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Open Time Negotiations Update – Tentative Agreement

A (not so) brief history of Open Time

Due to Flight Attendant dissatisfaction with Open Time that existed at the time, AFA and management negotiated a new Open Time trading system in the 2014-2019 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Because the parties were unsure how well the new system would work for everyone, we agreed to a trial period, in which we could try out the system before it became permanent. 

AFA heard loud and clear after several months of surveying that a majority of Flight Attendants were dissatisfied with the new system, so the Master Executive Council (MEC) cancelled the trial in July 2016. Under the terms of the contract, that meant AFA and management would start negotiating a new Open Time system, which began in November 2016. Meanwhile, management was supposed to have the trip trading system roll back to the prior Open Time trading rules (known as “Back to Book”) while the parties negotiated another system.

Flash forward to the present

If only it were that easy. The path to a new Open Time system has been challenged at nearly every turn: numerous programming delays, transition to a brand-new trip trading system, returning to a second round of negotiations with a mandate to achieve implementation guarantees, and an intervening merger. After nearly two and a half years, AFA and management have finally reached an Open Time tentative agreement (TA) that has been approved by the MEC for membership ratification.

Before starting negotiations in late 2016, AFA surveyed Flight Attendant to determine which features a new Open Time system must have and which would be unacceptable. The Negotiating Committee believes we have achieved an Open Time system that is worthy of your consideration. 

TA details

Click here for the Open Time TA 2019 info page >

This is a one-stop shop for all the resources you will need:

  • Important dates
  • Full text language of the Open Time TA 2019
  • Supplemental documents
  • Links to historical Open Time negotiations updates
  • Details about the Open Time TA presentation
  • The Negotiating Committee’s contact info
  • Voting info

Open Time TA live presentation

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Time: 9 AM ~ 11 AM PT (morning session) and 1 PM ~ 3 PM PT (afternoon session)

Location: Four Points by Sheraton Seattle Airport South, 22406 Pacific Highway South, Des Moines, WA 98198

Parking: Free parking is available at the Four Points hotel in the parking deck on the back side of the hotel and in the adjacent lot.

Transportation: If you are attending from out-of-town, please call the hotel directly at (253) 642-0100 to arrange for free hotel shuttle service once you arrive at the airport.

Open Time TA presentation broadcast and compilation video

Although there have been local “save the date” communications regarding a presentation on April 30th, AFA understands this is the first confirmed notice. No worries if you cannot make it because we will also broadcast the presentation sessions live on the AFA Alaska YouTube Channel, which may be accessed via the Open Time TA 2019 info page. AFA also plans to release a recorded compilation video of the two sessions so that all Flight Attendants will have access to the Open Time TA presentation no matter where you are and whenever you have free time.

Voting

Voting opens on Monday, May 6 at 9 AM PT and closes on Friday, May 31 at 9 AM PT. Once your ballot is cast, you may not change your vote. You must be an active member in good standing* at AFA Alaska on the day of the ballot count in order for your vote to be tallied. Please vote!

In Solidarity, 

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

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

* Active member in good standing: AFA-CWA member, actively flying or continuing to pay dues each month while on a leave of absence, and dues no more than 30 days in arrears.) For additional information or assistance regarding dues or balloting, contact AFA-CWA Membership Services at 800-424-2401, Monday through Friday (closed major holidays) from 9 AM to 5 PM ET.

Open Time Negotiations Update – March 2018

There is a lot of history to Open Time negotiations. See the following communications for additional information:

AFA and management have reached an Open Time agreement in concept

The AFA Negotiating Committee* (not the Joint Negotiating Committee) and Alaska Airlines management reached an agreement in concept for a new Open Time system back in December. However, the Negotiating Committee and the Master Executive Council (MEC) agreed that the best course of action prior to formalizing a tentative agreement (TA) was to determine how long it would take for Jeppesen to program the new system. So…management sent the programing requirements off to Jeppesen for an estimate. Then AFA waited…and waited.

Open Time vs. Merger

After repeated inquiries during the intervening period, AFA finally received the estimate from Jeppesen in early February. At that point, AFA was also on the cusp of reaching a Merger TA. Both efforts (Open Time and the Merger TA) would require significant programming resources from Jeppesen and Alaska Airlines IT that physically could not be done at the same time due to resource limitations.

