Master Executive Council (MEC)

• Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week on Tuesday, April 12 and Wednesday, April 13 to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
• As part of the meeting, the MEC met with members of inflight, labor relations, and executive management to discuss issues and concerns that are facing our work group and need to be addressed.
• The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 24.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your LEC President if you have any questions.

The April 2022 Regular MEC Meeting was held this week on Tuesday, April 12 and Wednesday, April 13.  The meeting consisted of updates provided by our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work. 

MEC Mobilization Committee Chairperson Interviews

Part of Tuesday was spent interviewing candidates for the MEC Mobilization Committee Chairperson position who will be responsible for coordinating mobilization activities across all six bases during upcoming contract negotiations.  Our MEC would like to thank all of the candidates who expressed a willingness to serve and interviewed for the positions.  We’ll have more information tomorrow morning about the outcome of the interviews.

Meeting with Management

As part of most Regular MEC Meetings, our MEC meets with management to review current issues and challenges that Flight Attendants are facing.  Attendees from management this month included EVP & COO Constance von Muehlen, Managing Director of Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Director of Inflight Crew Scheduling Denia Pisia, Vice President of Labor Relations Jenny Wetzel, and Director of Payroll Leah Ables.

Some of the topics that were discussed include:

• Leave and absence management issues.  The approval process has been slow and employees have not been receiving timely responses to inquiries and requests.
• PBS bid award delays and frustration surrounding management errors (note: the discussion with management took place before the bid award publishing deadline and a contractual violation had not occurred yet).
• April OPR goals and management’s claim that inflight did not meet the safety goal due to a partial slide event.  Based on information published on Alaska’s World, inflight did meet the goal as there is no stipulation that a slide event causes the goal to be missed.  Our MEC has requested that management pay out according to the goals that they published.
• Pilot staffing and associated flight cancellations.  Management has indicated they plan to make schedule adjustments in May based on the amount of flying remaining in open time after pilot bidding is complete.
• Excessive use of reassignments by Crew Scheduling and frustration that Flight Attendants have an expectation to work the trips they bid/picked up when they come to work.
• Spring incentive premium and feedback received from Flight Attendants about how the incentive was constructed.  There is significant dissatisfaction about vacation pay being excluded from Worked TFP and the high threshold necessary to receive the incentive payout.  
• Pairing construction and cost analysis.  AFA has a long-standing request that management analyze pairings after the bid period is complete to determine what pairings actually end up costing the company.  This data could potentially be used to support changes in pairing construction to reduce undesirable trips that end up costing the company more money in the long run.
• Company marketing activities on social media, particularly on TikTok.  Looking for answers from management as to what the intent of the content is and who it is being marketed toward. 

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please reach out to your LEC President.

Master Executive Council (MEC)

• Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week on Tuesday, March 8 to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
• The MEC was originally scheduled to meet with management and a group of union leaders from other company workgroups, but the meeting was cancelled by management due to scheduling conflicts.
• The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 12 and Wednesday, April 13.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your LEC President if you have any questions.

The March 2022 Regular MEC Meeting was held this week on Tuesday, March 8.  The meeting consisted of updates provided by our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work. 

Meeting with Management Cancelled

As part of this meeting, the MEC was scheduled to meet with company management and a group of union leaders from the other union-represented workgroups within the company.  The intent of these meetings, usually held once per quarter, is to receive updates from management and allow for a broader discussion of issues and concerns facing all company employees.  Unfortunately, management had to cancel the meeting due to scheduling conflicts.

MEC Government Affairs Committee Chairperson

Last month, Krystle Berry stepped down from the MEC Government Affairs Committee Chairperson position to allow her to focus on other responsibilities.  The MEC thanks Krystle for her years of service in the position and commitment to our Flight Attendants.  Krystle will continue to serve in her role as Council 39 Portland LEC Vice President.

Martin Monteblanco has served as AFA Alaska CWA NextGen Representative since January 2020.  In this role, he has taken on duties as an alternate to the MEC Government Affairs Committee Chairperson and most recently has stepped up to serve as Acting MEC Government Affairs Committee Chairperson during the transition period.  Given his experience, the MEC has appointed Martin to permanently fill the position for the remainder of the term through December 31, 2022.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please reach out to your LEC President.

