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AFA Special Update – October 2, 2020

AFA Special Update – October 2, 2020

In This Edition

  • November 2020 Staffing and Scheduling
  • #ExtendPSP #ReliefNow

November 2020 Staffing and Scheduling

Master Executive Council

Very time-sensitive information to report here! At AFA’s request, management has sent an email (“Base Transfers – November”) to Company email addresses, sent another email to involuntarily furloughed (IVF’d) Flight Attendants’ respective personal email addresses on file with the Company, and posted an alert and Informational Bulletin 2020-0096 on the World of Inflight (AAG SSO login required).

Involuntary Furlough Update

See the emailed version of this special update sent to personal email addresses on file with AFA Alaska for the latest developments regarding involuntary furloughs.

Vacancy Bids (Base Transfers)

Inflight is anticipating that vacancy bids (i.e. base transfers) will be awarded in all six domiciles for November. The base transfer bidding window will be extremely shortened, with bids closing on Monday morning. Base transfer forms can be located on the World of Inflight -> Schedule & Bidding -> Line Bidding -> Base Transfer Request Form (AAG SSO login required). Vacancy bids (base transfer requests) must be submitted by Monday, October 5th at 0900 PT.

Revised Bidding Timeline

The PBS bidding timeline for November is being pushed by one day to October 6-11. However, this will not affect the posting or trading timelines. Details as follows:

  • Oct. 5 – Vacancy bids (base transfer requests) close 0900 PT
  • Oct. 6 – PBS bids open 0900 PT
  • Oct. 11 – PBS bids close 0900 PT
  • Oct. 13 – PBS awards complete by 0900 PT
  • Oct. 14 – PBS bid protest complete and schedules final by 0900 PT
  • Oct. 14 – Schedules posted in JCTE as scheduled
  • Oct. 15 – FA to FA trading as scheduled
  • Oct. 16 – Open Time as scheduled
  • Oct. 17 – Out of domicile as scheduled

#ExtendPSP #ReliefNow

Government Affairs

Republicans Blocked Payroll Support Program Extension Act From Moving Forward

Watch President Sara Nelson’s October 2nd video update >

Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Flight Attendant champion and honorary AFA member issued a statement after Republicans blocked H.R. 8504, the Payroll Support Program Extension Act, from moving forward. Click here for more >

TAKE ACTION!

Call Congress

SENATE: 888-848-4824
HOUSE: 888-907-9365

“Hello, I am a constituent calling to tell my (Senator/Representative) that aviation workers are out of time. Furloughs have begun and we only have days to reverse course. We need a clean extension of the Payroll Support Program NOW. Without an extension of this successful jobs program, there is no backstop for layoffs. This is just the start. Inaction is not an option. We are out of time. #ExtendPSP now. Get it done. Thank you.”

Write Congress

Send a letter to your Representative and two Senators: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/save-aviation-jobs

Tweet Congress (and add pictures of you in uniform to each!)

We’ve made it easy to Tweet at your lawmakers. Click here to get started. 

Or, you can copy and paste the following Tweets into your Twitter. 

  • Massive layoffs have begun for Flight Attendants & aviation workers. We only have a few days to reverse course. Extend the Payroll Support Program NOW, [tag your Senators/Representative]! Pass #ReliefNow to save my job & healthcare! #ExtendPSP
  • I’m one of thousands of furloughed Flight Attendants who needs [tag your Senators/Representative] to act to extend the Payroll Support Program TODAY. We need #ReliefNow! #ExtendPSP
  • Tell your personal story using the hashtags #ReliefNow and #ExtendPSP

If you do not know your Senators or Representatives’ Twitter handles you can find them here! Don’t have Twitter, set up an account today to take action. Here’s how >

AFA Update – December 6, 2019

In This Edition

  • PBS Software Update

PBS Software Update

Scheduling Committee—PBS Subcommittee

A PBS update occurred on Nov 25th that likely makes it necessary to clear your browser’s cache. This is especially important if using the ‘new’ version of Navblue (the one they refer to as ‘WebApp’). If you get an error message when trying to log in or certain tabs aren’t working as they should then this is a sign that you must clear your cache.  You should be seeing version 19.4 on both the old and the new PBS website.

On the Inflight website, there is an ‘Alert’ posted at ‘Schedule and Bidding’ with a link to instructions for clearing your cache.  Instructions are provided for Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer and Firefox.  These are the only supported browsers when accessing NavbluePBS. On the PBS Info Page you’ll see a list of supported devices and browsers.