The MEC was faced with making another challenging decision: Which goes first? On the one hand, Open Time implementation under the current contract has been hanging out there for a very long time, so it should be prioritized. On the other hand, going forward with Open Time first would very likely delay “Full Implementation” (i.e. Legacy Alaska and Legacy Virgin America flying together), which would also delay Legacy Virgin America (L-VX) FAs being brought into the full Legacy Alaska (L-AS) contractual work rules. A final complicating factor is that realistically it would not be possible to roadshow and vote on both a Merger TA and an Open Time TA at or around the same time. Plus, how would AFA attempt to explain the Open Time situation to L-VX when they are not even living with the current L-AS contractual trading rules?

Merger TA first, then Open Time

The MEC made the difficult decision to move forward with the Merger TA first and then tackle Open Time after the outcome of the Merger TA ratification vote is known. The benefit of this approach is that the Jeppesen programming resources formerly assigned to Open Time could be re-focused on achieving Full Implementation on time—if not early. The MEC realizes this approach will be frustrating to many, but we are doing our best make the most out of a largely no-win scenario.

More information will be forthcoming once the outcome of the Merger TA ratification vote is known, and the MEC has an opportunity to determine the best strategy going forward.

In Solidarity,

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

* Your AFA Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees, and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

[AS] Open Time Negotiations Update – December 2017

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants

[Note: This update is a long one, so you might want to save reading this until you have some down time. We apologize for the length, but it’s been awhile since the last Open Time update, so there is a lot to report.]

AFA Negotiating Committee and management started another round of negotiations to achieve a new Open Time system

The AFA Negotiating Committee and Alaska Airlines management met the week before Thanksgiving to once again negotiate a new Open Time (OT) system. Representing management: Vice President of Inflight & Call Center Services Jeff Butler, Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Managing Director of Labor Relations Elizabeth Ryan, Director of Inflight Crew Scheduling Denia Pisia, Inflight Operations Performance Manager Mike Link, Manager of Flight Crew Systems Support Sue Rawlings, and Financial Planning and Analysis Manager Brittany Schaub.

As you may recall, our current Open Time trading system was negotiated on a trial basis. AFA terminated the trial in summer 2016 based on overwhelming membership feedback. Under our collective bargaining agreement, this meant that the parties had to return to the OT system used in the previous contract (referred to as “Back to Book”) while negotiating a new system. Reverting Back to Book was understood to be dictated by IT limitations pursuant to CBA §12.F.9.a [Exchange of Sequences]. The Negotiating Committee (NC) and management negotiated several times in the fall of 2016 and the spring of 2017 and reached an agreement in concept for a new Open Time system; however, the Master Executive Council (MEC) ultimately decided to not send it out for membership ratification primarily because management would not agree to implementation guarantees for programming the new system.

More about Back to Book

All parties agreed back in 2014 that if the Open Time Trial were ended, programming Back to Book would take time because we knew that the entire Company was being transitioned to a new crew management system, which included a new crew tracking (scheduling) system. That is why AFA agreed to the language in CBA §12.F.9.a: “If reverting, the timeline for rolling back will be dictated by IT limitations.” Once the OT Trial was actually ended in summer 2016, the crew management system vendor Jeppesen was insistent that there were not sufficient resources available to program Back to Book until transition to the new system was complete in autumn 2016. Alaska Airlines management concurred with that assessment. Unfortunately, the transition to the new system was subsequently delayed until the end of January 2017.

Then Alaska Air Group announced the acquisition of Virgin America in spring 2016 and its intent to eventually merge Virgin America into the Alaska Airlines operation. The merger further complicated what management and Jeppesen is attributing to “IT limitations.” AFA filed a contractual grievance, and management subsequently sustained that grievance, which means management agrees it has a contractual responsibility to direct Jeppesen to program Back to Book. However, the estimated projection for actually achieving Back to Book keeps getting pushed farther and farther out into the future.

Yes, AFA could attempt to achieve a faster programming of Back to Book through the grievance process, but any outcome through mediation or arbitration is far from certain and can take much longer than is desirable here.

Negotiating changes to the current Open Time system

Recently, management asked the MEC if we would consider having the Negotiating Committee negotiate changes to the current Open Time system instead of simply going Back to Book and hashing it out from there. The MEC agreed to give it a try for at least a couple negotiating sessions, and that is where we are now. Why did the MEC agree to that?

