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        You are here: Home / Archives for bidding

        Council 35 News – May 2020

        June 1, 2020 10:54

        Upcoming Dates to Remember:

        • July 30/60-day SAL bidding closes:  June 1
        • Request to cancel SAL for Life Insurance deadline:  June 2 (more info below)
        • August PBS Bidding opens:  June 5 (back to normal schedule) 
        • Q1/Q2 CBT deadline:  June 30

        Trending Discipline

        Sick Leave Abuse

        Although many Flight Attendants are on some sort of leave, there still seems to be a trend with sick leave abuse investigations. When calling in sick, whether protected under FMLA or normal sick, the company’s expectation is that the Flight Attendant is taking the time to recover from an illness which is preventing them from being able to work.  If evidence is discovered that shows a Flight Attendant using sick leave that doesn’t appear to be recovering, the company will investigate. Recent investigations have included travel audits, scheduling requests and social media posts that the company believes may contradict a Flight Attendant’s alleged sick status.  From the company’s perspective, calling in sick for any other reason than sick, is considered time card fraud.  In all cases, the investigations concluded in termination when proof of illness is not substantiated by evidence (i.e. hospital/doctor/medical receipts) and when conflicting evidence of apparent wellness is presented.  

        Reserve Issues

        With new reserves on the roster, performance management is also focused on reserve compliance. Some of the trends include commuting into base after RAP begins, or leaving base early before RAP is completed. Reserve F/As not available in base for their reserve availability period (RAP) have received discipline, even on first offense.  Just one occurrence can lead to discharge. Any Reserve F/A interested in extra support or guidance, please be sure to reach out to the SFO Reserve Committee.  The committee has recently re-opened the Reserve Buddy program and is accepting requests to have an SFO Buddy assigned for help.

        CBTs Due Soon

        The Q1 and Q2 CBTs have been published to the Learn App (replaces Cornerstone) on the IMD. Both CBTs are due 6/30/20.

        • Q1 CBT:  Uniforms and 9Max
        • Q2 CBT:  Minimum Crew, CD-0 Cabin Management, CARES Restraint and Introduction to Threat and Error Management 

        Air Safety, Health & Security Committee Update

        by Brad Young, ASHSC Chair and Council Representative

        Masks

        SFO continues to be stocked with surgical, light blue and dark blue (adjustable) facial masks.   A third type of fabric mask will start testing next week and will be adjustable around the ears (the loop) for further comfort and better fit.  Your ASHSC and Inflight Service Committee (ISC) members will be conducting wear and fit tests. Distribution of masks occurs in the SFO Village by supervisors from 0500-1500 daily and after hours by CSA supervisors.  Flight Attendants will receive two (2) masks each and must sign for them.  F/As may also email SFO supervisors to coordinate pick-up through the V-file system.

        Onboard Sanitizing Supplies

        All aircraft should have 16oz bottles of alcohol-based sanitizer onboard for use when soap and water aren’t readily accessible. Onboard Antiseptic Wipes (Clean-4-Sure) are provisioned on the A/C to wipe down IMDs, A/C surfaces, interphone, and demo kit contents. When using the IMD and interphone, avoid openings such as the earpiece and mouthpiece, as sanitizing liquid may enter and cause damage. 

        IMPORTANT: Please fill out an Irregularity/ASAP Report if the sanitizing supplies are not available or insufficient for flight.  This will ensure the company provides the necessary tools to work in a safe and healthy workplace.

        Social Distancing Inflight

        AFA has worked closely with the company to help increase social distancing for F/As, which resulted in a temporary procedure change to allow F/As to sit in a guest seat during the cruise phase of flight. This policy is for F/As who are working a flight and on duty, however does not apply to F/As who are deadheading or on a crew rest break (HNL turn flight). While in a passenger seat, F/As must adhere to PED/IMD policy.  As a reminder, this allowance is only applicable during the cruise phase of flight therefore F/As are expected to be in assigned jumpseat locations for taxi, takeoff, and landing. 

        First Virtual Membership Meeting a Success!

