Management did not allow Flight Attendants to use the Ground Commuting Policy for the recent snowstorms

AFA filed Grievance 36-99-2-30-19 Violation of Section (§) 28.G.2 [Ground Commuting Policy] prior to close of regular business hours yesterday. This contractual grievance alleges the Company violated Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement §28.G.2 when management did not allow Flight Attendants to use the Ground Commuting Policy during the February 2019 Pacific Northwest snowstorms. Management’s stated reasoning for the denials is because apparently management does not consider snowstorm-related ground commuting failures to be unanticipated. 

AFA disagrees with management’s interpretation

AFA disagrees with management’s interpretation for all the reasons obvious to Flight Attendants. After AFA filed the grievance, AFA leadership requested that management provide notice to Flight Attendants by publicly disclosing its position on the issue. Management subsequently posted an alert on the World of Inflight homepage in response to that request.

The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes it was very short-sighted of management to deny Flight Attendant access to the ground commuting failure provisions for this weather event. A Flight Attendant who has experienced a ground commuting failure is contractually required to be utilized for other flying pursuant to the Commuter Policy recovery provisions in §28.G.3. How was it more beneficial to the operation to have Flight Attendants be granted Management Drops (§32.C.14) or charged with No Shows (§32.C.1)? Neither carries a subsequent scheduling obligation and Flight Attendants are assessed points for both under the Attendance Policy in Section 32. It’s a “lose, lose” for everyone.

Open a new ticket at the AFA Alaska Online Support Center for snowstorm-related concerns

AFA will be meeting with management in the near future to discuss various concerns related to the snowstorm operations. If you have any concerns related to the severe weather (e.g. transportation, hotels, irregular ops scheduling or pay inquiries, Attendance Policy points assessed as a result of ground commuting failures, et cetera), please open a new ticket at the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. Fill out the appropriate information, select “Feb 2019 Pacific NW Snowstorm” under the “Help Topic” dropdown menu and provide as much documentation as possible (including screenshots, pictures, etc.). We kindly request that tickets be submitted by 9am PT on Tuesday, February 19, so that AFA can present your concerns to management in a timely manner.

Be assured that AFA will continue advocating on behalf of our members and defending our contract!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee; MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams; and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones