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Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council

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Violation of CBA §12.C.2-3 [Exchange of Sequences: Trading Procedures]

Late this afternoon AFA was made aware of yet another contractual violation that will occur over the next few days in regards to out of domicile pick ups, trades, drops, giveaways. We also have additional information to share with you about trading Recurrent Training dates.

Currently, AFA and management agree to the following posted schedule:

Posting of Trips
All bases: 14th @ 2000 Pacific Time (PT)

FA-to-FA trading

  • SAN – 15th @ 0900 PT
  • PDX – 15th @ 1000 PT
  • ANC – 15th @ 1100 PT (1000 AKT)
  • LAX – 15th @ 1200 PT
  • SEA – 15th @ 1300 PT

Open Time trading

  • SAN – 16th @ 0900 PT
  • PDX – 16th @ 1000 PT
  • ANC – 16th @ 1100 PT (1000 AKT)
  • LAX – 16th @ 1200 PT
  • SEA – 17th @ 0900 PT

Recurrent Training trading

All bases 18th @ 0900 PT (0800 AKT)

Out of domicile FA to FA & OT

18th @ 0900 PT (0800 AKT)

However, Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) was programed incorrectly, and beginning today the following schedule will occur:

Posting of Trips

February 14th – Already began earlier (prior to 8pm PT) for all bases.

FA-to-FA trading

Same as current schedule in “FA-to-FA trading” above.

Open Time trading

Same as current schedule in “Open Time trading” above.

Recurrent Training trading

Recurrent Training trading will start at the agreed-upon time on the 18th at 0900 PT (0800 AKT). Open Recurrent Training slots are already visible in JCA (the graduation cap icon), but you will not be able to trade into them until the 18th at 0900 PT (0800 AKT).

Out of domicile FA-to-FA

Out of domicile Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant pick-ups, trades and giveaways will start on February 15th for all bases at the respective start time for Flight Attendant trades in each domicile.

Example 1: All F/As regardless of where they are based may pick up out of SAN on the 15th starting at 0900 PT.

Example 2: All F/As may pick up out of SEA on the 15th starting at 1300 PT.

Out of domicile OT

Out of domicile Open Time pick-ups, trades and drops will start when Open Time opens for the domicile in which the sequence operates.

Example: A SEAFA picked up a SAN OOD sequence on the 15th at 0900 PT. S/he must wait until the 16th at 0900 PT to trade that sequence with SAN Open Time.

In our continuing effort to defend our contract, AFA has filed Grievance 36-99-2-12-17 Violation §12.C.2-3 Trades, Pick-Ups, Drops and Give-Aways on Incorrect Dates.

Reminder: Change to Trading Timeline in March for April Schedules

Effective next bid month (March 2017), both Open Time and Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant trading begins on the 15th of the month.

Read more >

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Tim Green, Brice McGee; MEC Scheduling Committee Chairperson Jake Jones; and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams

2017.02.14 Grievance 36-99-2-12-17 Violation §12.C.2-3 Trades, Pick-Ups, Drops and Give-Aways on Incorrect Dates

Change To Open Time and Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant Trading Timeline

Effective next bid month (March 2017), both Open Time and Flight Attendant-to-Flight Attendant trading begins on the 15th of the month. All bases will open on the same day (the 15th) with the times staggered by base (all indicated in Pacific Time):

SAN – 9AM PT

PDX – 10AM PT

ANC – 11AM PT (10AM AKT)

LAX – 12 PM PT

SEA – 2PM PT

Again, this will occur in March for April trading. Current timelines are in effect in February for March trading.

This returns the trading timeline to the schedule established in the contract, §12.C.3 [Exchange of Sequences…: Trading Procedures]. You may recall that Alaska Airlines management and the Master Executive Council (MEC) agreed to ‘temporarily” alter the trading timeline when it became clear that eMaestro could not handle trades opening at the same time. The MEC has been assured that Jeppesen Crew Access (JCA) has more than enough capacity to handle the contractually mandated trading timeline, so we are defaulting back to the contractual application.

The MEC is currently preparing a separate communication to address all the frustrations with JCA.

In Solidarity,

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

Trades Gone Wrong

Over the past few months AFA has noticed an increase in complaints and concerns in relation to FA-to-FA trading.

As a result of this increase and one recent issue that resulted in a Written Warning, the Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to remind Flight Attendants of the importance of evaluating trades before they are processed.

Remember, all trades are final. Even when an unintentional trade mistake occurs that trade is final and cannot be changed without first notifying the affected Flight Attendant.

The posting of trips for trade with specific expectations is self-policing. There is no contractual language that requires AFA or management to intervene with problems associated with FA-to-FA trade issues when they arise.

In some trading issues, Flight Attendants have elevated into steps of progressive discipline due to attendance points accrued as a result of No Shows from unknown trade actions on their lines. AFA has had very little success with convincing management to adjust points as a result of this type of trade issue.

Before you process a trade:

  • Carefully review the trade and verify if you are trading with Open Time or if you are trading with a Flight Attendant.
  • Have you reviewed the comments box to ensure you are trading trips that meets the desire of your fellow coworker?
  • Did you call or communicate with the posting Flight Attendant prior to the trade?

