recurrent training

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 7

February 14, 2020 20:00 By Brian Palmer (MEC Vice President)

The Master Executive Council (MEC) was planning to meet with one of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Cabin Safety Inspectors assigned to Alaska Airlines this week during the regular February MEC meeting. The intent of the meeting was to allow the MEC to gain a better understanding as to how the FAA interprets and applies the Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs) and other guiding documents to Flight Attendant recurrent training. More specifically, the MEC is seeking more information about what drove the changes that were made to Recurrent Training 2020 when it initially launched in January.

Unfortunately, not all of the required representatives from the FAA’s Certificate Management Office (CMO) could be available for the scheduled meeting last Wednesday and the meeting was canceled. The MEC is actively working with the FAA to reschedule the meeting to another time as soon as all required attendees from both AFA and the FAA are available. More information will be communicated once the meeting is able to be rescheduled.

In Solidarity,

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

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 6

February 10, 2020 23:00 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

Breaking news!

Limited self-correction during door evacuation drills

The Master Executive Council (MEC) has been informed that limited self-correction is now allowed during door evacuation drills in one specific circumstance. Flight Attendants are expected to come to Recurrent Training (RT) prepared to demonstrate proficiency by using verbatim evacuation commands. However, if the (incorrect) command “STAND BACK” is corrected to “STAY BACK, STAY BACK, STAY BACK…” during an evacuation drill evaluation, then this will be considered successful.

If self-correction occurs as described above, then the Inflight Instructor will debrief with the student after the evaluation is complete. The purpose of the debrief is to ensure the student is clear on the Flight Attendant Manual (FAM) standard of “STAY BACK – STAY BACK” (no “STAND BACK”). For now, this will be the only self-correction allowed during evacuation drills.

Proposed redesign of the Special Track Training submitted to the FAA

Management submitted the proposed redesign of the Special Track Training to the FAA today. The FAA has up to 16 working days to accept or reject the proposal. In the interim, AFA and management have agreed to not allow any Flight Attendant to proceed to the fourth drill attempt; affected FAs are currently being pay protected while we wait for the FAA’s response.

Additional approved exceptions to the verbatim evacuation commands

Again, Flight Attendants are expected to come to RT prepared to demonstrate proficiency by using verbatim evacuation commands. However, one more variant on “plane” that is used throughout the British Commonwealth has been added to the approved exceptions: aeroplane. Flight Attendants will be deemed proficient and therefore successful in completing their evacuation evaluation if they inadvertently use any of the now five approved exceptions: “the,” “airplane,” “aeroplane,” “aircraft” and “jump.” Italicized text inside of parenthesis indicate the approved exceptions to the verbatim evacuation commands:

“Heads down, stay down” / “Open seatbelts — Open seatbelts” / “Stay back — Stay back” / “You two, stay at the bottom” / “Help (the) people off” / “Send them away from the plane (/ airplane / aeroplane / aircraft)” / “Leave everything” / “Exit here” / “Jump (Jump)”.

The MEC anticipates publishing another RT update following our meeting this coming Wednesday with one of the FAA Cabin Safety Inspectors assigned to Alaska Airlines or pending any new developments.

In Solidarity,

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

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 5

February 10, 2020 12:00 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

During the two-week pause of Recurrent Training (RT), management has redesigned the program with the assistance of a vendor that was contracted to help facilitate the process changes. Many of those changes were solidified through an alpha test of the redesigned RT 2020 and subsequent beta test over the past week. AFA leadership participated in the tests along with senior Inflight Instructors and a small group of line Flight Attendants.

Management sent an “RT Improvement Plan” email (February 8, 2020) on Saturday that outlined what Flight Attendants can expect for the relaunch of RT on Monday, February 10. Not surprisingly, many of you had questions or concerns about that communication.

Summary of and commentary about the RT Improvement Plan

Hands-on time has increased from 90 minutes with no time allocated for emergency equipment to 2.5 hours including doors and emergency equipment.

However, 2.5 hours is still not enough because of resource constraints. Once one factors in the number of students, instructors, drills, etc., an individual FA will likely have only a few minutes for any particular door drill. The Master Executive Council (MEC) strongly believes management should allocate more hands-on time.

Thirty minutes of hands-on training is now available before the start of every RT class.

AFA has lingering concerns with the emphasis on voluntary uncompensated training outside of negotiated training hours. This is not an acceptable long-term solution due to the totality of the circumstances.

Scheduled open houses to allow for voluntary practice time on equipment.

Same objection as above: Voluntary uncompensated training outside of negotiated training hours is not an acceptable long-term solution.

The completion packet has been streamlined by condensing the number of drills from 31 to 20.

Condensing is good, but AFA has advocated for more trimming where allowed by regulation.