        Thank you everyone for attending the first Council 35 Virtual Meeting on May 19!  The agenda for this meeting was to discuss the AFA Proposed 2020 Budget.  The following day on May 20, a Special Meeting of the AFA Board of Directors took place, at which an interim budget was approved for fiscal year 2020-2021. This was also a videoconference meeting and AFA’s first ever virtual BOD Meeting. The AFA International Office is currently updating the relevant documentation and will publish for review by members in the near future. The success of these meetings using new technology will provide councils with the opportunity to host more meetings in the future to reach members with valuable news and information happening in the Union. 

        Life Insurance While on SAL

        Flight Attendants on Staffing Adjustment Leave (SAL) lose their company-sponsored life insurance after the first partial or full bid month on SAL. This is consistent with past practice, however the current insurance company is processing the cancellations faster than in the past, which is causing a burden to some Flight Attendants. In response, the company made the decision to offer a one-time opportunity for F/As to cancel their SAL beginning the month of July. To cancel and take advantage of this offer, F/As need to email Inflight Crew Planning no later than 1159pm (PST) Tuesday, June 2. Reference Bulletin Bundle #2020-0051 for additional information.

        Recurrent 2020

        It’s unfortunate, but even this late in the year we are still encountering challenges with Recurrent (RT) 2020. A recent training audit exposed administrative errors that have resulted in Flight Attendants de-qualing and returning for additional training. Your Council 35 officers understand how frustrating the RT program has been this year and empathize with F/As that are on the receiving-end of the disagreeable consequences.  Be assured that AFA will continue to advocate for a fair resolution to these issues.   

        Membership Dues While on Leave

        by James Ikehara, Secretary

        As a reminder, Article II.C.1.b of the AFA Constitution & Bylaws require that AFA dues continue to be paid during any leave of absence less than 90 days.  If you currently pay your dues through payroll deduction, dues payments will continue to be deducted as long as you continue to receive a paycheck with sufficient funds for all other payroll deductions plus your AFA dues.  If you are no longer receiving a paycheck or your paycheck does not cover all of your payroll deductions, AFA dues will not be deducted and you will instead receive an invoice from AFA International Membership Services.

        Payment Options

        If you receive an invoice or statement indicating that you owe AFA dues, payment can be made in one of two ways:

        • Online by credit card here.
        • By mailing a check directly to AFA International Membership Services

        More information about payment options can be found on the payment options page of the membership services section of the AFA International website.  This page also contains information about payment plan options if you have a past due account and are unable to pay your entire balance at once.  Should you need further information about the status of your account, you can use this link and a representative from AFA International’s Membership Services department will be able to assist. 

        Updating Personal Information
        You can update your contact information (street address, phone number, email address, last name) with this AFA link.

        How do I contact Council 35 Officers?

        Using a personal email address, the preferred methods of contact are:

        • Open an Online Support Request ticket
        • Officer group email sfo@afaalaska.org (if one officer is flying /unavailable other officers can respond) 
        • Individual officer emails (if information is for a specific officer)
        • Calls/text (if situation requires more urgent attention)

        When contacting Council 35 officers please avoid the following methods:

        • Sending to/from alaskaair email (subject to company audits and therefore not private)
        • Officer personal Facebook/social media accounts (not actively monitored for AFA concerns)
        • Excessively lengthy texts (please use email for important information as it’s easier to respond and forward to appropriate resource-texts should be reserved for alerts to an issue that requires a timely response)

        Please allow at least one business day for a response to any method of contact (email, phone, text).  

        In solidarity,

        Melissa, Aladrian, James and Brad


        Melissa Osborne, LEC President •  Melissa.osborne@afaalaska.org • 415-275-1322
        Aladrian Hillmon, LEC Vice President • Aladrian.hillmon@afaalaska.org •  415-991-3791
        James Ikehara, LEC Secretary •  James.ikehara@afaalaska.org  • 415-289-9011
        Bradley Young, Council Representative • Bradley.young@afaalaska.org • 916-508-3503

        Filed Under: Council 35 SFO Tagged With: bidding, Council 35, leave of absence, Newsletter, recurrent training, SFO, sick leave

        Council 35 News – April 2020

        April 30, 2020 19:32

        Pick up Your Fabric Masks in SFO

        Flight Attendants interested in wearing the Alaska issued fabric mask may now pick them up in the SFO Village.  Distribution of masks occur in the SFO Village by supervisors from 0500-1500 daily and after hours by CSA supervisors.  Flight Attendants will receive two (2) masks each and must sign for them; you may also email the SFO supervisors to coordinate pick-up through V-file.  You may also wear their own fabric masks provided they are neutral in color and without any pattern.  AFA continues to advocate that passengers be required to wear masks, so stay tuned for more updates on the progress of this requirement.

