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[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

Merger Negotiations Session #5 Update – October 2017

The AFA Alaska-Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) just wrapped up this week’s session of merger negotiations, our fifth so far. We met with management from Tuesday, October 24th through Thursday, October 26th in Seattle, WA. Representing management: Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Vice President of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America Inflight & Call Center/Guest Services Jeff Butler, Managing Director of Labor Relations-Air Elizabeth Ryan and Virgin America Manager of Labor Emily Kimmel. Managing Director of Virgin America Inflight Val Jenkins also attended on the first day.

Merger negotiations survey

The JNC thanks everyone who completed the merger negotiations survey. The survey received a healthy response, and the majority of the feedback was very targeted and consistent. Although the JNC realizes everyone is interested in knowing the objectives of the group as a whole, AFA generally does not publish results from negotiations surveys for strategic reasons. We can tell you, however, that there were no surprises. If it makes strategic sense for the JNC to divulge more in the future, be assured that we will be as transparent as possible with you.

The JNC used the survey responses as a springboard in our talks with management regarding your expectations for these negotiations and for improvements to the AFA Alaska contract. Remember that any improvements to the contract will accrue to all pre-merger Virgin America and pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants. The JNC felt encouraged by our initial discussions with management regarding the general themes outlined in your survey responses. These issues will remain hot topics in our continued sessions.

Very busy session…

Otherwise, It was a very busy session and a considerable number of complex provisions were discussed. Because policies and procedures are so unequal and different between the employee groups, crafting provisions that allow for a smooth and equitable transition takes time. Additionally, we are challenged by the constraints of the various Alaska Airlines information technology systems.

The JNC is pleased to report that we put the finishing touches on a letter of agreement (LOA) that separates reliability and performance discipline into two independent tracks for Virgin America (VX) Flight Attendants. Council 35 VX President Melissa Osborne has been advocating for separation of the tracks since AFA was certified as the collective bargaining representative at VX earlier this year, so executing the LOA is the culmination of her continued advocacy. Beginning November 1, 2017, the administration of attendance and performance discipline at VX will essentially mirror that at Alaska. Council 35 is planning an update to VX Flight Attendants in the near future regarding the details.

In partnership with the Master Executive Council (MEC), the JNC is very close to cementing a letter of agreement regarding bidding, trading and pay for the Airbus transition training that will occur in the second half of 2018 for Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants. Boeing transition training for Virgin America Flight Attendants is covered under existing work rules by default, but the JNC is intending to discuss the provisions with management at our next session.

The parties spent considerable time developing a process for the VX Flight Attendants to transition over to Alaska sick leave accrual. The two sick leave programs are currently very different, and the VX Flight Attendants would be significantly disadvantaged if there were a simple ‘turn-key’ cutover to the Alaska sick leave contract provisions. Work on this will continue next session.

Keep in mind that merger negotiations are a different process than regular negotiations. These talks are not under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board or Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act, and neither AFA nor management believes that the entire contract is open for discussion. Discussions are focusing on a short list of items. All the provisions in the AFA Alaska contract (scheduled pay raises, etc.) will continue in force for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants; all the provisions in the Virgin America work rules will remain in effect for pre-merger Virgin America Flight Attendants unless modified and/or superseded by the AFA Virgin America letters of agreement.

Our next merger negotiations session is scheduled for November 7-9.

In Solidarity,

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

Merger Negotiations Session #4 Update – September 2017

The AFA Alaska-Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) just wrapped up this week’s session of merger negotiations, our fourth so far; we met with management from Tuesday, September 26th through Thursday, September 28th in Seattle, WA. Representing management: Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Vice President of Alaska Airlines and Virgin America Inflight & Call Center/Guest Services Jeff Butler, Managing Director of Labor Relations-Air Elizabeth Ryan and Virgin America Manager of Labor Emily Kimmel.

Management presented the Joint Negotiating Committee with a comprehensive transitional proposal on the first day, which provided a springboard for discussions the remainder of the week. The parties are starting to reach tentative agreements on transitional items in several sections of the Alaska contract.

The Joint Negotiating Committee is planning on soliciting your feedback regarding your expectations and/or priorities for these negotiations in the very near future. We know that our combined membership of over 5,000 will not ratify a transitional-only contract. Be on the lookout for the merger negotiations survey to be released early next week.

Keep in mind that merger negotiations are a different process than regular negotiations. These talks are not under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board or Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act, and neither AFA nor management believes that the entire contract is open for discussion. Discussions are focusing on a short list of items. All the provisions in the AFA Alaska contract (scheduled pay raises, etc.) will continue in force for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants; all the provisions in the Virgin America work rules will remain in effect for pre-merger Virgin America Flight Attendants unless modified and/or superseded by the AFA Virgin America letters of agreement.

Our next merger negotiations session is scheduled for October 24-26.

In Solidarity,

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

Merger Negotiations Session #3 Update – September 2017

The AFA Alaska-Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) just wrapped up this week’s session of merger negotiations, our third so far; we met with management from Tuesday, September 12th through Thursday, September 14th in Seattle, WA. Representing management: Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Incoming Vice President of Alaska Airlines Inflight & Call Center Services Jeff Butler (and current Vice President of Virgin America Guest and Inflight Services), Managing Director of Labor Relations-Air Elizabeth Ryan, Managing Director of Virgin America Inflight Valerie Jenkins and Virgin America Manager of Labor Emily Kimmel.

The Joint Negotiating Committee continues to discuss transition issues with management The JNC’s goal is to make a smooth and equitable transition for the Virgin America Flight Attendants to the Alaska contract. Meanwhile, the JNC continues to maintain that some improvements to the Alaska contract must be part of the package.

Despite our insistence, management has made it very clear that it does not believe AFA has the contractual standing to seek improvements. Our counterpoint to that argument is that a merger agreement requires membership ratification under the AFA Constitution & Bylaws, and the JNC strongly believes any merger agreement that lacks improvements for our combined membership (pre-merger Virgin America and pre-merger Alaska) is not ratifiable. The parties continue to work through purely transitional items for now, but at some point in the future we will be forced to deal with the proverbial elephant in the room.

During the session, the parties exchanged written proposals on how to transition the Virgin America Flight Attendants into the Alaska Attendance Policy, sick leave, vacation, probation and leaves of absence. The parties also discussed uniform transition. Management committed to giving the JNC a comprehensive proposal on all transition issues at our next session, September 26-28.

The Joint Negotiating Committee is planning on soliciting your feedback regarding your expectations for these negotiations. Be on the lookout for more information about the merger negotiations survey in the next several weeks.

Keep in mind that merger negotiations are a different process than regular negotiations. These talks are not under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board or Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act, and neither side believes that the entire contract is open for discussion. Discussions are focusing on a short list of items. All the provisions in the AFA Alaska contract (scheduled pay raises, etc.) will continue in force for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants; all the provisions in the Virgin America work rules will remain in effect for pre-merger Virgin America Flight Attendants unless modified and/or superseded by the AFA Virgin America letters of agreement.

In Solidarity,

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

Merger Negotiations Session #2 Update – August 2017

The AFA Alaska-Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee just finished several days of collective bargaining with management; we met from Tuesday, August 8th through Thursday, August 10th in Seattle, WA. This is our second merger negotiations session, with the first held back in June. (See “AFA Alaska-Virgin America Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) Prepares to Meet with Management This Week” for more information.) Representing management: Vice President of Labor Relations Greg Mays, Outgoing Vice President of Alaska Airlines Inflight & Call Center Services Andy Schneider (and now incoming vice president of People), Managing Director of Labor Relations-Air Elizabeth Ryan and Virgin America Manager of Labor Emily Kimmel.

As AFA indicated in our Merger Negotiations Session #1 Update – June 2017, merger negotiations are a different process than regular negotiations. These talks are not under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board or Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act, and neither side believes that the entire contract is open for discussion. Discussions are focusing on a short list of items, and all the provisions in the AFA Alaska contract (scheduled pay raises, etc.) will continue in force.

Virgin America JFK Flight Attendant Base Closure

While the JNC discussed several transition items, the bulk of our time was spent reviewing the Virgin America (VX) Flight Attendant JFK base closure packet with management. VX Director of Inflight Valerie Jenkins and Inflight Project Manager John Maze joined us for much of those discussions by conference call. AFA Council 35 Virgin America President Melissa Osborne also actively participated by phone.

The JNC and President Osborne asked many questions and the parties exchanged a lot of information as we advocated for the JFK Flight Attendants. The JNC and President Osborne were able to achieve some modifications to the relocation package offered by management and to clarify language in the related Q&A document. The parties agreed it would be best for management to hold off on publishing some details about relocation travel until next week. This is in order to give management more time to fully develop the program and to consider several requests by AFA and our members.

Virgin America Flight Attendant Commuter Policy

Management and the JNC drafted a letter of agreement (LOA) that allows for a trial implementation of a commuter policy for Virgin America Flight Attendants beginning in October. (See “[VX] Virgin America Flight Attendant Work Rule Improvements – Part 3” for more information.) The parties used the “Get Going Policy” from the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) Tentative Agreement as a template with some slight modifications, coupled with a third reserve availability period (RAP) from 8am – 8pm for Short Call Reserve (SCR). Management needed some extra time past the end of our session yesterday to review the final draft, but we do not anticipate this to take more than another workday or so, which will take us into next week. Once again, AFA would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the efforts of our sisters and brothers on the TWU VX negotiating team for providing the basis for the VX F/A Commuter Policy LOA.

Prior to implementation of this LOA, AFA will poll the Virgin America Flight Attendants to determine if the majority wishes to ‘test drive’ a commuter policy that is paired with a third SCR RAP. The initial survey will help guide the Master Executive Council officers in their decision whether or not to ratify the LOA. If we do trial the Commuter Policy and third SCR RAP, AFA will again poll the VX F/As in November to gauge membership satisfaction with the trial. AFA then has an opportunity to end the trial just in case it proves to be unpopular.

Information regarding the survey and the full text of the VX F/A Commuter Policy Letter of Agreement is now anticipated early next week, which is just slightly later than originally indicated in the last commuter policy update. AFA will continue our efforts to get this out to the Virgin America Flight Attendants as soon as possible.

Transition Issues Discussed

The JNC received several responses from management on prior information requests. We also had a very helpful and productive meeting with Alaska Director of Retirement Services Chrystie Dickens and Retirement Benefits Analyst Jaime Smalley to discuss the intricacies of merging the Alaska (AS) and Virgin America Flight Attendant 401(k) plans. Merging the two is a complicated multi-step process that must be completed within the guidelines of IRS regulations and other applicable laws. Finally, we consulted with Virgin America Crew Payroll Supervisor Peter Silberstein regarding the differences between VX and AS vacation accrual.

* * *

This negotiations session set the parties up for getting into more detailed discussions about specific transitional items next time. In the interim, each side has ‘homework assignments’ to make the time between sessions more productive. Merger Negotiations Session #3 is scheduled for September 12-14, 2017, in Seattle, WA.

Finally, the JFK Flight Attendants were constantly in our thoughts this week. Our hearts go out to each and every one of you, and the JNC will continue to seek any means possible to reduce the impact on you and all your families affected by this base closure.

In Solidarity,

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

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