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        You are here: Home / Archives for merger

        Cross-Flying Begins

        January 30, 2019 23:30

        After much anticipation, the wait is over. Cross-flying, referenced as “Full Integration” in the Merger Agreement, will occur in just a few hours. It is one of the most major milestones that we will pass in this merger. As you all well know by now, there has been so much change in so little time, and most Flight Attendants are understandably feeling varying levels of anxiety about cross-flying.

        Safety

        Safety first! Over the past several months, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has received increasingly concerning feedback from our Air, Safety, Health and Security Committee and from the line about not feeling adequately prepared for cross-flying due to a variety of safety-related reasons. Many if not most of those concerns were also shared with management. Although management collaborated with AFA to implement several additional cross-flying resources in response to the concerns, the MEC remains apprehensive enough about cross-flying that we feel obligated to communicate that sentiment to our members. However, please be assured that AFA and management will continue working together to identify and mitigate safety concerns.

        The MEC recommends that Flight Attendants live the “Ready, Safe, Go” (login required) ‘mantra’ as you become more familiar with the new procedures and announcements and with the combined fleet. Management has affirmed that “Safety is our number one consideration, and always trumps on-time performance, customer satisfaction, or profits.” Please ensure the required Flight Attendant briefing occurs, complete a thorough pre-flight equipment check (when required) and confirm the aircraft doors are correctly armed and disarmed each and every time. Do not rush or be rushed. Be vigilant and alert and report any safety concerns to the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP).

        Service

        It is extremely important for consistency that we make our best effort to familiarize ourselves with and complete the service as written. If you are not able to complete the required service due to turbulence, lack of supplies, etc., then write it up via Report It! so that management and AFA are aware of the challenges. Service levels and catering are constantly being evaluated and adjusted based on submitted reports.

        Culture

        No matter whether you started your Flight Attendant career at Alaska Airlines, Virgin America, Jet America, our sister carrier Horizon Air or somewhere else in the industry, we are now all Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants. We bring the uniqueness of our individual journeys, but we share many common interests, experiences and goals. Please be welcoming to all crewmembers and focus on getting to know each other better as the pre-merger groups begin to cross fly and transfer around the system over the coming months.

        Conflict

        Have each other’s backs. If a crew conflict occurs, talk it out with the crew directly. However, another resource would be the AFA Professional Standards Committee (or alternatively your AFA local council officers) for peer-to-peer resolution.

        Contract

        Except for a few remaining transition items addressed via the Legacy Virgin America (L-VX) Flight Attendant Transition Agreement, e.g. uniform allotment and minimum flying requirements for various benefits, the remainder of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) will be fully implemented for L-VX Flight Attendants effective upon Full Integration (i.e. cross-flying) tomorrow. Contract documents and related resources may be found on the AFA Alaska Contract page, the Merger TAs and Information page, the Inflight Mobile Device in the Supplemental folder and on the Inflight webpage (login required) under the “Integration: Bidding, Scheduling, Pay, Contract” tab.

        Management will be reviewing a cleaned-up JCBA document next week, and the parties are hoping to publish the electronic version as soon as possible once it is finalized. A printed version of the JCBA will go to press shortly thereafter. AFA will work on cleaning up and consolidating the contracts pages in the coming month.

        Welcome all to the soon-to-be fully integrated Alaska Airlines!

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

        Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2019, cross-flying, merger

        Merger TA Voting Results

        April 3, 2018 09:33

        Polls closed today at 9 AM Pacific Time for voting on the Merger Tentative Agreement reached by the Joint Negotiating Committee in February 2018.  The results of the vote are as follows:

         

        Voting FOR the agreement 3094 75%
        Voting AGAINST the agreement 1011 25%
        Total Votes 4105
        Participation Rate of Eligible Voters 76.34%

        As indicated above, the TA has passed.

        Click here for a copy of the certified results.

        What’s Next?

        Several provisions of the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA), including new pay rates for both L-AS and L-VX Flight Attendants, take effect immediately.  Additional communications regarding JCBA implementation will be coming out over the next several days.

        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

        Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

        Filed Under: AS/VX Merger, JNC Blog, Latest News, Master Executive Council (MEC) Tagged With: 2018, AS/VX Merger, merger, voting results

        Merger Tentative Agreements & Resources

        February 16, 2018 21:30

        The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) has prepared the comprehensive full text tentative agreements (TAs) that make up the overall Merger Agreement.

        The Merger Agreement is the global ‘umbrella’ document and incorporates all agreements related to the merger by reference. Keep in mind that in order to transition pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) Flight Attendants onto the pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) pay, work rules and other contract provisions, some letters of agreement (LOAs) apply only to the pmVX FAs, some apply to only pmAS FAs, and some apply to both. However, all eligible pmAS and pm VX FAs will be voting on the collection of TAs, so you should familiarize yourself with every LOA.

        AFA AS-VX Merger TAs & Resources >

        Now that the comprehensive full text documents have been posted, the JNC blog will go live shortly.

