AFA Alaska + Hawaiian

Representing the Flight Attendants of Alaska + Hawaiian

Click here to report an issue to AFA
You are here: Home / Archives for bids

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

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

2017 Vacation Awards System-Wide Bid Protest

The 2017 vacation awards are being pulled by mutual agreement of AFA and Alaska Airlines management in order to investigate the accuracy of the awards. AFA is protesting the awards system-wide on behalf of our members. The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes a complete re-award is in order due to a multitude of technical errors. Considering the system did not receive adequate end-user testing, we are not surprised this “beta” (test) version may be malfunctioning. It is unfortunate that Flight Attendants were forced to test drive the system with their actual vacation bids.

 

Stand by for more information.

 

In Solidarity,

 

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

Wrapping Up Membership Engagement Focus Month: Stronger Together

July was a remarkable month for our Membership Engagement Committee. We set out with a clear purpose: to bring our Flight Attendant community closer together, share valuable resources, and build authentic connections throughout our system. Over the past four weeks, we explored what it means to be engaged in our AFA family. We kicked things […]

Benefits Committee Meeting Recap – July 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Wednesday, July 22, our pre-merger Alaska Benefits Committee Chairpersons met for their regular monthly meeting. This meeting was an internal AFA-only meeting and did not involve management.  Representing you at the meeting were Ava McWilliams Ellington (LAX), Linda Gunselman (PDX), Sonia Quackenbush (SAN), Kathy O’Malley (SEA), […]

Discover The AFA Online Learning Academy

As part of Membership Engagement Committee Focus Month, we’re excited to spotlight one of our core missions: empowering you with knowledge and confidence to participate more fully in our Union. When we understand how our Union works, we strengthen our collective voice and create a more engaged community. To help you on this journey, we’re […]

Scheduling Committee Meeting Recap – July 2026

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants On Tuesday, July 21, our pre-merger Alaska AFA Scheduling Committee Chairpersons and Representatives met in person at Alaska Global Training Center to discuss their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants and push for improvements in our workplace. Representing you at the meeting were Rebekah Olds (ANC), […]

Joint Contract Negotiations Session 17 – July 2026

This session, the JNC focused on refining the Reserve survey to ensure a comprehensive representation of member concerns. Significant progress was also made on Section 23 (Insurance Benefits), with proposals aimed at enhancing Flight Attendant protections and securing tailored insurance provisions. Additionally, productive discussions continued on Section 30 (Training). Further improvements are anticipated pending management’s response to our latest proposal.

Recent Posts

News By Month

News By Category

AFA News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/HA Merger AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX (pmAS) Council 19 SEA (pmAS) Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX Council 43 HNL Council 47 LAX/SEA (pmHA) EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights & Equity Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Membership Engagement Committee Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee

Want To Stay In The Loop?

Stay up-to-date on AFA Alaska + Hawaiian news and information by signing up for our email and text message updates. Click a button below to get started or update your preferences if you're already a subscriber.
Sign Up for Emails
Sign Up for Text Updates