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Open Time Negotiations Survey Suspended Due to a Technical Problem

The Open Time negotiations survey is currently inaccessible due to a technical problem. The Master Executive Council (MEC) believes the problem is most likely due to the survey being inadvertently set to close at an incorrect date and time.

Unfortunately, it appears there may be only one person at AFA International who effectively can assist in troubleshooting the issue and that person is on vacation through the weekend.

Consequently, we are officially suspending the survey until further notice. Stay tuned for developments on this issue by early next week if not before.

AFA sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

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

Open Time Trial Cancellation

The Master Executive Council (MEC) has surveyed Flight Attendants’ satisfaction with Open Time for several months (May, June and July), and it is very clear from the survey results that the new system is strongly disfavored. (See “Open Time Trial Survey Results – July 2016” for the latest results.) In our opinion, dissatisfaction with Open Time has been made worse by the disappointing programming challenges leading up to full implementation of the new system combined with the continuing connectivity problems in eMaestro.

Consequently, the MEC has notified management that we are cancelling the Open Time Trial pursuant to CBA §12.F.9 [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial: Cancellation of Open Time Trial].

As outlined in §12.F.9.a., Open Time will revert “back to book,” which was the system in place in the 2006-2010 contract as modified by the “Withholding Open Time” arbitration award (AFA No. 6-99-2-18-11 [“Withholding Open Time”]). The roll back will occur when Jeppesen is able to program the new Jeppesen Crew Tracking Enterprise (JCTE) Crew Exchange with the old Open Time trading rules.

Management’s estimate for going “back to book” is sometime between February and July 2017. We are anticipating a specific estimate from management in the near future. In the meantime, Open Time trading will remain under the new system.

Based on overwhelming feedback from the members, the MEC is requesting that we begin negotiations on a successor Open Time system as soon as possible. Negotiations will proceed with your current Negotiating Committee: MEC President Jeffrey Peterson, Kristy Stratton, Lisa Pinkston and Christina Frees. The MEC sincerely thanks Jake Jones for his service on the past two Negotiating Committees. Jake recused himself from the committee. AFA Senior Staff Attorney Kimberley Chaput will join the committee for Open Time negotiations.

Keep in mind the recently selected Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is a different committee that will negotiate a combined contract pursuant to the Alaska Airlines-Virgin America merger.

“It’s painfully obvious the Open Time Trial is not working for the Membership,” said MEC President Jeff Peterson. “Let’s keep in mind this new system was always designed as a trial, which is why the parties agreed to an ‘opt out’ clause. The MEC sincerely thanks everyone for taking part in the surveys and sharing their comments, which has given us a lot of material for upcoming negotiations. Flight Attendants want a simplified system without all the confusing codes and a much-improved ability to trade day-for-day or greater that is not necessarily tied to day-of-departure. AFA is committed to delivering a workable Open Time system to our Flight Attendants that is supported by a comfortable majority of our group.”

You will be hearing a lot more about Open Time in the coming months as negotiations progress.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact your Local Executive Council (LEC) president.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Open Time Trial Survey Results – July 2016

The Open Time Trial survey results for July 2016 are now available.

Survey completion information

458 surveys were completed and 7 were partially completed. If a Flight Attendant submitted more than one survey, only the last submission was counted. This is a substantial reduction in the number of participants compared to past surveys.

Survey overview

The results continue to show a clear need to improve general understanding of the Open Time Trial and a strong dissatisfaction for the current system.

Understanding of the Open Time trading codes

62.5% of respondents do not understand or are still learning the Open Time trading codes (TO/DD/CP/TX/no code) and how to trade sequences in Open Time based on those codes. This is a significant drop from past months.

AFA Alaska has produced an Open Time trading codes quick reference guide (see “Understanding Open Time Trading with the Codes” for additional information.)

>>> Click here to view the “Open Time Trading with the Codes” quick reference guide in a Portable Document Format (pdf). <<<

Understanding of the estimated time frame for making any programming changes to Open Time

A majority (57.7%) reported they understand the time frame involved for making any programming changes to the Open Time system.

Based on membership feedback the MEC has made a determination to go “back to book”:

  • Reverting to the former Open Time system could take approximately one year. This is because the new JCTE crew management system would need to be reprogrammed with the rules for the former OT system. (It is currently programmed with the new OT rules.)
  • AFA will start negotiating a new system as outlined in CBA§12.F.9 [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial: Cancellation of Open Time Trial]. Implementation of a replacement OT system would likely take a minimum of nine months after reaching an agreement with management.

Strong dissatisfaction with the Open Time Trial

74.5% indicated they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the Open Time Trial. 81.6% of respondents would prefer to revert “back to book” to the old Open Time system (based on IT limitations) and begin negotiations on a new system; whereas 18.4% would prefer to keep the current system.

Detailed survey results

>>> Click here to view the detailed AFA Alaska Open Time Trial Survey Results for July 2016. <<<

AFA Alaska has informed management of our intent to go “back to book.” More information to follow!

In solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

AFA Alaska Open Time Trial Survey for July 2016 Results Summary

AFA Alaska Open Time Trial Survey July 2016

[Note: The Open Time Trial survey is out slightly late this month. In order to keep the survey results “clean” from month to month, the survey will close prior to Open Time for August trading opens this coming Saturday morning. That means the survey will be live for a little bit less than three days, so it is important that you do not delay taking it. Going forward the MEC will be taking additional steps to ensure the survey opens just after PBS bids are due on the 10th and close on the 16th at 9am PT.]

