AFA Alaska

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council

Click here to report an issue to AFA
Menu
  • Local Councils
    • Anchorage (Council 30)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Los Angeles (Council 18)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Portland (Council 39)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • San Diego (Council 15)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • Seattle (Council 19)
      • Officers
      • Committees
    • San Francisco (Council 35)
      • Officers
      • Committees

    • More About Local Councils >>
    Close
  • Master Executive Council
    • Officers
    • Close
  • Committees
      • Air Safety, Health, & Security (ASHSC)
        • Air Quality
      • Benefits
      • Communications
      • Employee Assistance Program & Professional Standards
      • Government Affairs
      • Grievance
      • Hotel
      • Human Rights
      • Inflight Service
      • Inflight Training
      • Membership
      • Mobilization
      • Reserve
      • Retirement
      • Scheduling
        • Pairing Construction
        • Preferential Bidding System (PBS)
      • Uniform

    • More About Committees >>
    Close
  • Contract
      • Contract Home
        • Current Contract
        • Ask Contract Questions
      • Contract Resources
        • Read Contract Q&A
        • Explanatory Videos
      • Contract Negotiations
    • Close
  • Resources
      • Issues & Campaigns
      • Newsroom
        • AFA Alaska News Now
        • Message from the MEC President
      • Event Calendar
      • Membership Services
      • New Members
      • About
      • Links
      Close
    • Negotiations
    • Contact Us
    You are here: Home / Archives for vacation

    AFA Update – April 20, 2020

    April 20, 2020 12:00

    In This Edition

    • Flight Attendant Addiction Support (FAAS) Program
    • Cornerstone App Replacement
    • Vacation While on a Staffing Adjustment Leave of Absence
    • AFA EAP Support Services – Week of April 20
    • Union Plus – Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program

    Flight Attendant Addiction Support (FAAS) Program

    Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee

    The Flight Attendant Addiction Support Program (FAAS) is a program that allows Flight Attendants who deal with substance use problems and dependency the ability to obtain appropriate treatment without the threat of automatic termination.  The program is several years in the making and has been a joint effort between AFA Alaska EAP, AFA International EAP, and Alaska Airlines management.  The FAAS Program became available for use as of March 1, 2020 and is available to all non-probationary Flight Attendants. 

    Under the FAAS Program, there are three pathways for seeking support and treatment:

    1. Proactive Self-Referral
    2. Proactive Self-Disclosure/Reactive Self-Referral
    3. Violation of DOT regulations or Company Drug and Alcohol policy

    More information about these pathways, conditions for participation, effect on employment status, options for payment of treatment, and recovery support can be found in the FAAS Program Manual.  You can access the manual on the Inflight website under Administration > FA Addiction Support Program > FAAS Program Manual or on the IMD in GoodReader > ASFASupplemental > FAAS Program.

    Note: The MEC would like to thank MEC EAP Committee Chairperson Elizabeth Dillon, Vice Chairperson Jeanne McCleave, and SAN LEC Vice President/EAP Committee Chairperson Melanie Buker for their enduring efforts in seeing this program through to realization. 

    Questions?

    If you have any questions about the FAAS Program, please contact your Local EAP Committee.


    Cornerstone App Replacement

    Inflight Training Committee

    On March 30, management announced that the Cornerstone app would be replaced with the new Cornerstone Learn app.  The replacement of the Cornerstone app is a welcome announcement given the ongoing technical issues and challenges that the app has presented to our Flight Attendants.  Management has indicated that the new Cornerstone Learn app has greater reliability than the legacy Cornerstone app and should be easier for Flight Attendants to use.  Though AFA representatives have had the opportunity to briefly test the new app, there were several technical issues identified and we are skeptical that the new platform will resolve all of the outstanding issues that Flight Attendants experienced with the old app.

    Sync Your Training Before April 30

    In bulletin #2020-0024 (AAG sign-on required), published on March 30, management provided notification that the legacy Cornerstone app will no longer be supported after April 30.  If you have started or completed any training using the download feature in the legacy Cornerstone app, you must ensure that you sync the Cornerstone app on your IMD so that your progress is transferred to the new Cornerstone Learn platform.  You can find more information about how to sync in the bulletin under the “New Mobile Learning App” heading.

    Questions?

    If you have questions about the new Cornerstone Learn app or how to ensure that your training is synced in preparation for the transition, please contact Inflight Training management directly at inflight.training@alaskaair.com.