The old (Back to Book) Open Time system was not universally liked. In fact, there was fairly widespread dissatisfaction with it, which is why AFA sought to negotiate something else during the 2011-2014 negotiations in the first place. If the OT Trial were ended, reverting Back to Book was intended only as a safety net (“the devil you know versus the devil you don’t know”) while the Negotiating Committee negotiated a new system. Back to Book was never intended as a permanent solution, and the MEC believes going Back to Book will not make everyone—or perhaps not even most—happy.

To make matters worse, Alaska Airlines management and Jeppesen are currently estimating the “go live” date for Back to Book as sometime in mid-2019 or potentially even later. Why? According to Jeppesen, this is because of the complexities of recreating the old Back to Book system (formerly in eMaestro) in the new Jeppesen Crew Access. Alaska Airlines management is saying the process is further complicated by IT limitations resulting from the merger. AFA is not agreeing to this crazy estimate or to the underlying reasoning, but rather the MEC and the Negotiating Committee are simply passing this information along to you in full transparency.

AFA and management believe that by tweaking the current Open Time system it is possible we may deliver a new OT system to you that would result in higher overall satisfaction for the membership and sooner than going Back to Book. The Negotiating Committee made it clear from the outset that certain features of the current system had to remain intact, such as our ability to straight drop. (The Back to Book system would not allow straight drops.) We also intend to allow up-trading, a much-improved ability for day-for-day trading and the elimination of trading codes. At the same time, the Negotiating Committee recognizes management has an operation to run and that too many uncovered trips in OT make it very difficult to do so. It is definitely a balancing act to ensure all flights are covered while affording flight attendants meaningful schedule flexibility.

Negotiating session report

That said, we had a productive session. Jeff Butler seems motivated to get this done, and management brought an IT expert to the table for the first time. The Negotiating Committee made a proposal that we believe meets the needs and expectations of our members, and the NC was pleased to learn that management thought the proposal seemed like a good foundation. Management made a reasonable counter proposal, and the NC provided collaborative feedback to their counter. Management is taking time to cost the latest proposal and determine what it might mean for the operation.

The parties have agreed to reconvene this week December 5-7, and the Negotiating Committee is cautiously optimistic that we may reach an agreement this session. We will update you again following the session. Remember that any agreement in concept will first go to the MEC to determine if the agreement will be released to the membership for ratification. The MEC has repeatedly pledged that if the MEC approves a tentative agreement (TA), the TA will go out membership ratification so that you will have the final say in the matter.

In Solidarity,

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

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees, and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

[AS] Open Time Update – September 2, 2017

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants

What is “Back to Book”?

The “Back to Book” Open Time system is the trading system outlined in the 2006-2010 Flight Attendant Agreement as modified by the 2011 AFA Arbitration Award No. 6-99-2-18-11 “Withholding Open Time.” This modified trading system was in place 2012-2015. The contractual language associated with this system is found in CBA §12.F [Exchange of Sequences – Back to Book: Open Time Trading]. The “Back to Book” Section 12 Exchange of Sequences follows the regular Section 12 and precedes Section 13 Uniforms in your contract. The arbitration award follows LOA 6 Contract Implementation Schedule and precedes the index.

What is the Status of “Back to Book”?

It has been three months since our last Open Time update (“Open Time Negotiations Update – June 1, 2017”), so it is not a surprise that Flight Attendants have been inquiring about the “Back to Book” Open Time system. As indicated in the last update, AFA filed a grievance earlier in the summer disputing management’s failure to to provide sufficient IT resources for reverting Back to Book. That grievance was subsequently sustained by management, which essentially means management agrees with AFA’s position. Management further agreed to remedy the situation by contracting with Jeppesen to program Back to Book.

It is ridiculous that a whole year has passed after ending the Open Time Trial, yet very little progress has been made toward actually programming Back to Book into the new Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) crew tracking and trip trading system. Management has been citing “IT limitations” as the reason why reverting Back to Book is still so delayed. (“If reverting, the timeline for rolling back will be dictated by IT limitations” per §12.F.9.a [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial]). Management and Jeppesen claim that all available resources have been allocated to implementation of JCA.

Representatives from the Master Executive Council (MEC) and Alaska Airlines management have met several times recently to have frank discussions about the entire situation. Some of these meetings have included representatives from Jeppesen. The MEC’s goal in these meetings has been to achieve implementation guarantees for programming the new Open Time Tentative Agreement (TA) reached back in May and/or programming Back to Book. As you may recall, the MEC unanimously voted against releasing the Open Time TA due to a lack of implementation guarantees. Unfortunately, the meetings have been depressing.