 

Pursuant to AFA Alaska Collective Bargaining Agreement §12.F.8.D.5 [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial], the Master Executive Council (MEC) is conducting a monthly poll of membership regarding your satisfaction with Open Time. Your candid responses will help the MEC determine the course of the Open Time trial.

 

It is important to focus on Open Time functionality, not the technical issues with logging into the system, when answering the questions.

 

You must enter your Arctic number in order to take the survey. We’re asking for your Arctic number to ensure each Flight Attendant receives one vote per month and is not for tracking purposes. If a survey is submitted more than once with the same Arctic number, all responses using that Arctic number will be excluded for this month.

 

> > > To take the AFA Alaska Open Time Trial Survey for July 2016 click here. < < <

 

The survey will close on Saturday, July 16th at 9am Pacific Time. Once again, there is a free form comments field at the end of the survey, and the LEC presidents will review the comments.

 

Thank you in advance for your feedback. The MEC will publish a summary of results once the responses have been tallied on Monday, July 18th.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green and Brice McGee

Open Time Trial Survey Results – June 2016

The Open Time Trial survey for June 2016 concluded yesterday morning (June 16, 2016), and the results are now available.

 

Survey completion information

 

915 surveys were completed and 24 were partially completed. If a Flight Attendant submitted more than one survey, only the last submission was counted. The Master Executive Council (MEC) strongly encourages all Flight Attendants to contribute to the monthly Open Time Trial surveys.

 

Survey overview

 

The results continue to show a clear need to improve general understanding of the Open Time Trial and a strong dissatisfaction for the current system.

 

Understanding of the Open Time trading codes

 

79.7% of respondents do not understand or are still learning the Open Time trading codes (TO/DD/CP/TX/no code) and how to trade sequences in Open Time based on those codes. This is a small improvement over last month.

 

AFA Alaska has produced an Open Time trading codes quick reference guide (see “Understanding Open Time Trading with the Codes” for additional information.)

 

>>> Click here to view the “Open Time Trading with the Codes” quick reference guide in a Portable Document Format (pdf). <<<

 

Understanding of the estimated time frame for making any programming changes to Open Time

 

A very slight majority (51.2%) reported they understand the time frame involved for making any programming changes to the Open Time system.

 

Based on membership feedback the MEC will make a determination on the future of Open Time:

 

  • Prior to making a determination, the MEC would like to gather several months of survey results and other data pursuant to AFA Alaska CBA §12.F.8.d [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial] for review. The Open Time Trial is scheduled to last up to a year before a final decision has to be made—unless the Association and management mutually agree to extend the trial.

 

  • If the MEC determines to go “back to book,” reverting to the former Open Time system could take approximately one year. This is because the new JCTE crew management system would need to be reprogrammed with the rules for the former OT system. (It is currently being programmed with the new OT rules.)

 

  • If we do go “back to book,” AFA will start negotiating a new system as outlined in CBA§12.F.9 [Exchange of Sequences: Open Time Trial: Cancellation of Open Time Trial]. Implementation of a replacement OT system would likely take a minimum of nine months after reaching an agreement with management.

 

Strong dissatisfaction with the Open Time Trial

 

73.4% indicated they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the Open Time Trial. If a decision were to be made today regarding the future of the Open Time Trial, 84.3% of respondents would prefer to revert “back to book” to the old Open Time system (based on IT limitations) and begin negotiations on a new system; whereas 15.7% would prefer to keep the current system.

 

Detailed survey results

 

>>> Click here to view the detailed AFA Alaska Open Time Trial Survey Results for June 2016. <<<

 

AFA Alaska will review the concerning survey results with management at our next biweekly Open Time Trial Review meeting. This month’s survey also included a comments section, and the MEC is currently in the process of reading over the feedback.

 

In solidarity,

 

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Satterlee, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt; LEC Presidents-elect Tim Green and Brice McGee

 

AFA Alaska Open Time Trial Survey for June 2016 Results Summary

Council 43 (HNL) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 12 PM PT today for the election of Council 43 LEC Officers, representing Hawaiian Airlines Flight Attendants based in Honolulu. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Kela Chong IVLEC Vice President: Martin GusmanLEC Secretary: Soon Kim View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

Council 39 (PDX) LEC Officer Election Results

Polls closed at 11 AM PT today for the election of Council 39 LEC Officers, representing Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants based in Portland. The following AFA Flight Attendants have been elected to Local Council Officer positions: LEC President: Krystle Shae BerryLEC Vice President: Melodie AnderesLEC Secretary: Kevin Sharp View the certified election results here >> These newly elected […]

Hotel Committee Meeting Recap – May 2026

On Monday, May 11, our AFA Local Hotel Committee Chairpersons met virtually to receive an update about current layover hotels and transportation providers and discuss concerns with management. Representing you at the meeting were Dori Marron (ANC), Kelly Hepworth (PDX), Hilary Streem (SFO), Brian Sherill (LAX pmAS), and Kanani Vallot (SAN), with MEC Hotel Committee […]

AFA Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Town Hall: Join Us Monday, June 8

This is your opportunity to connect, share, and be heard! Join us at our next AFA Alaska + Hawaiian MEC Town Hall on Monday, June 8. Get the latest AFA news and connect directly with our MEC Officers. Bring your questions—this is your chance to get answers directly from AFA Representatives. The Details What: AFA Alaska […]

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