This latest update brings a huge improvement in log in time.  In addition, with some bid preferences there is less ‘clicking’ needed and the ‘Start Bid Group’ button (used to begin a new bid group) has now moved to the right side of the page.  The order of some bid preference sub-menus is more logical and there were some minor bug fixes in this latest update.

No changes occurred on the ‘old’ version of Navblue.. Both the old and new websites are ‘live’ and whatever is ‘submitted’ on one will then reflect on the other. The old PBS website still works perfectly fine for bidding but is lacking all of the advanced features of the new website. No further changes are planned for the ‘old’ PBS website unless absolutely necessary.  Navblue is urging all airline customers transition to the ‘new’ website. When a decision is made on a firm cutover date we’ll communicate that to everyone. 

https://asapbs.navblue.aero/webapp/#/

Questions?

If you have questions, contact the PBS Subcommittee at pbs@afaalaska.org

[pmAS] Follow Up to April Bid Re-Award

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

On Tuesday, March 13, AFA released information about the April bid re-award that recently took place.  The initial need for a re-award came about after several bid protests were filed based on the original April line awards.  After further investigation, the protests were found to be valid and the error occurred due to programming in the new web app user interface of Navblue PBS.  The programming error affected the bids of 22 Flight Attendants which required that action be taken to properly honor those bids. Resolving the bid protests was bound to have an impact on the previously awarded lines of Flight Attendants beyond those who initially filed bid protests.

After Navblue corrected the necessary programming but prior to running the bid re-awards, Crew Planning and the PBS Committee had the need to perform some administrative work in PBS to ensure that Flight Attendant bids properly reflected those that were originally entered prior to bids closing on March 10th.  Performing this work required that PBS be switched back into the normal bid entry mode so that the necessary work could be done.  The system does not contain the ability to be switched into a “maintenance” or “offline” mode where administrators can work in the system while preventing Flight Attendants from also making entries.  As a result of this, it was also possible for Flight Attendants to log in to the system and make bid entries during the period of time that the administrators were in the system verifying the integrity of original bids.

Section 10.J.4 of the Flight Attendant collective bargaining agreement states that a Flight Attendant must submit her/his bid by 9 AM Pacific time on the 10th of the month prior to the bid period.  Management’s failure to have PBS properly programmed to prevent additional bid entries while the administrators were working in the system has resulted in a clear contractual violation.  At no time did AFA agree to an exception or waiver to this contractual provision.

The MEC had substantial discussion regarding what transpired, including the possibility of requesting that a full re-bid be conducted for the month of April.  The option of a full re-bid was determined to be unfeasible as it would have had a greater negative impact on Flight Attendants, especially those who would be unable to participate in the re-bid (on vacation, etc.) as well as those who had planned their schedules around the F/A-to-F/A and Open Time trading timeline.

AFA will be pursuing resolution to the contractual violation through the grievance process and every other avenue at our disposal.  The MEC Grievance Committee has already filed grievance number 36-99-2-116-18 addressing management’s failure to comply with the contractual bidding timeline.  We will also be calling for a meeting with inflight management to have additional conversation about the new Navblue PBS user interface, the associated programming errors, and the necessary steps that need to be taken to prevent reoccurrence of a similar situation.

In Solidarity,

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

April Bid Re-Award and Trading Timeline

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

On Monday, March 12, management advised AFA that a programming error was discovered with the new user interface of NavBlue PBS.  The error, related to the programming of the “Duty On” preference in the new user interface, resulted in trips being awarded incorrectly to Flight Attendants despite bid preferences that were submitted properly.  As a result of the programming error, NavBlue was immediately contacted by management and the necessary programming was corrected.

NavBlue made necessary corrections to the PBS programming which were completed earlier today.  Management subsequently worked to re-award bids with the NavBlue programming having been corrected.   Bid awards will be posted at 5 PM Pacific time today and F/A-to-F/A and Open Time trading will begin as originally scheduled.

Bidding and Trading Timeline

All times based on Pacific time

Bid Re-Awards Posted Tuesday, March 13 @ 17:00
Bid Protest Begins Tuesday, March 13 @ 17:00
Bid Protest Final Wednesday, March 14 @ 17:00
F/A-to-F/A Trading Begins Thursday, March 15*
Open Time Trading Begins Friday, March 16*

*Please note that there is no change to the F/A-to-F/A and Open Time trading timeline.

It is AFA’s positon that management has an obligation to ensure Flight Attendant bidding and scheduling systems are fully functional and free of programming errors.  AFA will be meeting with management to review the programming error with NavBlue PBS and discuss the future plans for roll out of the system.

If you have any questions about the bid re-award or trading timeline, please contact your LEC Officers.

In Solidarity,

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

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