        Reserve Buddy

        New to reserve?  Not sure how it works?  The SFO Reserve Committee has opened up the Reserve Buddy system to provide support to Flight Attendants finding themselves on reserve again, or on reserve for the first time under the current JCBA.  If you would like to request a Reserve Buddy, who can help you navigate reserve life, please complete the form below.  

        Reserve Resources:

        • Reserve Buddy Request Form
        • Reserve Survival Guide
        • Reserve 101 Quick Reference Guide 
        • Council 35 SFO Reserve Facebook Group 

        Leave Updates

        Over 3,000 Flight Attendants are on some version of leave as of today’s publication.  Management has indicated that this will continue for the next several months, so it is recommended that FAs continue to monitor company emails and bulletins for more information regarding future leaves.  For June, leaves will be offered in 30, 60 and 90 day increments.  For more information about the leaves being offered, please visit the Alaska AFA Leaves page on Alaskasworld.

        New June Bidding Timeline

        Similar to the May bid timeline shift, June’s bid will be delayed by one week.  The new June bidding timeline, including the SAL/LBO bidding, is shown below.  As a reminder, the SAL/LBO bidding is completed through Alaskasworld:

        Staffing Adjustment Leave/LBO Bidding Timeline (Inflight Page):

        • 4/30/20: June SAL/LBO bidding begins 0900
        • 5/07/20: June SAL/LBO bidding ends 1500

        June 2020 Schedule Bidding Timeline SFO (NavBlue):

        • 5/12/20: June bid opens 0900
        • 5/17/20: June bid closes 0900
        • 5/20/20: June bid awards published 0900
        • 5/20/20: June bid protest opens 0900
        • 5/21/20: June bid protest closes 0900
        • 5/21/20: June final award
        • 5/21/20: 5-day trading unlocked 1700
        • 5/22/20: SFO FA to FA trading 0900
        • 5/23/20: SFO open time 0900

        EAP and Other Resources

        Flight Attendants in need of support during these unpredictable times are encouraged to reach out to the SFO EAP Committee and available resources for support.  AFA has a coordinated many resources and groups to provide assistance and guidance to members in need.  Additionally, Alaska Airlines provides employees with Active Support, which offers free confidential counseling to employees facing a variety of personal challenges.  

        California Resources

        For Flight Attendants on leave that plan on applying for California Unemployment Insurance, please reference the April 25 communication regarding California state resources

        How do I contact Council 35 Officers?

        The best way to contact Council 35 officers is via email using a personal email account. The preferred methods of contact are:

        • sfo@afaalaska.org (this is the group contact for all officers-if one officer is flying /unavailable the other officers can respond)
        • Individual officer emails (if information is for a specific officer)
        • Calls/text (if situation requires more urgent attention)

        When contacting Council 35 officers please avoid the following methods:

        • Sending to/from alaskaair email (subject to company audits and therefore not private)
        • Officer personal Facebook/social media accounts (not actively monitored for AFA concerns)
        • Excessively lengthy texts (please use email for important information as it’s easier to respond and forward to appropriate resource-texts should be reserved for alerts to an issue that requires a timely response)

        Please allow at least one business day for a response to any method of contact (email, phone, text).  

        Fly safe and stay healthy!