        JNC blog >

        Email us at jnc@afaalaska.org for topic suggestions, questions or general feedback.

        In Solidarity,

        Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

         

        The roadshow schedule may be found in the February 3, 2018 ”Save the Date: Tentative Merger Agreement Roadshows” membership release. AFA anticipates voting will open shortly after the completion of roadshows in mid-March and will end in early April. Any pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) or pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) FAs are welcome to attend any and all sessions. Please be aware that only AFA members in good standing may vote on the TA, so it is extremely important that pmAS FAs are current on their dues and pmVX FAs have completed an AFA membership application prior to the vote.

        Filed Under: AS/VX Merger, JNC Blog, Latest News, Negotiations Tagged With: 2018, AS/VX JCBA, AS/VX Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), blog, merger, TA

        JCBA Payscale Comparisons

        February 15, 2018 21:00

        AFA has prepared Flight Attendant industry payscale comparisons for the step rates of pay contained in the tentative Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA).

        Keep in mind that pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) Flight Attendants are currently paid in dollars per block-hour ($/block-hour), and pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) Flight Attendants are paid in dollars per Trips for Pay ($/TFP). Until pmVX FA are completely transitioned to the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) and payroll system (estimated March 2019), pmVX FAs will continue to be paid in block-hours in the existing VX system. In order to match the Alaska pay rates (in TFP) in block-hours, one must convert from $/TFP to $/block-hour.

        TFP -> block-hour = 1.13 TFP/block-hour

        [Note: Industry comparison documents have been updated to reflect the latest JetBlue (B6) pay rates effective January 1, 2018./ jtp 02.16.2018] 

        afa

        [pmAS] FA Industry Comps in TFP for AS-VX JCBA 2018-2021 >

        afa

        [pmVX] FA Industry Comps in BLOCK HOURS for AS-VX JCBA 2018-2021 >

         

        Questions about individual Merger Agreement provisions will be answered once the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) publishes the full text language of the tentative Merger Agreement on Friday (tomorrow). We thank you in advance for your patience.

        In Solidarity,

        Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

         

        The roadshow schedule may be found in the February 3, 2018 ”Save the Date: Tentative Merger Agreement Roadshows” membership release. AFA anticipates voting will open shortly after the completion of roadshows in mid-March and will end in early April. Any pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) or pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) FAs are welcome to attend any and all sessions. Please be aware that only AFA members in good standing may vote on the TA, so it is extremely important that pmAS FAs are current on their dues and pmVX FAs have completed an AFA membership application prior to the vote.

        Filed Under: AS/VX Merger, Latest News, Negotiations Tagged With: 2018, AS/VX JCBA, AS/VX Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), merger, merger agreement

        Summary of AFA Alaska Airlines-Virgin America Merger Agreements

        February 13, 2018 18:45

        The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is publishing a comprehensive summary of agreements that make up the overall AFA Alaska Airlines-Virgin America Merger Agreement. The summaries contain a listing of the provisions agreed to during merger negotiations. The full text Merger Agreement and related agreements will be posted by the end of the week.

        SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO THE 2014-2019 CBA >

        This summary denotes the negotiated changes made to the current 2014-2019 AFA Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). If the overall Merger Agreement is ratified, these changes would become immediately in force and incorporated into the contract. The new document would become the Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA).

        SUMMARY OF AS TRANSITION AGREEMENT >

        This summary denotes the changes that would occur to transition the pre-merger (“Legacy”) Alaska Flight Attendants into the JCBA. These are temporary provisions that are variations on current contract provisions or are one-time happenings.

        SUMMARY OF VX TRANSITION AGREEMENT >

        This summary denotes the changes to pay, work rules and benefits that would occur to transition the pre-merger (“Legacy”) Virgin America Flight Attendants into the JCBA. Because of technology, training and software constraints, management cannot combine the Inflight operations until approximately first quarter 2019.

        Please take the time to read all the summaries. The JNC will answer questions through a negotiations blog on afaalaska.org once the full text Merger Agreement and related agreements have been posted by end of week.

        In Solidarity,

        Your JNC – MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Jennifer Wise MacColl, Jamie Cogen, Lindsey Steele and AFA Senior Staff Negotiator Paula Mastrangelo

         

        The roadshow schedule may be found in the February 3, 2018 ”Save the Date: Tentative Merger Agreement Roadshows” membership release. AFA anticipates voting will open shortly after the completion of roadshows in mid-March and will end in early April. Any pre-merger Alaska Airlines (pmAS) or pre-merger Virgin America (pmVX) FAs are welcome to attend any and all sessions. Please be aware that only AFA members in good standing may vote on the TA, so it is extremely important that pmAS FAs are current on their dues and pmVX FAs have completed an AFA membership application prior to the vote.

        Filed Under: AS/VX Merger, Latest News, Negotiations Tagged With: 2018, AS/VX JCBA, AS/VX Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), merger, merger agreement

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