The instructors are again able to provide direct feedback after unsuccessful drill attempts.

Direct feedback should never have been eliminated in the first place. The MEC believes this is an epic fail on management’s part.

Instructors audited the program content for accuracy.

Excellent! However, who thought it was a good idea to not have the instructors audit the program content for accuracy before now?

Upgraded the RT website to enhance the user experience.

The upgrades are subtle, so the MEC questions how much this will actually enhance the user experience. However, we do appreciate the effort.

Pre-class material, videos, and classroom content has been audited to ensure accuracy.

Is it painfully obvious that quality assurance is extremely under-resourced in Inflight Training?

Topics still being actively explored

Separately, the Master Executive Council (MEC) has taken part in several meetings with management this past week for continuing discussions about the evolving RT situation. A key discussion occurred on Thursday with Vice President of Inflight Ron Calvin, VP Labor Relations Jenny Wetzel, VP Safety & Security Max Tidwell, VP Flight Operations John Ladner, MD Inflight Operations Michaela Littman and MD Labor Relations Carmen Williams.

Topics of particular interest that are still being actively explored:

Revamping the “Special Track Training” program. (A Flight Attendant is currently put into Special Track Training following the third unsuccessful attempt of any drill evaluation.)
AFA’s grave concerns regarding potential termination of employment following a fourth unsuccessful attempt.
Whether self-correction during drill evaluations was possible. Management committed to clarifying with the FAA and to report back as soon as possible.

Management intends to submit a proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration for a redesigned Special Track Training program early this week that will hopefully resolve the first two issues above. The FAA has up to 16 working days to accept or reject the proposal. In the interim, AFA and management have agreed to not allow any Flight Attendant to proceed to the fourth drill attempt; affected FAs are currently being pay protected, but this doesn’t lessen the emotional impact.

Accountability and oversight

AFA has asked management to disclose which specific changes to the RT program were required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a result of its audit of the Inflight training program last fall and which changes were management’s discretion. The parties will continue that conversation this week. Additionally, the MEC is scheduled to meet with one of the FAA Cabin Safety Inspectors assigned to Alaska Airlines this coming Wednesday.

We anticipate publishing another RT update in the coming days pending any new developments.

In Solidarity,

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

AFA Update – February 7, 2020 REVISED

February 7, 2020 18:00 By Brian Palmer (MEC Vice President)

**Revised with new information as of February 7, 2020 6 PM PST**

In This Edition

Recurrent Training 2020 – Interim Update
Flight Attendants Call for Responsible Halt to China Flights
Maternity Roundtable Event

Recurrent Training 2020 – Interim Update

Master Executive Council (MEC)

Since last week’s AFA update on Recurrent Training (RT), management has been working to make changes to the program based on feedback from Flight Attendants and our AFA representatives. Several AFA officers and representatives have been observing and auditing this process to ensure contractual compliance and to advocate for positive changes to the program for all Flight Attendants.

Management has advised the Master Executive Council (MEC) that they will be releasing several communications over the next few days related to the status of the RT program and the timeline for classes to be relaunched. The MEC plans to release an additional update early next week in response to management’s communication.

Flight Attendants Call for Responsible Halt to China Flights

Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC)

AFA International issued this statement following last night’s travel advisory change by U.S. State Department to “do not travel to China” and the declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the coronavirus is a “global health emergency”:

“AFA is calling for clear direction from our government to U.S. airlines to pull down all travel to China until the spread of coronavirus is contained. The government must work with our airlines to discontinue all service, with consideration for evacuation of flight crew, and with consideration to service that facilitates efforts by public health officials to contain spread of the virus,” stated Sara Nelson, AFA-CWA International President.

“The coronavirus may be spread by infected persons not yet displaying symptoms. For this reason, it is critical that any crew potentially infected through travel to and from China not be assigned to any additional flights until safely through the fourteen day incubation period. These crews must be pay protected for any scheduled flights and provided with the means to get food and other supplies while remaining out of public contact. This action is also on the AFA communicable disease checklist provided to all of our airlines again on January 21, 2020.

“We need responsible leadership from our government and we need it now. We will continue to work with our airlines, who have been exceeding precautions suggested by the administration – albeit now these actions are clearly not enough. This must end now. This is an emergency and our government must take a leadership role, in consultation with all stakeholders, in order to end this public health threat and protect American workers.”

Maternity Roundtable Event

Benefits Committee

Are you having a baby in 2020 or just thinking about it? AFA Council 19 (Seattle) will be hosting a Maternity Roundtable event on March 27 from 11 to 3 PM. Come have your questions answered related to maternity leaves, benefits, and other work-related considerations. Though the event will be held in Seattle, it is open to all Flight Attendants regardless of base.