        In solidarity,

        Melissa, Aladrian, James, and Brad 


        Melissa Osborne, LEC President •  Melissa.osborne@afaalaska.org • 415-275-1322
        Aladrian Hillmon, LEC Vice President • Aladrian.hillmon@afaalaska.org •  415-991-3791
        James Ikehara, LEC Secretary •  James.ikehara@afaalaska.org  • 415-289-9011
        Bradley Young, Council Representative • Bradley.young@afaalaska.org • 916-508-3503

        Filed Under: Council 35 SFO Tagged With: bid awards, bidding, Council 35, COVID-19, leave of absence, leaves of absence, Reserve, SFO, staffing adjustment

        AFA Update – April 10, 2020

        April 10, 2020 18:00

        In This Edition

        • Temporary Commuter Policy Expansion to Include Other Airlines
        • Reserve Bidding Information
        • Hawaii Turns
        • Pre-Cancellation (10.S) Quick Reference Flow Chart
        • AFL-CIO COVID-19 Resource Guide

        Temporary Commuter Policy Expansion to Include Other Airlines

        Master Executive Council (MEC)

        In the wake of the significant flight schedule reduction throughout the airline industry, AFA and management have agreed to expand section 28.G [Domicile: Commuter Policy] of the JCBA to temporarily include flights operated on other airlines (OAL) in addition to flights operated by Alaska and Alaska capacity purchase agreement (CPA) flights operated by Horizon and Skywest.  The temporary agreement allows OALs to be used to meet the two consecutive scheduled flight requirement in section 28.G.1.b.  Registered air commuters utilizing this provision should be prepared to provide Crew Scheduling with relevant flight information for verification (e.g. air carrier, flight number, city pair, scheduled departure time, projected or actual departure time, reason for delay).

        The temporary agreement is effective immediately and will remain in effect until May 31, 2020.  Registered air commuters are encouraged to review section 28.G. of the JCBA as well as AFA LOA 2020-04-07 [Commuter Policy and Utilizing Other Airline (OAL) Carriers During COVID-19 Schedule Disruptions] which details the specifics of the temporary expansion.  

        Questions?

        Please contact your LEC Officers with any questions about the temporary expansion of the commuter policy.


        Reserve Bidding Information

        Scheduling Committee–PBS Subcommittee 

        Your AFA PBS Subcommittee wants to offer assistance to those of you who might be on reserve for the first time in many years OR for those of you choosing to bid a reserve line.  A Bidding for Reserve guide can be found at the inflight website under schedule & bidding > line bidding > PBS QA/Help.  The guide can also be accessed directly by clicking here.  

        The PBS Subcommittee anticipates being extremely busy this month and will respond to emails as quickly as possible given the increased volume of correspondence. However, with the sheer number of people affected, there is no possible way to help everyone individually with entering a Reserve bid. Prior to contacting the PBS Subcommittee, please review the Bidding for Reserve guide.  It will likely answer most, if not all, of your questions and provides examples of multiple bidding scenarios.  

        When the May lineholder and reserve numbers are posted on the PBS Info Page you will have a better idea where you fall in your base. Check your May bidding order number on the inflight website > Schedule and Bidding > Line Bidding > Seniority List. Compare your bidding number to the May numbers for your base on the PBS Info Page. This comparison will help you determine if you can possibly hold a line or will likely be on reserve. Some Flight Attendants senior to you may choose to bid for a reserve schedule but specific details such as “who?” or “how many?” will not be available this until bidding closes. 

        The current situation is unprecedented in the history of our airline.  Your PBS Subcommittee  appeals to you to try and manage your bids on your own this month as the need for help will be unprecedented. 

        Questions?

        Please send all requests for assistance to the PBS Subcommittee group email at pbs.qa@alaskaair.com.  This group inbox is regularly monitored by all Subcommittee Members and will ensure that you receive the fastest possible response.  Alternately, you can also contact your Local Reserve Committee for assistance.


