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Dear Fellow Flight Attendants,
Last week the Section 6 Negotiating Committee began meeting with management to begin work on a contract extension. Although both sides have described the meetings as productive, no agreement was reached. They are scheduled to meet again on March 4-5. With Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) negotiations set to begin in mid-March, management has acknowledged that it is important that we continue to receive pay increases during the JCBA negotiations process, which may take several years to complete. Meanwhile, the Alaska Flight Attendants are in the ratification process for tentative agreement #2 (TA2). Voting began on February 11, 2025, and will close on Friday, February 28, 2025.
Your engagement in both our Section 6 and JCBA negotiations is important to our collective success. You can show your support for both these efforts by wearing your AFA pin and using your AFA lanyard. If you don’t have a pin, please feel free to email Kela or me or stop by the Airport Garden Office on weekdays, from 10-3.
In Solidarity,
Martin Gusman & Kela Chong
Retirement
If you are currently thinking about retiring and have at least 30 or more years of service as a Flight Attendant, you should know that April 2, 2025, is the deadline to retire with the benefit of the Retiree Health Reimbursement Arrangement (RHRA) Plan. The RHRA plan, which provides between $10K-$30K in funds depending on your years of service, is intended to be used to pay for medical insurance or medical expenses in retirement before Medicare is available or as a supplement to Medicare. While we will make every effort to extend the eligibility of the benefit during Section 6 and Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement (JCBA) negotiations, that cannot be guaranteed at the time of this writing. We will keep you posted.
Your Right to Vote!
Please be advised that you need to be a member in good standing to vote on any tentative agreement reached with management. You are a member in good standing if you are current with your AFA dues deductions or have worked out a payment plan with the AFA-CWA membership department for dues in arrears. If you have taken a leave of absence in recent years, have dropped all your trips, or did not receive any pay in a month, there is a chance that your automatic dues deduction has been disrupted. If you have a question about your membership status, please email Cat Schaumburg or Rachel Fernandez.
Local Council Meeting
We will be hosting a Local Council Meeting in Honolulu on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. We’ve invited Lokesh Amaranayaka, Vice President of Hawaiian Airport Operations & InFlight to speak at our meeting and to answer some of your questions. We will also be providing an update on the status of the merger, our negotiations, and other important business. The meeting will be held at the 7th floor conference center of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Terminal 1. Validated parking and light refreshments will be provided. An agenda will be forthcoming.
Joint MEC Officer Elections
On Wednesday, January 29th, the Hawaiian and Alaska Master Executive Councils met in San Francisco to elect MEC Officers to a term that runs from March 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025. Soon Kim of Honolulu and Paul Ikioka of Los Angeles were the only Hawaiian Flight Attendants to run for the officer positions. The candidate interviews were done with AFA International President Sara Nelson and all 14 members of the MECs. The Local Council Presidents for ANC, SEA, PDX, SFO, AS-LAX, HA-LAX, and HNL make up the voting members of the merged MEC. Both Soon and Paul interviewed very well, and I voted for Soon Kim for Vice President and Paul Ikioka for Secretary-Treasurer. The full election results may be found here.
NGP Visit
If you are looking to get additional protection against the financial cost of illnesses, accidents, and injuries, supplemental insurance may be just the thing for you. National Group Protection (NGP) will be in Honolulu from February 26 through March 1, and again from March 4 through March 8, to offer supplemental benefit plans and to answer any questions you may have about coverage. NGP offers group short-term disability insurance, accident insurance, and other types of insurance to offset those unexpected expenses. NGP has over 15 years of experience of providing supplemental benefits to AFA-CWA members and their families. Should you ever need claims support from NGP, they can be reached by telephone at (800) 344-9016 or via email at service@ngp-ins.com.
February 26, February 28, March 4, March 5 and March 7: From 5:00am – 2:00pm
February 27, March 1, March 6 and March 8: From 6:30am—3:30pm
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