    Vacation While on a Staffing Adjustment Leave of Absence

    Master Executive Council (MEC)

    If you’re taking an upcoming staffing leave of absence and have vacation days that are scheduled during your leave, those vacation days will be removed from your roster and replaced with the coding for your leave of absence.  The MEC would like to ensure that you are aware of the options that you have to either move or be paid out for your vacation days, which are as follows:

    • Trade Your Days With Vacation Open Time.  Identify available days in vacation open time and email F/A Crew Pay (fa.crewpay@alaskaair.com) to let them know the days that you’d like to trade into.  F/A Crew Pay will process the change.  Vacation open time can be viewed on the Inflight website under Schedule & Bidding > Vacation Trading > Vacation Open Time.  The calendar will display the number of open slots on each day for your base.
    • Request That Your Vacation Be Paid Out Now.  If you would like your vacation to be paid out now, complete and submit a Vacation Payout Form.  The form is located on the Inflight website under Administration > Pay & Benefits > Vacation Payout Form.  As long as the form is submitted 7 or more days prior to pay day, your vacation will be paid out on your next available check.
    • Do Nothing and Be Paid Out Later. If you do not trade your vacation days or request that they be paid out now, they will be paid out automatically on February 5, 2021.

    Questions?

    If you have questions about any of the above options or need assistance, please contact your LEC Officers.


    AFA EAP Support Services – Week of April 20

    Employee Assistance Program (EAP)/Professional Standards Committee

    AFA EAP has put together several resources to help Flight Attendants manage their personal mental health and wellness during the COVID-19 outbreak.  All services are available in either a telephone or online format.  For a complete list of support services being offered, schedules for the week of April 20, and access information, please click here.

    Questions?

    If you have any questions about available EAP support services, please contact your Local EAP Committee.


    Union Plus – Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program

    AFA International

    Because of the current economic and health uncertainty facing many union members, students who enroll in the Union Plus Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program, in partnership with Central State University, in the summer 2020 term will complete their entire degree for free.

    There will be no out-of-pocket cost for tuition, fees, or e-books until graduation, not just the summer term. Students may enroll part-time, but continuous enrollment is required.  Students must complete the FAFSA and the financial aid process.

    Summer classes begin May 18, 2020.

    Unemployed, furloughed or laid off union members and their extended families are still eligible to enroll in the Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program.

    Questions?

    You can learn more by calling 888-897-9671 or get started online at https://bachelorsdegree.unionplus.org.

    Filed Under: Benefits Committee, EAP/Professional Standards Committee, Inflight Training Committee, Latest News, Master Executive Council (MEC) Tagged With: 2020, Cornerstone, FAAS, leave of absence, staffing adjustment, Union Plus, vacation

    Yet Another System Malfunction (This Time Vacation Trading)

    October 28, 2019 21:00

    Your Master Executive Council (MEC) is aware that the vacation trading system malfunctioned for approximately 25 minutes just as vacation trading opened for Seattle around 2 PM PT. Just like with the recent Crew Access malfunction, this all went down despite a whole crew of IT personnel monitoring the vacation trading system. Access was restored immediately following the outage, but the root cause is still not known as of this writing. We will continue to monitor and report issues to management for resolution.

    A dedicated AFA representative was monitoring the system with IT throughout the entire day from 8 AM to 5 PM PT. Once there was a known issue, our AFA rep was immediately briefed and worked alongside those with first-hand knowledge of the system to find a quick resolution. Despite those efforts, the MEC is once again extremely disappointed in the results—just like you are. 

    We want a vacation trading system (and a trip trading system and a payroll system) that meets the needs of our Flight Attendants. Anything less is unacceptable. The MEC has heard you loud and clear: You don’t want apologies. You want results. And you demand systems that meet our contractual requirements. 

    AFA leadership has and will continue to communicate to management the universal frustration our members feel about the various Company IT systems—and the expectation is that management should stop talking about it, and FIX it!!

    In Solidarity,

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

    Filed Under: Latest News, Master Executive Council (MEC), Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2019, system failure, vacation, vacation opentime, vacation OT, vacation trading

    [AS] Vacation Open Time Trading Will Now Open Tonight

    October 26, 2017 17:30

    This message is for pre-merger Alaska Flight Attendants

    After working to create a technical fix for the vacation trading system, management has advised us that they will be opening vacation open time trading tonight, Thursday, October 26.  Each base will open in hourly increments as shown below.

    SAN 7 PM
    PDX 8 PM
    ANC 9 PM Pacific (8 PM ANC local time)
    LAX 10 PM
    SEA 11 PM

    Further Conversation with Management to Be Had

    Your AFA leadership is extremely disappointed and frustrated with the IT failure surrounding the delay in the start vacation open time trading. This is yet another occurrence in a long list of IT-related issues that continue to plague various company-related systems and negatively impact Flight Attendant quality of life.  We plan to have further discussion with management regarding this situation soon and will provide an update after that conversation has taken place.