Location

SeaTac Office Center South Tower
18000 Pacific Highway South
Earhart Conference Room, Lower Plaza Level
SeaTac, WA 98188

The building is a short walk from the airport, located in the same building as 13 Coins Restaurant (between the Hilton and Radisson hotels). Free parking is available.

Conference Call Option

For those who are interested in participating but are unable to attend in person, a conference call option will be available. Please indicate your interest in participating by conference call when sending your RSVP and the call-in information will be provided to you.

RSVP

Please RSVP to SEA Local Benefits Committee Chairperson Kathy O’Malley by email at benefitsassist@hotmail.com or by text at (425) 238-8219 if you are interested in attending.

Recurrent Training 2020 – Part 4

January 28, 2020 21:00 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

The Master Executive Council (MEC) met with management earlier today in Seattle to discuss our questions and concerns regarding Recurrent Training. Members of the AFA Inflight Training Committee; Grievance Committee; Air Safety, Health and Security Committee; and Scheduling Committee also joined us for the discussion. Management was represented by Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Gary Beck, Vice President of Inflight Ron Calvin, VP Labor Relations Jenny Wetzel, VP Safety & Security Max Tidwell, Managing Director (MD) of Inflight Strategy and Support Mary Avey, MD Inflight Operations Michaela Littman, MD Labor Relations Carmen Williams and other senior leaders of the Inflight division.

Focus on two themes

Your AFA leaders focused on two themes:

Holding management accountable, and
Demonstrating proficiency over perfection.

Questions asked of management

We submitted several hard questions to management, including but not limited to:

Which specific changes to the Recurrent Training (RT) program were required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a result of its audit of the Inflight training program last fall and which changes were management’s discretion?
Is management aware that the current training program has created an environment of anxiety and fear in which Flight Attendants are now questioning their abilities to handle emergency situations?
Is management willing to revise RT 2020 in order to provide Flight Attendants with greater clarity of expectations and improved resources and tools?

Changes sought by AFA

AFA advocated for several changes to RT 2020, including but not limited to:

Ending the practice of “management only” classes and to mix management personnel into as many classes and locations as possible
Providing adequate “hand-on” practice time prior to drill evaluations for evacuations, emergency equipment and CPR
Live demonstration of each evaluation scenario for evacuations, emergency equipment and CPR
Ability for a Flight Attendant to self-correct during an evaluation
Allow an evaluator to provide feedback to a Flight Attendant following an unsuccessful evaluation
‘Forgive’ all Flight Attendants currently in the Special Track Training program (who were placed into the program following two unsuccessful drill evaluations)
Significantly revise or drop the Special Track Training program (remediation training, retention check and check ride)
No termination of employment following an unsuccessful fourth drill evaluation

Management took ownership, but we remain ‘cautiously skeptical’

Management took ownership of the disastrous state of the RT program, but the MEC will remain ‘cautiously skeptical’ until we see meaningful solutions put into action. However, Ron committed to ending the practice of “management only” RT classes and to mix management personnel into regular RT classes throughout the system.

Inflight management has canceled all Recurrent Training and Requalification Training classes that were scheduled to start between 1/28 and 2/7, and management has pledged to use this time to incorporate feedback and revise the RT 2020 program. Whatever changes may come out of this process, the MEC will make every effort to ensure management provides adequate training for the Inflight Instructors. It is critical that evaluations are performed uniformly and without subjectivity in order to guarantee a consistent and fair experience for all.

Management is developing a communication that outlines the plan in more detail. AFA is also drafting several contractual grievances specific to Recurrent Training. We anticipate publishing another RT update in the coming days after management’s next communication goes out and our grievances have been filed.

In Solidarity,

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

Limited self-correction during door evacuation drills

Proposed redesign of the Special Track Training submitted to the FAA

Additional approved exceptions to the verbatim evacuation commands

Summary of and commentary about the RT Improvement Plan

Hands-on time has increased from 90 minutes with no time allocated for emergency equipment to 2.5 hours including doors and emergency equipment.

Thirty minutes of hands-on training is now available before the start of every RT class.

Scheduled open houses to allow for voluntary practice time on equipment.

The completion packet has been streamlined by condensing the number of drills from 31 to 20.

The instructors are again able to provide direct feedback after unsuccessful drill attempts.

Instructors audited the program content for accuracy.

Upgraded the RT website to enhance the user experience.

Pre-class material, videos, and classroom content has been audited to ensure accuracy.

Topics still being actively explored

Accountability and oversight

In This Edition

Recurrent Training 2020 – Interim Update

Flight Attendants Call for Responsible Halt to China Flights

Maternity Roundtable Event

Location

Conference Call Option

RSVP

Focus on two themes

Questions asked of management

Changes sought by AFA

Management took ownership, but we remain ‘cautiously skeptical’

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