In This Edition:
- Portland Pride 2026
- Q2 CBT & Other Reminders
- Council 39 Social Media Launch
- Council 39 Committee Updates
- Reserve Webinar
- Average Line Value
- Fume Events: What To Know & What To Do
Portland Pride 2026
Our Council 39 Human Rights & Equity Committee is proud to partner with Oregon Labor Federation, AFL-CIO for Portland Pride 2026! Join us on July 19 for the parade and other festivities. Scan the QR code below for more information.
Q2 CBT & Other Reminders
Please remember to complete your Q2 CBT by June 30 at 23:59 Pacific to avoid progressive steps of discipline.
Inflight supervisors continue their program of predeparture compliance checks, both onboard the aircraft and in the terminal. These checks include making sure all required bulletins have been read, Comply365 has been synced, uniforms are in compliance, etc.
AFA has been made aware that bulletin checks are being done virtually in some cases. For example, a Flight Attendant returns to domicile at the end of their pairing and finds communications from management stating that during their virtual audits, it was discovered that required bulletins weren’t acknowledged prior to the start of their sequence. These virtual audits have resulted in records of discussion (RODs) for those Flight Attendants. Please make sure you are in full compliance every time you come to work.
Council 39 Social Media Launch
We are excited to announce the launch of Council 39’s official Instagram page! Follow us for updates, news and reminders. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, too!
Council 39 Committee Updates
We are pleased to announce that Council 39 will be served by a standalone Retirement Committee with Wendy Drake as our local Retirement Committee Chairperson.
Portland-based Flight Attendant Shannon O’Connor will join our local Communications Committee, and our current LECP Steve Maller will continue in his role as our local Grievance Committee Chairperson. Steve will also lend his skills to our local Safety Committee as a committee member.
We thank all of our AFA volunteers for their willingness to serve the Flight Attendants of Council 39. You can find their contact information here.
Reserve Webinar
Join our MEC Reserve Committee on August 6 at 1 pm Pacific for, “Can They Do That?”, a webinar aimed at answering your questions and sharing practical, contractual insight into both everyday scheduling situations and those rare curveballs that come your way.
This webinar is for everyone: reserves and lineholders alike. Our MEC encourages you to come ready to learn, connect and ask anything on your mind. Registration and a Zoom link will be shared as soon as August bidding opens, but you can use the button below to submit your questions ahead of time.
Average Line Value
From Council 39 Scheduling Chairperson Melodie Anderes
A hot topic this summer has been average line value (ALV), the average number of TFP awarded to each Flight Attendant in a particular domicile. As stipulated in §10.B of the CBA, the ALV must be between 75 and 85 TFP each month. Individually, the total TFP on your line when bids are awarded can be anywhere between 10 TFP above and 10 TFP below the ALV for that month.
This window of 20 TFP can be narrowed to meet the requirement of a 75-85 TFP ALV or to achieve the operationally required balance between reserves and lineholders. The graphic below shows a sampling of recent months in which the ALV was above 80 TFP in Portland:
While not the norm, an ALV above 80 TFP is also not a rarity, particularly in months commonly regarded as “busy” in our industry. For a more detailed breakdown of ALVs for Portland in recent years, click here.
Fume Events: What To Know & What To Do
Fumes and smoke come into the cabins of our aircraft from many sources, including the outdoors. These can include odors from deicing fluids, fumes from APU exhaust and even passenger vehicles making their way around the ramps. The fumes that raise the biggest concerns for Flight Attendants, however, come from heated oil and hydraulic fluids. These fluids can leak or spill and then be ingested into the engine compressors (either the main engines or the APU) and then those fumes are distributed throughout the cabin air supply system. Currently, there are no aircraft in Alaska Airlines’ fleet with filters between the engine compressors and the cabin air supply. Oil and hydraulic fuel fumes contain toxic chemicals, and breathing them can cause significant health problems, potentially compromising flight safety and security and, in some cases, Flight Attendants can develop and live with long-term symptoms.
During fume events, there typically isn’t a visual indicator that something is wrong. This can make it more difficult to know whether “just a bad smell” should be taken seriously, especially since our work environment can regularly be filled with “bad smells”.
Airlines are required to provide safety data sheets (SDS) for oil and hydraulic fluid to crew members. As of this writing, Alaska Airlines uses Mobil Jet II (engine oil) and Hyjet IVa+ (hydraulic fluid) on our aircraft.
Below you will find several resources on steps to take after experiencing a fume event onboard.
In Solidarity,
Steve, Krystle and Bethany
