Negotiations Session 9

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Your AFA Negotiations Committee met with management for Negotiation Session 9 on July 1-3. Representing you at the table were Committee Members- Heather Coleman & Lexie Massey, MEC President- Lisa Davis-Warren, AFA Staff Attorney & Negotiator- Kimberley Chaput.

The Committee met with Vice President Station Ops & Inflight- Shelly Parker, Manager Inflight Labor & Performance- William Casalins Altamar, Managing Director, People and Labor Relations- Chéri Ruger, Director Finance- Amber Hopkins, Financial Analyst- Mark Schuck, Senior Corporate Counsel, Alaska Legal- Latrice Lee, and Seyfarth Shaw LLP Partner, Labor & Employment- Molly Gabel.

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This was, at best, a frustrating session. The parties passed proposals on Article 11 (Vacation), Article 14 (Leaves of Absence), and Article 25 (General). Movement was minimal, leading to deadlock. 

In the midst of this, the Alaska tentative agreement came out. While Alaska Flight Attendants may not be happy with it—we won’t know until the votes are counted in August—the fact remains that the wages and other gains in that agreement far surpass what we currently have at Horizon. We received their usual spiel when we brought this to management’s attention. Capsule version: We love and appreciate Flight Attendants, but we are a regional airline and need to compete with other regionals. When asked why the system could not be changed, they responded that they didn’t wish to “be the catalyst” for such systemic change.

Management also told us that they had “given” a lot at the table already and expected to do some “taking” as well. This prompted the AFA Committee to compile a list of “improvements” to which we have agreed.  It’s…sad. After nine negotiating sessions, starting in November 2023, here is what they’ve agreed to:

Article 4, including Sideletter 7

  • Management will not book Flight Attendants into hotels with striking workers
  • Flight Attendant may request to move to a different hotel if a hotel situation will cause inadequate rest
  • Minimum hotel standards apply to TDY
  • Transportation identified as commercial on the exterior of the car
  • $15 for delivery fees for food if one or no restaurant near the crew hotel
  • Hotel rates provided to AFA during the RFP process

Article 5

  • Golden days for new hires (current practice, but not in contract)
  • Proration of golden days during the last (less than full) month of employment
  • Release time adjusted if deplaning more than 15 minutes

Article 6

  • Drop one trip in 24 hours of Open Time opening, no 7-day limit
  • Reduced credit must be at least 5%, no exception

Article 8

  • Training hotels will have slightly different minimum standards (currently, the Minimum Hotel Standards do not apply at all)

Article 12

  • Lunch bag, upon requesst, available in initial uniform
  • $50 per year allowance for bags (other than day bag and suitcase)

Article 13

  • Probationary period reduced from 210 to 180 days 

Article 14

  • Sick leave/vacation to make up difference STD/LTD

Article 25

  • AFA agreement required on substantive changes to FADAP
  • Pumping/feeding facilities in all domiciles 

Article 26

  • Trip dropped with Premium Pay for active shooter and/or if a Flight Attendant must seek shelter
  • Safety training and compensation for AFA reps

These are good things, of course, but there should be a much longer list after nine months! Management has stated that they want to put all the money in our wages, but many, many other important issues remain unresolved—sick and vacation accruals, benefits, retirement, scheduling, reserve, and per diem, to name a few.

We will discuss scheduling and reserve during our next session. After that, it’s time to talk money!  We do the same work (often with more flights and longer days) as our mainline counterparts for way less money. This needs to end.  The next session is scheduled for August 13-15. Until then, remember that we are "Stronger Together, Better Together!".