Master Executive Council (MEC)

• Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met last week on Tuesday, February 8 and Wednesday, February 9 to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
• As part of the meeting, the MEC met with members of inflight, labor relations, and executive management to discuss issues and concerns that are facing our work group and need to be addressed.
• The next Regular MEC Meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 8.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your LEC President if you have any questions.

The February 2022 Regular MEC Meeting was held last on Tuesday, February 8 and Wednesday, February 9.  The meeting consisted of updates provided by our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work. 

Meeting with Management

As part of most Regular MEC Meetings, our MEC meets with management to review current issues and challenges that Flight Attendants are facing.  Attendees from management this month included EVP & COO Constance von Muehlen, Managing Director of Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Managing Director of Inflight Strategy & Support Gloria Chow, Vice President of Labor Relations Jenny Wetzel, Managing Director of Labor Relations Carmen Williams, and other management employees from inflight, labor relations, crew administration, and payroll.

Some of the topics that were discussed include:

• Flight Attendant hiring update and staffing plans.  Management plans to increase the size of upcoming initial training classes to 90 people per class beginning in April.
• Uniform policies and updates that are being planned by management.
• Open inflight management positions and what progress the company is making to fill them.  Management indicated that they are also planning to increase the number of supervisor positions in SEA as well as add new base admin positions to provide support in designated locations.
• COVID-19 policies and contact tracing protocols.  There is still a lack of clear information posted and accessible to Flight Attendants.  AFA has asked inflight management to put out an FAQ document offering additional clarification with real life examples.  AFA also provided management with a list of questions to help expedite the development of the FAQs.
• IMD connectivity issues in the State of Alaska related to the changeover of the company’s cellular service provider.  

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please reach out to your LEC President.

Master Executive Council (MEC)

• Our AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) met this week from Tuesday, January 4 through Thursday, January 6 to conduct their ongoing work to represent our Flight Attendants.
• As part of the meeting, the MEC met with members of inflight, labor relations, and executive management to discuss issues and concerns that are facing our work group and need to be addressed.
• The last two days of the meeting were spent interviewing candidates for the three Negotiating Committee Member positions.  The MEC selected several candidates to advance to the final interviews to be held on Wednesday, January 26.

The January 2022 Regular MEC Meeting was held this week from Tuesday, January 4 through Thursday, January 6.  The first day of the meeting consisted of updates provided by our MEC Officers, LEC Presidents, Grievance Committee, and Scheduling Committee.  Our MEC also reviewed written reports submitted by other AFA MEC Committee Chairpersons about their current programs of work. 

Meeting with Management

As part of most Regular MEC Meetings, our MEC meets with management to review current issues and challenges that Flight Attendants are facing.  Attendees from management this month included EVP & COO Constance von Muehlen, Managing Director of Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, Managing Director of Inflight Strategy & Support Gloria Chow, Vice President of Labor Relations Jenny Wetzel, Managing Director of Labor Relations Carmen Williams, and other management employees from inflight, labor relations, crew administration, and payroll.

Some of the topics that were discussed include:

• December 2021 Pacific Northwest snowstorm, the subsequent operational meltdown, and the significant impact it had on Flight Attendants.  Management needs to do better.
• Winter holiday incentive pay and what steps management is taking to ensure that Flight Attendants will be paid correctly on January 20th.
• Open inflight management positions and what progress the company is making to fill them.
• COVID-19 policies and contact tracing protocols.  Flight Attendants are reporting that they are not being notified of reported exposure in a timely manner.
• Ongoing hotel & transportation issues including reports of Flight Attendants having to transport to/from hotels alone at destinations outside of the US and Canada.
• Recurrent Training concerns including why it took so long to notify F/As that the written exam had been removed from the CBT and returned to an in-class activity, acceptable deviations in drill commands, and how evaluations of equipment preflight are conducted.

Negotiating Committee Interviews

Wednesday and Thursday were spent interviewing candidates for the three Negotiating Committee Member positions who will represent us at the bargaining table during upcoming contract negotiations.  Our MEC would like to thank all of the candidates who expressed a willingness to serve and interviewed for the positions.  After conducting interviews and reviewing all candidates, several were selected to participate in a final interview with the MEC.  We’ll have more information to provide after the final interviews on Wednesday, January 26.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this month’s Regular MEC Meeting, please reach out to your LEC President.