    In Solidarity,

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

    Filed Under: Latest News, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2017, vacation, vacation opentime, vacation OT, vacation trading

    Vacation Open Time Update – Saturday, November 5, 2016

    November 5, 2016 17:00

    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

    Filed Under: Latest News, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2016, Open Time, OT, trading, vacation

    Vacation Open Time Update – Monday, October 31, 2016

    October 31, 2016 16:00

    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

    Filed Under: Latest News, Scheduling Committee Tagged With: 2016, trading, vacation

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • Next Page »

    Need Help?

    Have an issue or concern to report to AFA?  Click here to access the AFA Alaska online support center.

    Connect with Us on Facebook

    Connect with Us on Facebook

    Follow Us on Twitter

    Tweets by AFAAlaska

    Instagram

    Latest news from our Negotiating Committee about Session 11 of contract negotiations, including a TA on LOA 5: Sick Family/Sick Child, discussion on Leaves of Absence, General - Association, and Training, and updates on current progress.
    Members of our Master Executive Council (MEC) and other AFA Representatives will attend the AFA Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting next week. The BOD meeting is where business affecting all AFA airlines is conducted. Your LEC President is your representative at the BOD meeting and will be voting on your behalf regarding the approval of the AFA International budget. If you have any questions about the BOD meeting, please contact your LEC President.
    As an AFA and CWA Member, you and/or certain eligible dependents have the opportunities for at least two different scholarships. An additional opportunity, the Union Plus Free College Benefit, offers the ability to earn a degree with no out of pocket expense for tuition, fees, and e-books. Check out the links below for eligibility requirements, application information, and other important details for each opportunity.
    Our AFA EAP/Professional Standards Committee (Members helping Members) seeks to assist Members, their families, and partners experiencing personal and work-related problems that could or are affecting their health and well-being on and off the job. Our EAP committee is a Union-sponsored support service provided by Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants, their families, and partners. EAP Peer Representatives are trained to provide three distinct but interrelated services: Assessment, Support, and Referral Services; Professional Standards; and Critical Incident Response.
    Our AFA Government Affairs Committee met with their representatives on Capitol Hill and urged them to pass the FAA Reauthorization Bill. This bill will improve aviation safety and conditions onboard the aircraft for flight crew and passengers. Top priorities discussed with Congress include cabin air safety, and stopping disruptive passenger abuse towards crew members and gate agents.
    Our AFA Reserve Committee Chairpersons met on Thursday, March 9 to discuss their ongoing program of work to represent and advocate for our Reserve Flight Attendants. The Committee also met with management to review a number of specific concerns that were brought forward by Flight Attendants. Your Local Reserve Committee is available to answer questions, provide clarification, or help to resolve any reserve related issues. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!

    Latest News

    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 24, 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 17, 2023
    • Upcoming 2023 AFA Board of Directors Meeting
    • 2023 College Scholarship Opportunities
    • EAP/Professional Standards Committee News – March 2023
    • Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 10, 2023
    • Help Support SkyWest Flight Attendant Organizing in LAX & SAN!
    • April 2023 Bidding – Analyzer Tool Error
    • March 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

    Upcoming 2023 AFA Board of Directors Meeting

    March 16, 2023

    Master Executive Council (MEC) Next week, our Master Executive Council (MEC) Officers, Local Executive Council (LEC) Presidents, and many other LEC Officers and Committee Chairs will be attending the 50th Annual AFA Board of Directors (BOD) meeting being held virtually. They will join representatives from the other airlines that make up AFA to conduct the business of […]

    2023 College Scholarship Opportunities

    March 16, 2023

    AFA International As an AFA and CWA Member, you and/or certain eligible dependents have the opportunities for at least two different scholarships for the pursuit of higher education.  The time for applying is now! Brought to you by our Union, these benefits of union membership have become very popular with Members.  Please see the respective links for […]

    EAP/Professional Standards Committee News – March 2023

    March 15, 2023

    EAP/Professional Standards Committee Our AFA EAP/Professional Standards Committee (Members helping Members) seeks to assist Members, their families, and partners experiencing personal and work-related problems that could or are affecting their health and well-being on and off the job. Our EAP committee is a Union-sponsored support service provided by Flight Attendants for Flight Attendants, their families, […]

    Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023

    March 13, 2023

    Reserve Committee On Thursday, March 9, representatives from our AFA Local Reserve Committees met to discuss their ongoing work to advocate for Reserve Flight Attendants. Representing you at the meeting were Heather Reier (ANC), Teran Eason (SEA), Anthony Eskander (PDX), Meghan Casey (SFO), Kanako Yamada (LAX), and Rebecca Garcia (SAN).  Also present was MEC Reserve […]

    Help Support SkyWest Flight Attendant Organizing in LAX & SAN!

