hotels], when it failed to avoid ground floor lodging for Flight Attendants attending company required Beyond Service training.

Grievance No.: 36-99-2-29-15-Section 28.G.6 Commuter Boarding Priority. The Company’s violation of Section 28.G.6 [Commuter Policy], when it allowed Company employees (and their dependents) on pleasure travel to be given higher boarding priority than commuting Flight Attendants.

* * *

The next step is to move forward to arbitration on any grievances that cannot be resolved appropriately. In addition, we continue to file disciplinary grievances, which occur on a near daily basis. Many of these will move forward to arbitration as well. All Flight Attendants system wide are impacted when AFA cannot resolve issues with management prior to arbitration. AFA is committed to resolving these issues and will soon be scheduling new arbitration dates for the year 2016. Periodic grievance updates will follow; however should you have questions on specific grievances, please reach out to your local grievance representative.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Grievance Committee chairperson Jennifer Wise MacColl, MEC Grievance Committee member Stephanie Adams and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

AFA Grievance No. 36-99-2-17-15 Failure to Report or Late Report Settlement

Search Results for: Quarterly Productivity Premium

Scheduling Committee Meeting (Feb ’17)

AFA:

NavTech PBS:

Pairings:

Scheduling:

Management:

Pay:

Scheduling:

Hotel:

2016 Performance Based Pay

Performance Based Pay is 8.73% of 2016 eligible earnings

PBP eligible earnings

PBP grievance

Irregular Ops Informational Handout

Temporary Waiver to Allow Crew Scheduling to Withhold Trips from Open Time for Assignment to Reserves at Noon

Temporary contractual waiver in order to minimize Junior Assignment

“Premium” Premium Open Time

Premium pay

* * *

AFA Alaska MEC Grievance Update August 2015

Grievances Settlements

Grievances Upheld

Grievances Pending

* * *

Inflight Service Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2026

2026 AFA Board of Directors Convention Recap

Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2026

2026 AFA Board of Directors Convention: What You Need To Know

Hawaiian Flight Attendant Seattle Domicile Negotiations – March 2026 Update

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Search Results for: Quarterly Productivity Premium

AFA:

NavTech PBS:

Pairings:

Scheduling:

Management:

Pay:

Scheduling:

Hotel:

Performance Based Pay is 8.73% of 2016 eligible earnings

PBP eligible earnings

PBP grievance

Temporary contractual waiver in order to minimize Junior Assignment

“Premium” Premium Open Time

Premium pay

* * *

Grievances Settlements

Grievances Upheld

Grievances Pending

* * *

Recent Posts

Local Councils

Master Executive Council

Negotiations

Contract

Committees

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News By Category

Want To Stay In The Loop?

Connect With AFA