        Hawaii Turns

        Master Executive Council (MEC)

        With the previously announced reduction in flying, Hawaii flying is being reduced to two daily roundtrips from the mainland—one from SEA and one from LAX.  AFA and management have agreed to continue operating Hawaii flying as turns through the end of June out of an abundance of caution and due to the State of Hawaii’s quarantine requirements.  Effective Thursday, April 16, these turns will be operated in accordance with AFA LOA 2020-04-10 [Hawaii Turns Due to COVID-19 Restrictions].  Key provisions of this LOA include:

        • The 4-person crew (A, B, C, and D position) will work both legs of the turn.
        • Turns will be augmented with two additional Flight Attendants; one of the additional Flight Attendants will work to Hawaii as an augmented crewmember (E position) and deadhead back to the mainland.  The other additional Flight Attendant will deadhead to Hawaii and work back to the mainland as an augmented crewmember.
        • All Flight Attendants will be paid two times (2.0x) the rate of pay for any TFP flown on a Hawaii turn.
        • For the remainder of April, F/As will receive compensatory “double-out” rest at the end of a Hawaii turn sequence.  Beginning in May, regular domicile rest will apply. 
        • Crew rest seats and breaks will be provided (see the LOA for specifics).
        • Reserves may be assigned Hawaii turns

        The May bid packet will contain pre-built Hawaii turn sequences that are available for bidding through PBS.  Flight Attendants who would like to bid for these trips will need to opt-in using the corresponding “Allow Long Duty (4k) Pairings” waiver.

        Questions?

        If you have any questions about Hawaii turn sequences, please contact your LEC Officers or Local Scheduling Committee.


        Pre-Cancellation (10.S) Quick Reference Flow Chart

        Scheduling Committee

        The number of changes being loaded into the flight schedule by management have driven a record amount of pre-cancellation activity over the past several weeks.  To help Flight Attendants better understand the provisions of section 10.S [Scheduling: Pre-Cancellations] of the JCBA along with the recently enacted AFA LOA 2020-03-28 [Pre-Cancellations Due to COVID-19 Schedule Changes], our Scheduling Committee has made a quick reference flow chart available outlining how pre-cancellations work.  You can access this flow chart by clicking here.

        Note: The MEC wishes to thank MEC Inflight Training Committee Member Justin Wetherell for formatting the flow chart and the Local Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Members for providing valuable input and feedback.

        Questions?

        If you have any questions regarding pre-cancellations, please contact your Local Scheduling Committee.


        AFL-CIO COVID-19 Resource Guide

        AFA and CWA are affiliated with the AFL-CIO, a voluntary federation of over 55 national and international labor unions.  The AFL-CIO has put together a state-by-state guide of resources, programs, and benefits available to workers affected by COVID-19.  You can find the guide on the AFL-CIO website under COVID-19 resources or by clicking here.

        Filed Under: Latest News, Master Executive Council (MEC), Preferential Bidding System (PBS), Reserve Committee, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2020, bidding, Commuter Policy, COVID-19, Hawaii, novel coronavirus, pre-cancellation, Reserve

        [L-AS] Transition Training Bidding Re-Open

        May 8, 2018 17:30

        This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

        AFA has been advised of a processing error involving the time that Transition Training bidding was closed within the bidding system.  According to the Airbus Transition Training Letter of Agreement, bidding was supposed to close on Friday, May 4, 2018 at 5 PM Pacific time.  In actuality, bidding closed at 9 AM Pacific time.

        As a result of this error, Transition Training bidding has been reopened to allow additional time to enter and modify bids.  Bidding will now close tomorrow, May 9, 2018, at 5 PM Pacific time.  If you have already submitted a Transition Training bid, your original bid has been saved and will remain on file.  If you submit a new bid at this point in time, any new bid will override your previously submitted bid.

        As a reminder, it is important that you bid enough dates for Transition Training to ensure that you are awarded one of your preferred slots.  If you do not bid or do not bid enough dates, you will be assigned a Transition Training date by Crew Planning.

        In Solidarity,

        Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

        Filed Under: AS/VX Merger, Inflight Training Committee, Latest News Tagged With: 2018, bidding, transition training

        [AS] PBS Update – May 2017

        May 3, 2017 17:00

        A message from your AFA PBS Committee

        There have been a few recent changes with PBS with more to come!  We’ll talk more about that in a moment but first we’ll cover the basics.  Please read along and hopefully you’ll have a better understanding of our bidding program.