Again, if the posting Flight Attendant has comments associated with the trade please respect and adhere to those stipulations. Remember, this is a self-policing system, and issues that arise as the result of “trades gone wrong” do not fall under the scope of your AFA reps or management to resolve.

If a mistake is made as a result of a trip trade or trip pick up, contact the affected Flight Attendant immediately. Discuss options to resolve the issue. The affected Flight Attendant is under no obligation to take a trip back as a result of a “trade gone wrong.”

As a reminder, per the Company security policy, you are not allowed to share your login information with anyone.

It is important that we work together and respect one another when we process trades.  Discipline that results from “trades gone wrong” is a serious issue and could result in Flight Attendants suffering discipline, or even termination, as the result of point accumulation.

If you have questions 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

Vacation Open Time Update – Saturday, November 5, 2016

Vacation Open Time trading re-opened on Wednesday, November 2nd and went reasonably well despite several unresolved glitches affecting some Flight Attendants who transferred bases in the past couple years. The Master Executive Council (MEC) sincerely thanks Inflight Crew Administration and the Info & Technology (IT) department—and AFA MEC Scheduling Chair Jake Jones—for making it work on that day.

That being said, the MEC recognizes that all these efforts after the fact neither make up for TFP lost due to wasted schedule adjustments, nor for restoring open vacation days, nor for lost opportunity for those who could not adjust their schedules to be available for trading on November 2nd.

At the request of your AFA leadership, MEC President Jeff Peterson sent the following email to Alaska Airlines Vice President of Inflight Services Andy Schneider:

Andy~

Due to the issues with Vacation Open Time trading in combination with all the other IT-related implementation challenges affecting flight attendants over the past couple years, AFA members and leadership are beyond frustrated. We strongly believe it is time for management to step up and address these frustrations in a much more concrete way than simply offering yet another apology.

Consequently, the Master Executive Council calls upon management to compensate every flight attendant with 4.0 TFP in recognition of these many inconveniences.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Peterson

President, Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council | Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

Andy’s response:

Jeff and the MEC,

Your frustrations are fully justified in this situation. I know that you get inundated with calls when things like this go wrong. I am sure you have heard from FAs who took time off with the goal of trading for prime vacation days that have been inconvenienced.  And I know that the bidding date change was an inconvenience too.  I have fielded many questions and I share the frustrations. The difference is that your members look to you to hold us accountable for our errors.

Your first response has always been to work with us to address and solve the immediate issues.  I am grateful for your willingness to partner with us to find solutions and to help us troubleshoot and fix programming glitches and other errors. You know our systems much better than I do and your input is invaluable.  I know Jake was helping the programmers in the middle of the night last night so that things would run better today.  Thank you, Jake.

We honored any trade that went through on Monday and opened the trading today with the same number of slots that we had when we opened Monday. I had hoped that we could determine who was trying to bid on Monday to see if we could work schedules to get them time off for bidding today. Unfortunately there was no way to know who they were.

While I understand the goal of the “make whole” request, I can’t justify it.  As we work to update our technology and provide better tools for our Flight Attendants, we will inevitably have problems.  I have requested a detailed plan from our IT team to outline the steps they are taking to ensure issues are minimized and I will gladly share that with you and take your input.  No one needs the headaches that these errors cause and I know that [the IT department leaders] are committed to fix their processes.

Jeff, let’s discuss more at our tie in tomorrow.

Although the issue was discussed further at their standing tie-in meeting, nothing substantive came from that conversation.

Are you as frustrated as the MEC is with this response? Feel free to contact Andy directly and respectfully share your perspective. If you are sending an email, make sure to copy in your AFA Local Executive Council (LEC) leadership (e.g. anc@afaalaska.org, sea@afaalaska.org, pdx@afaalaska.org, lax@afaalaska.org or san@afaalaska.org).

Very disappointing!

In Solidarity,

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

Vacation Open Time Update – Monday, October 31, 2016

Members of your Master Executive Council (MEC) and Alaska Airlines management met earlier today to review the problems with Vacation Open Time trading and to address Flight Attendants’ frustrations and concerns with the system.

After several hours of troubleshooting with the IT department, the parties have agreed to re-open Vacation Open Time trading beginning Wednesday, November 2nd at the same published times for each domicile:

  • SAN – 9am PDT
  • PDX – 10am PDT
  • ANC – 11am PDT (10am local)
  • LAX – 12pm PDT
  • SEA – 2pm PDT

You will be able to log into the vacation trading site beginning at 12:01am on November 2nd to view open vacation days and to split/merge vacation slots in preparation for Vacation Open Time trading opening. Actual trades will not be processed until the published opening time.

Management has agreed to honor all successful Vacation Open Time trades that occurred on Friday prior to pulling down the system. At AFA’s request, management will also restore Vacation Open Time availability to the same levels they were prior to the Friday start. If you are planning to trade into or out of the first five days of January, management will still allow those days to be traded for at least 24 hours before restricting the days in order to accommodate PBS bids.

However, the MEC continues to recognize these accommodations do not make up for TFP lost due to wasted schedule adjustments, for restoring open vacation days nor for lost opportunity for those who cannot adjust their schedules to be available for trading on November 2nd. We will be connecting with management tomorrow to further address these unresolved issues.

The MEC will provide another update after that meeting.

In Solidarity,

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

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