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Bidding Deadline Extended

We are aware of some issues with some Flight Attendants not being able to submit their bids.  This is related to a change in terminology with ‘Forget’ and ‘Redo’.  Another issue discovered is being able to ‘Forget’ one type of bid line is not working properly.  The new functionality is designed to maximize the number of days off you get with the prefer off bid.

In both the previous and new functionality, if a complete line cannot be built in the first completion attempt, it will go into top down inclusion:

  • In the previous functionality, when top down inclusion got to the prefer off day of week bid, it would add them in date order, trying to build a line with each additional date.
  • In the new functionality, when top down inclusion gets to the prefer off day of week bid, it will look at all possibilities to maximize the total number of that day that you get off.  It attempts to build a line with at least 1 of that day off, then at least 2 of that day off, etc.  It continues this process and attempts get as many of those days off in the completed line as it can.

Because of this changed functionality it was determined that a ‘forget’ was not necessary for this bid as it is attempting all possible combinations to get the best possible result.  As an alternative, you can use ‘Avoid Pairings if Departing On Friday’ instead of ‘Prefer Off Friday’ as that would be forgettable.  Also, using ‘Avoid Pairings if Duty on Friday’ could be used an alternative as well.

As a reminder, all negative (prefer off, avoid) bids should be placed in the order of priority in your bid group. Bids are read in order of importance from the top down.

Considering these issues and new functionalities, we have extended the bidding window.  Bidding will now close on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at 09:00. Bid results will still be published at the regularly scheduled time.

*** Please note, the date for Open Time trading will NOT change. ***

Once again, we apologize for any confusion these issues have caused. We are in contact with Navblue and are working on a solution to ensure programming changes are communicated to us well in advance of bidding.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or need PBS help, please email PBS.QA@alaskaair.com.

Important! PBS Bidding Issue

A message from your PBS Committee

We are currently seeing an issue with some people not being able to submit their bids.  It is related to a change in terminology with ‘Forget’ and ‘Redo’.
If you are unable to ‘submit’, check your Default bid to make sure that there are not any ‘Redo From’ lines that are all alone…with no ‘Forget’ line coming before it.  That is what is preventing you from being able to ‘submit’ your Current or Default bid.  You will need to delete the stand-alone ‘Redo From’ line(s) in order to be able to submit your bids. Then add new ‘Forget Line’ and ‘Redo From Line’ bids if desired.
Also, if you are someone that likes to copy a previous month’s bid and paste it into your Current bid, you’ll need to re-enter any Forget and Redo From lines from scratch.  If you try copying/pasting, don’t include any ‘Forget’ or any ‘Redo From’ lines when moving the old bid to this month’s Current bid.
Another issue is that being able to ‘forget’ one type of bid line is not working properly.  You will not see any ‘Prefer Off’ by day of week lines showing up on the list of lines you can ‘forget’. A work-around is to ask for those days by date, not day of week…they now show on the list and are ‘forgettable’.
For example, instead of saying ‘Prefer Off Friday’, you will need to say ‘Prefer Off May 5, May 12, May 19, May 26’…now you will see that line on the list of lines you can ‘forget’ later in the bid.  If you don’t plan on ‘forgetting’ Fridays then you would not need to do this and can simply enter ‘Prefer Off Friday’.
We apologize for these issues…we weren’t notified in advance about this.  The problem stems from Navblue changing the terminology from ‘Forget’ to ‘Forget Line’ and from ‘Redo From’ to ‘Redo From Line’.
For help, email PBS.QA@alaskaair.com

Spreadsheet for November Pairings

We have created an Excel spreadsheet to review all the pairings that have been created and awarded in the ANC base.  We are excited to share that spreadsheet with all of you.

Click the following link to view the Pairings Spreadsheet:  Nov 16 Bid.xlsx

The spreadsheet contains:

  • Pairings (Pairing Numbers)
  • Days (Length of Pairing)
  • C/I (Check In Times)
  • C/O (Check-Out Times)
  • TAFB (Time Away From Base) which is listed as hours and minutes
  • ADC (Average Daily Credit)
  • Pay TFP (Total TFP you will be paid if trip is flown.  Inclusive of MPRs)
  • Sit TFP (Indicates how much tfp of Sit Pay is in the pairing)
  • TAFB/TFP (Time Away From Base per TFP value)
  • Duty Legs
  • D/H (DH legs)
  • L/O (Layover Location)
  • Compensation (inclusive of sit pay and per diem) and you can change the TFP Rate (located in the upper right corner of the spreadsheet) to reflect your step rate amount which will adjust the compensation column to reflect the accurate amount each individual FA will receive at their rate of pay.
  • Days (the days of the month that pairing operates)

We hope you find this information helpful and would appreciate your feedback.  If you find value in the document, we will do our best to provide it for you each month. If you have any questions about the spreadsheet, please contact us at anc@afaalaska.org.

2017 Vacation Rebid

AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to a first-round vacation rebid in order to resolve a valid system-wide vacation bid protest. Why? The new Inflight website allowed Flight Attendants to bid for vacation dates outside of 2017, and the issue was discovered in the awards process.

As reported last night, the good news is that your initial bid will be retained. As a result, you will not need to do anything if you are satisfied with your initial bid. However, you may revise your bid if desired.

New 2017 vacation bidding timeline

The new timeline for the 2017 vacation bids will be as follows:

  • 1st round rebid opens: Friday, September 30, 2016 – by noon PDT
  • 1st round rebid closes: Thursday, October 6, 2016 @ 11:59 PM PDT
  • 1st round awards posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2016
  • 2nd round bidding opens: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 @ 12:01 AM PDT
  • 2nd round bidding closes: Thursday, October 20, 2016 @ 11:59 PM PDT
  • 2nd round awards posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Vacation trading is on schedule

Vacation trading for 2017 opens as originally scheduled on Friday, October 28, 2016, at the previously agreed to times for each domicile.

Instructions for Flight Attendants with illegal vacation bids outside of 2017

Flight Attendants who inadvertently submitted a first-round vacation bid containing days outside the 2017 calendar year are highly encouraged to revise their bid because those bids are illegal. If your initial vacation bid included individual bid lines with start and end dates both outside of 2017 and if you do not adjust your bid prior to the rebid closing, then management will adjust the year of each illegal bid line to 2017 for you.

Again, we strongly suggest that you correct any illegal bid lines yourself to make sure you are bidding for the intended date. Any individual vacation bid lines including 2017 year-end overlap (either January or December) will be removed (i.e. ignored/skipped) prior to the awards process if left unchanged.

Management has agreed to individually contact those affected via email to advise them of the rebid. Management will also contact Flight Attendants who initially submitted a bid completely outside of 2017 at the F/As’ respective primary contact phone number on file with the Company.

* * *

If you have any questions or concerns contact one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

***Update*** 2017 Vacation Awards System-Wide Bid Protest

AFA and Alaska Airlines management have been working hard to resolve the technical errors with the first round vacation bids. The parties have agreed to a system-wide rebid. The good news is that your initial bids will be retained, so you will not need to do anything if you are satisfied with your initial bid. However, there will be an opportunity for all Flight Attendants to revise bids if desired. The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes the improved system will have the ability to confirm multiple slots in the same month.

 

We know you may have a number of questions, but be assured that both parties will communicate more information tomorrow.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

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