Management is not inclined to agree to implementation guarantees without confident estimates about when the work would be completed. Further complicating the programming of a replacement Open Time system is the reality that Jeppesen and Alaska management have limited resources. Those resources are stretched even more thinly due to merger-related projects that have aggressive deadlines and several key staffing changes at Jeppesen and in Inflight management.

Finally, the eMaestro system is totally and irrevocably gone. Jeppesen cannot simply ‘flip a switch’ and resurrect eMaestro and/or Back to Book Open Time. Going Back to Book requires Jeppesen to completely replicate the Back to Book trading rules in JCA. Even if implementation were seamless, the “new” Back to Book system would have a significantly different look and feel than in eMaestro.

The very preliminary estimate for programming Back to Book is late summer next year. Based on our recent and ongoing experience with JCA implementation, let’s just say that the MEC does not have confidence that Back to Book—or a completely new Open Time system—will be implemented on time or without glitches.

AFA and management are meeting again early next week to discuss our options. The MEC will provide another update after that meeting. After all the disappointments with extremely delayed implementation timelines and a disastrously executed transition to the new trip trading system, you deserve better!

In Solidarity,

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

[AS] Open Time Negotiations Update – June 1, 2017

For release to pre-merger AS councils only

Open Time Tentative Agreement reached

Your Negotiating Committee recently reached an agreement in concept with Alaska Airlines management regarding a new Open Time system. As a reminder, the Master Executive Council (MEC) ended the Open Time Trial last July (see “Open Time Trial Cancellation” for additional background). The MEC’s decision was based on overwhelming membership feedback from the Open Time satisfaction surveys and pursuant to Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.F.9 [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial]. The parties have been negotiating a potential successor Open Time system ever since AFA provided notice to management of the cancellation last summer.

The Negotiating Committee presented a draft full text Open Time Tentative Agreement (TA) for the MEC’s consideration two weeks ago. The MEC was impressed with many elements of the proposed new Open Time system, which is in many ways a fusion of the 2012-2015 “Back to Book” Open Time system and the current system. Some highlights of the proposed Open Time system include incorporating the beloved “day for day or greater” trading of Back to Book with the ability to drop into Open Time much like the current system.

The MEC unanimously voted against releasing the Open Time TA due to a lack of implementation guarantees

Despite the Negotiating Committee’s best efforts, management would not agree to implementation guarantees. The MEC and the Negotiating Committee held a special conference call meeting last week to discuss our concerns with a lack of such guarantees. After much consideration, the MEC has unanimously voted against releasing the Open Time TA for membership ratification.

The MEC has heard loud and clear that you expect meaningful and specific implementation guarantees. Therefore, the MEC is sending the Negotiating Committee back to the table to achieve implementation guarantees, and management has been informed of our expectations. Management acknowledged receipt and is planning to meet with Jeppesen in the coming week or so to discuss options.

What is “Back to Book”?

The “Back to Book” Open Time system is the trading system outlined in the 2006-2010 Flight Attendant Agreement as modified by the 2011 AFA Arbitration Award No. 6-99-2-18-11 “Withholding Open Time.” This modified trading system was in place 2012-2015. The contractual language associated with this system is found in CBA §12.F [Exchange of Sequences – Back to Book: Open Time Trading]. The “Back to Book” Section 12 Exchange of Sequences follows the regular Section 12 and precedes Section 13 Uniforms in your contract. The arbitration award follows LOA 6 Contract Implementation Schedule and precedes the index.

Where is “Back to Book”?

Flight Attendants have been inquiring where is the “Back to Book” Open Time system. Management has been citing “IT limitations” as the reason for why reverting “Back to Book” is still delayed: “If reverting, the timeline for rolling back will be dictated by IT limitations” (§12.F.9.a [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial]). Management says that Jeppesen has not had the resources to program “Back to Book” due to all available resources being allocated to implementation of the new crew tracking and trip trading system. However, the next scheduled update to the trading system places Alaska onto the “main branch” of the program, which is more or less the stock version.

Therefore, it seems obvious to AFA that IT limitations can no longer be used as an excuse for why “Back to Book” is delayed. We will be filing a contractual grievance disputing the “Back to Book” implementation delay in the coming days.

AFA will provide an update once management formally responds to the grievance and has an opportunity to meet with Jeppesen to consider implementation guarantees. After all the disappointments with extremely delayed implementation timelines and a disastrously executed transition to the new trip trading system, it’s time to make a stand!

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Your Negotiating Committee – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston, Christina Frees and AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput

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