        First, a reminder that the PBS Committee is here to help you specifically with your bids.  We aren’t trained to assist you with questions unrelated to bidding such as IMD help, Crew Access/trading questions, vacation trading, payroll, etc.  Those types of questions are best addressed to the Alaska IT desk, your payroll analyst or your Local AFA Scheduling Committee.  Their names and email addresses are always on the PBS Info Page as part of the monthly pairing information for your base.

        Helpful Hints 

        The program reads your bids from the top down

        This is one of the most important things people need to remember when bidding. If you want to ‘Prefer Off’ certain days or want to ‘Avoid’ something for the entire month then you need to say so at the top of your bid, at minimum prior to your first ‘Award’ line.  Whatever is most important to you (days off, avoiding redeyes, etc.) should come first. Certain lines such as Waive rules or Set Conditions will automatically be at the beginning and can’t be moved.  Prefer Off and Avoid lines entered after Award lines do not apply to the previous Award lines…since the program reads the bid from the top down those lines will not yet apply.  If you’re bidding for a pairing that would violate any of your Prefer Off or Avoid lines, then the pairing would have to be requested higher in the bid than those lines.

        If you enter anything in your ‘Current’ bid, even one line, then your ‘Current’ bid is used to build your schedule

        The program doesn’t skip from Current bid to Default bid…it’s one or the other.  If you are intending for the program to read your Default bid, check to make sure you haven’t accidentally entered any line in your ‘Current’ bid.  Making this mistake is not considered a valid bid protest.

        A line preceded by a number was a line entered by you…lines without a preceding number are supposed to be there and are auto-generated by the program.  See the PBS Info Page for an example.

        Do you prefer to be on Reserve?

        If so, you must begin your bid with ‘Start Reserve Bid’.  Then enter ‘Start Reserve’ and follow that with your reserve preferences.  With so much growth lately, you may be surprised that you held a line of pairings and didn’t want one.  The program tries to build everyone a line of pairings if mathematically possible.  If you prefer Reserve, you must start your bid with ‘Start Reserve Bid’.

        On the cusp of Lineholder and Reserve?  You may want to ‘Waive’!

        Many of you that are on the cusp of lineholder and reserve may not realize you might need to ‘waive’ certain contractual rules in order to hold a line of pairings.

        Waiving down to ‘Allow 24 Hours Off in 7 Days’ and waiving the ‘No Same-Day Pairings’ rule could be the only way for you to hold a line.  If you see others junior to you holding a line and you didn’t, it’s quite possible it was only because they ‘waived’ those rules.

        Check your bidding number on the seniority list on the Inflight webpage at the beginning of each month.  Then check the PBS Info Page for the number of reserve lines in your base for the next month.  This will help you to determine how close you are to still being on reserve.  If you’re close to the bottom lineholders then you need to strongly consider entering those ‘waive’ lines if you hope to be awarded a line of pairings instead of reserve.

        Layover rest is not the same as ‘legal rest’

        For bidding purposes, your ’48 Hours Off in 7 Days’ rest (or 24 Hours Off in 7 Days if ‘waiving’) must be at your domicile, not on a layover.  A layover does not count as contractual rest during line construction. You are able to waive this rule during trading on Crew Access, allowing layover rest to count towards CFR’s, but not during bidding.

        Prefer Off ‘Day of Week’ bids are no longer ‘forgettable’

        Maybe people don’t use ‘Forget’ and ‘Redo From’…if you don’t use these then you don’t need to worry about this.

        If you still wish to forget a bid involving a day off, you’ll need to use ‘Prefer Off’ by using a specific date.  Instead of saying ‘Prefer Off Fridays’ with the plan to later forget that line, you’d need to ask for individual Fridays off by date.  You will now be able to later ‘forget’ that line.

        Are you changing bases this month?

        With so much hiring lately there is a lot of movement between bases. Your default bid will not carry over when you change bases. You’ll have to re-enter your default bid. Print it out before the move so you have something to help you re-enter your old default bid when next month’s bidding in your new base opens.

        Our most frequent question during Bid Protest

        Why didn’t I hold a line while others below me did?  Did those people below you have vacation TFP?  A carry-in trip?  This gives them TFP credit that you didn’t have when it tried to build them a line. Were you illegal for a trip on the 1st of the month due to your flying the end of the previous month?  Maybe that small reason prevented you from holding a line since you couldn’t take a pairing on the 1st or 2nd.  Did they ‘waive’ the ‘No Same Day Pairings’ rule and/or allow for ’24 Hours Off in 7 Days’ and you didn’t?  Did they enter the waive for the ‘Co-Term’ rule if in LAX?  Did they allow for ‘4k’ flying and you didn’t?

        Trust us in that the program will always try and build you a line if mathematically possible when taking your legalities and bids into consideration.  It wants to build everyone a line in order to ‘cover’ the operation and staff every pairing if possible.

        Line awards and Coverage Reports are now posted on the Inflight webpage 

        For the line awards, visit the Inflight website > Schedule and Bidding > Line Bidding > PBS Awards.   The line awards are now showing ‘color coding’…different colors for normally awarded pairings, Coverage pairings, normally awarded Reserve days and Coverage Reserve days.

        A recent program update made the following changes to PBS:

        Navtech is now ‘NAVBLUE’.  They were purchased last year by Airbus and they’ve chosen to change the name of their new subsidiary.

        Any mention of Arctic number has been replaced with Employee number.  This refers to your 7-digit PeopleSoft number.

        Your ‘Calendar’ no longer shows pilot-related FAR 117 numbers.  Also, most pilot-related information has been removed from your personal information

        New terminology for some ‘Set Condition’ bids makes them clearer.  For example: The previous ‘Minimum Days Off’ is now ‘Minimum Days Off In A Row’, ‘Maximum Days On’ is now ‘Maximum Days On In A Row’ and ‘Consecutive Days Off’ is now ‘Consecutive Days Off In A Row’.

        Color coding of line awards on the posted line awards.  Different colors designate pairings (or on-call days) if they were assigned during the normal award process or were assigned as a ‘Coverage’ pairing or reserve day.

        Welcome to Adam Clarey!

        Adam was selected by the MEC as a new member of the Joint PBS Committee!  He is currently Seattle-based and has been a Flight Attendant for 13 years. Other AFA joint committee members include Rebecca Asbell (PDXFA) and Stephen Poynter (SEAFA).  Alaska Airlines joint committee members are Inflight Crew Planners Kelly Yeager and Sabrina Blevins.

        Upcoming PBS Changes

        There’s been some confusion between the changes to our crew tracking program (Crew Access/JCE) and upcoming changes to PBS.  These are of course two separate programs. Here’s what’s changing with Navblue’s PBS program:

        We recently went to a new look to the Inflight webpage…that’s called a ‘user interface’. Navblue is transitioning all of their customers to a new ‘user interface’ by the end of 2017.  The new Navblue website will have the same internal programming but it’s how you interact with the program that will be changing.  It’s a whole new ‘look’ but after taking some time with it we believe everyone will grow accustomed to it and maybe even like it better than the current version.

        Navblue’s new user interface was designed to be more tablet-friendly.  It also allows you to work on your bids when off-line, saving your work to submit later when you’re back on the Internet. It utilizes ‘filtering’ when searching for pairings and allows easy transferring of desired pairing numbers onto your bid.   Color-coding of bid lines will help you see more clearly the structure of your bids…and will hopefully make it more obvious when a bid is in the wrong place!

        We anticipate introducing the new Navblue website to everyone in mid-July after bidding is finished.  You’ll be able to use both the current and the new websites for a three month period and then the ‘off switch’ will be flipped on the current version. By mid-October we plan on using only the new website going forward.

        We’re not going to sugar-coat it…it is definitely different and you will need to allow some time to learn how to use the new PBS website.  Our best advice is that you don’t wait until the last minute!  During the three-month transition period use the new program as often as you can. Changes made to your bid on either the current or new version will be reflected on both websites. Whichever version you last submit your bids on will be the bid that is processed.  If you’re struggling, make sure your default bid will carry you until you feel more proficient in using the new website. There will be training support to help you through this transition…PowerPoint presentations, videos and live help at your base.

        Thanks for reading!  For help with your bidding, email PBS.QA@alaskaair.com

        Filed Under: Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Tagged With: 2017, bidding, PBS, pmAS

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