    March 10, 2023

    AFA International SkyWest Flight Attendants are organizing to form their Union and join AFA-CWA! Help support their efforts by joining in an upcoming SkyWest AFA “Concourse Chats” visibility event. The goal of the events is to engage 1-on-1, in-person and have conversations with SkyWest Flight Attendants to learn their issues and priorities and invite them […]

    Response to the November 18th Inflight Town Hall Webcast

    November 18, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    California meal & rest breaks Management’s continued scare tactics and speculative “what-if’s” as put forward during the Inflight Town Hall webcast today regarding California meal & rest breaks are unnecessary and extremely disappointing. Although it is true there are some challenging aspects of compliance with California meal & rest break laws for commercial aviation, AFA […]

    ALPA Alaska Approves Tentative Agreement for Pilot Ratification

    September 23, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    Master Executive Council (MEC) President Jeffrey Peterson The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Alaska Airlines leadership recently announced they approved a tentative agreement (TA) with Alaska Airlines management for pilot ratification. Click here for the Alaska Airlines Pilots TA Quick Guide (September 2022) > At a quick glance, the TA contains impressive improvements to scope, […]

    Masks Are No Longer Required in Airports or Onboard

    April 18, 2022 By Jeffrey Peterson (MEC President)

    The CDC and TSA report the federal mask mandate is no longer in effect after today’s court ruling. Additionally, Alaska Airlines management just announced via multiple channels that the mask mandate is lifted effective immediately on all aircraft.

    RSS Negotiations News

    • Negotiation Session 11
    • Negotiation Session 10
    • Negotiation Session 9
    • Negotiation Session 8
    • Negotiation Session 7
    • What commuter improvements can we expect?
    • The commitment from management on industry leading pay is great news! However, pay rates are only part of the picture – are we sacrificing work rules and benefits for leading pay rates?
    • Can you clarify the pay components included in our Opening Proposal (Ground, Flight, Delay, Stranded)?
    • Negotiation Session 6
    • Negotiation Session 5

    Recent Posts

    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 24, 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 17, 2023
    • Upcoming 2023 AFA Board of Directors Meeting
    • 2023 College Scholarship Opportunities
    • EAP/Professional Standards Committee News – March 2023
    • Reserve Committee Meeting Recap – 1st Quarter 2023
    • AFA Alaska News in Review – March 10, 2023
    • Help Support SkyWest Flight Attendant Organizing in LAX & SAN!
    • April 2023 Bidding – Analyzer Tool Error
    • March 2023 MEC Meeting Recap

    Local Councils

    • Anchorage
    • Los Angeles
    • Portland
    • San Diego
    • San Francisco
    • Seattle

    Master Executive Council

    • MEC

    Negotiations

    • Contract 2022 Home
    • Negotiating Committee
    • Negotiations Feedback
    • Negotiations News
    • Negotiations Process

    Contract

    • Contract Home

    Committees

    • Air Safety, Health, & Security
    • Benefits
    • Communications
    • EAP/Professional Standards
    • Government Affairs
    • Grievance
    • Hotel
    • Human Rights
    • Inflight Service
    • Mobilization
    • Reserve
    • Retirement
    • Scheduling
    • Uniform

    News By Month

    News By Category

    AFA Alaska News Now Air Quality Air Safety, Health, & Security Committee (ASHSC) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) AS/VX Merger Benefits Committee Committees Communications Committee Contract Contract 2014 Negotiations Blog Council 15 SAN Council 18 LAX Council 19 SEA Council 30 ANC Council 35 SFO Council 39 PDX EAP/Professional Standards Committee Extension 2021 Blog Featured Government Affairs Committee Grievance Committee Hotel Committee Human Rights Committee Industry News Inflight Service Committee Inflight Training Committee JNC Blog Latest News Local Councils Master Executive Council (MEC) Message from the MEC President Mobilization Committee Negotiations Pairing Construction Preferential Bidding System (PBS) Press Releases Reserve Committee Retirement Committee Scheduling Committee Uniform Committee
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Want To Stay In The Loop?

    The best way to stay connected with up-to-date AFA Alaska news and information is through a subscription to AFA Alaska emails!  Click the button below to sign up.  Already a subscriber?  You can make changes to your email by clicking below!
    Sign Up

    Connect With AFA

    • Contact Us
    • Online Support Center
    • AFA International
    • CWA
    • AFA Alaska Social Media Guidelines
    • AFA-CWA Mutual Respect Policy

    Copyright © 2013-2023 Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO