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    You are here: Home / Archives for irregular operations

    December 2021 Pacific Northwest Snowstorm

    December 28, 2021 21:00

    Master Executive Council (MEC)

    • The snowfall that occurred over the last several days in the Pacific Northwest has caused operational havoc throughout the Alaska Airlines system. Many Flight Attendants are being impacted by cancelled flights, reassignments, and other scheduling issues.
    • Your contract is one of the best resources to help answer questions about pre-cancellations, reassignments, duty times, and rest. The AFA Scheduling Committee has also put together an updated quick reference guide with some key contractual information.
    • If your flying has been impacted by the snowstorm and you have contractual questions or concerns, please open a support ticket using the AFA Alaska Online Support Center. AFA Representatives are working to resolve issues as expeditiously as possible.

    This week’s snowstorm and continued winter weather have had a significant impact on Alaska Airlines operations in Seattle and Portland.  Hundreds of flights have either been delayed or cancelled which has had a ripple effect throughout the system leaving virtually no Flight Attendants unimpacted.  AFA Representatives are actively working to try to resolve Flight Attendant concerns that have been reported, but management’s availability has been limited as they focus on fixing the operation.

    If Your Flight Cancels

    • If your flight has been cancelled, you must still report as scheduled unless contacted by Crew Scheduling or you accept a cancellation notification in Crew Access.
    • If contacted by Crew Scheduling regarding a pre-cancellation, know your options.  Review section 10.S of the contract or the pre-cancellation flowchart.
    • If you have already reported for duty and your flight cancels, you must remain at the airport until released by Crew Scheduling.  Your duty period will run continuously until released.

    Difficulty Making it to the Airport

    Significant Weather Ground Commuting Operations (SWGCO) have been declared for Seattle and Portland.  SWGCO provides additional ground commuter protections for Flight Attendants who may have difficulty reporting on time due to the inclement weather.  In order to receive protections under SWGCO, you must notify Crew Scheduling at least one hour prior to report that you won’t be able to report on time due to the weather.  Please review pages 3 and 4 of the full side letter of agreement for more information.

    Management is also offering hotel rooms near the airport in SEA and PDX for those who are reporting for trips the following day.  Please fill out this form to request a hotel room.  They have also authorized any F/A to expense $100 for Uber/Lyft transportation to/from the airport in order to get to work.  No advance approval is required and your base management can provide assistance with reimbursement.  Questions about in-base hotels or transportation reimbursement should be directed to the Inflight Snow Ops Command Center at InflightSnowOps@alaskaair.com.  

    Hotel or Transportation Issues While Flying

    If you are currently flying and are having issues with hotels or ground transportation, you may be able to receive a quicker response from the Inflight Snow Ops Command Center by emailing InflightSnowOps@alaskaair.com.  Requests that go through the command center, especially ones that are not time sensitive, will free up Crew Scheduling to attend to other operational duties.  The command center is open from 08:00-20:00 Pacific time.  Outside of these hours Crew Scheduling will be your point of contact.

    Pay Questions & Rainmaker

    If your flying has been impacted by irregular operations, be sure to monitor Rainmaker closely to ensure that your pay is reflected accurately.  Any pay questions should be submitted directly in Rainmaker as a pay query. 

    Contractual Questions, Issues, and Concerns

    Your contract is your best resources to answer scheduling and pay-related questions.  You can access the contract on the AFA Alaska website or on your IMD in Goodreader > ASFASupplemental > Collective Bargaining Agreement > Contract.  The AFA Scheduling Committee has also put together an updated irregular operations quick reference guide with key contractual information that may be helpful. 

    If you have a contractual concern or issue that has come up and need assistance from an AFA representative, please open a support ticket using the AFA Alaska Online Support Center.  Members of the AFA Grievance, Reserve, and Scheduling Committees are working through submitted tickets as quickly as possible, but resolution may be delayed in some cases as management’s immediate focus is on operational issues.

    For additional support, please contact your Local Scheduling Committee (lineholders), Local Reserve Committee (reserves), or your LEC Officers. 

    Filed Under: AFA Alaska News Now, Grievance Committee, Master Executive Council (MEC), Reserve Committee, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: December 2021 PNW Snow, irregular operations

    Presidents’ Day Weekend 2021 Pacific Northwest Snowstorm

    February 16, 2021 19:00

    Presidents’ Day Weekend 2021 Pacific Northwest Snowstorm


    A Storm for the Record Books

    What a weekend! The recent Pacific Northwest (PNW) snowstorm was one for the record books, so the systemwide severe irregular operations were not terribly surprising. That being said, it’s clear the operation became profoundly broken at various points: Crew Scheduling “perma hold” for up to two hours (assuming one could get through) and/or dropped calls, hotel rooms extremely delayed or unavailable, no ground transportation, significant delays and cancellations, et cetera, et cetera.


    Operational Debrief with Management Next Week

    Your AFA Alaska leadership knows you want answers as to what went wrong and what can be done to prevent this from happening again. We are currently working on scheduling an operational debrief with management for next week. Stay tuned for an update following the debrief.


    AFA Alaska Online Support Center

    In the meantime, we encourage Flight Attendants to open a new ticket at the AFA Alaska Online Support Center if you need a union representative to review an issue or concern. Some examples related to the recent snowstorm:

    • Requests for Management Drop denied (or initially approved and subsequently denied) and No Show assessed
    • Day rooms unavailable (for transit time through an outstation exceeding four hours)
    • Delayed layover hotel rooms – AFA will need FAs to provide their release time into the applicable layover and the time when they received a room key
    • Flight Attendants paid for their own rooms either due to snow rooms being unavailable or layover hotel rooms being unavailable

    Please provide as many details as possible to help your AFA representatives research your ticket. Thank you!

    Filed Under: Latest News, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2021, irregular operations, irregular ops, snowstorm

    Hurricane Dorian

    September 1, 2019 20:00

    AFA leadership has been in contact with Alaska Airlines management all weekend as we actively monitor Hurricane Dorian’s path. Management has just announced the first Dorian-related cancellation, which is AS 1074 SEA-FLL tomorrow morning (Monday, September 2, 2019). More cancellations and re-routes are likely in the coming days. As a precaution, AFA and management have agreed to enact Section 8.S [Natural Disasters…] in order to turn crews out of Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and in anticipation of re-starting operations to FLL once conditions have returned to normal.

    If you are currently laying over in FLL, Crew Scheduling will be reaching out to you tonight to arrange a deadhead first thing tomorrow morning. It is imperative that you are responsive to their efforts to contact you tonight.

    If you are a registered commuter in an area projected to be directly affected by Hurricane Dorian and you are concerned, AFA encourages you to discuss your options with management as soon as possible. All crews with flying to Florida and the south eastern seaboard over the coming days are encouraged to monitor the Scheduling alerts on the Inflight webpage and to be responsive to contact from Crew Scheduling.

    If you need assistance from AFA, please feel free to contact your respective local leadership, local Scheduling Committee chairperson(s) or EAP. This will be a constantly evolving situation, so stay tuned!

    In Solidarity,

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

    Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 8.S, Dorian, FLL, Hurricane Dorian, irregular operations

    Useful Contractual Provisions During Irregular Operations

    December 9, 2016 12:00

    Weather in the Pacific Northwest is impacting the operation across the system this week. Your Master Executive Council (MEC) reminds you that the contract stays in full force during irregular operations. Here are a few useful contractual provisions that are often invoked during irregular ops:

    1. Assignment cannot be built over 10.5 hours. – §8.E. (Except 4k – §10.DD.)
    2. Re-assignments cannot be built over 12.5 hours. – §8.E/§10.R. A minimum of 10 hours rest must be built into any remain over night (RON) at the time that the new trip is given. – §8.J.
    3. If you are unable to fly your sequence as scheduled for more than two hours due to weather, mechanical or to suit Company convenience, you may be eligible for Stranded Pay. – §21.N. If stranded to a RON with a duty period commencing on a scheduled day off see also §9.D.1.d.
    4. Unscheduled overnights – §10.R.7.
    5. Minimum days off – §10.E.1.a.
    6. General block and ground delays are generally paid automatically at 0.5 TFP per hour. You must manually submit for block delays that exceed one hour, that cross midnight or if you are deadheading. – §21.J.
    7. If your duty day exceeds 12.5 hours you will receive “double out” rest at the end of your sequence. If you choose to waive “double out” rest and complete the scheduling obligation that would have been dropped by such rest, you receive 1.5x the rate of pay. – §8.H.
    8. If you are on a multi-day sequence and receive less than 9:30 rest at RON as measured from release to report, you will receive 2.5x premium for flights flown for the entire sequence. However, if your sequence has a Sequence Interruption Point (SIP) and Crew Scheduling (CSKD) removes you at the SIP, you will be pay protected for the remainder of the sequence at straight time. If CSKD attempts to contact you after your debrief and prior to your next report in order to adjust your report time, you are not required to be contactable pursuant to §8.Q until your scheduled report time.  If you contact CSKD and your layover is adjusted so that you receive 9:30 rest or greater, the 2.5x premium does not apply. – §8.K.
    9. You cannot be required to work a trip that has a duty day projected over 14 hours while you are at a Flight Attendant domicile or co-terminal. – §8.G
    10. If you are on duty at 4:29 AM local time you cannot be required to remain on duty past 8:30 AM initial departure station time of that duty period (wherever your pairing started that duty period)–except for APSB. Other “Night Rule” provisions may also apply if you are on duty at 4:29 AM local time. – §8.I.
    11. If you are pay protected due to weather, mechanical or to suit Company convenience, you may pick up additional flying on the day(s) you were pay protected, and you will receive both pay protection and the value of the additional scheduling obligation. – §21.M.
    12. If you are unable to make it to work due to impassable weather conditions, you may request a management drop, which is without pay and attendance points are assessed if the drop is granted. – §32.C.14.

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

    In Solidarity,

    Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; MEC S/T-Elect Linda Christou; and MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones

    Filed Under: Latest News, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2016, irregular operations, irregular ops, weather

    Hurricane Matthew Update – October 5, 2016 @ 2:45 PM PT

    October 5, 2016 14:45

    AFA and Alaska Airlines management have agreed to expand the provision of 8.S [Natural Disasters…] in response to Hurricane Matthew. Affected cities now include:

    • Charleston (CHS),
    • Orlando (MCO), and
    • Fort Lauderdale (FLL).

    The provisions of 8.S remain in effect until such time when Alaska Airlines is able to resume normal operations to the affected areas.

    If you have any questions, contact one of your Local Executive Council (LEC) officers or Scheduling Committee members.

    In solidarity,

    Your MEC—Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC Scheduling Chairperson Jake Jones

    Filed Under: Latest News, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2016, Hurricane Matthew, irregular operations, irregular ops

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