Greetings,

NO CASH, NO PROBLEM

By: Melanie Seymour

MEC Communications Chairperson

Paper or plastic? Alaska Airlines has just weighed in on that question: Plastic. Starting on August 5th, all our onboard sales will be credit card only.

If you’ve been avoiding or haven’t even seen a Point of Sale device, get familiar with one quickly. It is now an integral part of our inflight procedures. In fact, if you are working the ‘B’ position, it’s part of your preflight. If it’s not in the cubby where we formerly stowed the flight attendant kit and stationary kit (G4 4-16) please report that to the pilot, who in turn will report it to OPS. Yeah, it’s that important.

What if someone only has cash? Initially, agents will be selling vouchers that can be input into the POS. These vouchers will be available at ticket counters in ANC, SEA and LAX. After the first month we will be cash free. By that point we will have worked to spread the word that Alaska is a card only company. Communications to the public that we will be a cash free airline started July 2nd and will be on-going. To that end, the company is going to advertise, send out letters to frequent flyers, and basically blast the message as far and wide as possible.

While this ranks as the number one concern of our Flight Attendants, Steven Kimball [PDX FA/ POS Committee] is quick to point out that other companies made the transition from cash to credit seamlessly. He says, “When we spoke to Frontier Airlines about how they handled the hurdles of going cashless, they said, ‘What hurdles?’ They had no problems switching over."

No more stressing at the end of the flight to accomplish your counts. With POS all you do is hit ‘print’ and seal the cart up. For those less mathematically inclined (myself included) this is cause for celebration. POS is not that complex. Renee Goldfoos (SEA FA/POS Project Coordinator-Inflight) says "It leads you through it step by step."

POS Trainers will be in all bases to assist you with learning the ins and outs of the system. There is also an online tutorial is available 24/7 (go to the World of Inflight and click on the POS icon). Help will be available until everyone makes the transition. No one expects you to be an expert instantly.

Wait, PBS and POS training at the same time? What gives? Technology has a lot of stops and starts but when it’s ready to go, you’ve got to move with the times. In fact, that J.D. Power 's survey that recently sang our praises, cited our technological advances as being quite appealing to customers. "While nearly all of the carriers in both segments experienced declines in satisfaction since 2007, Alaska Airlines has managed to improve, particularly in satisfaction with the overall check-in experience," says Sam Thanawalla, director of the global hospitality and travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

Base sit schedule

July 21-Aug 19

Hours: M /W/ F- AM  T/ TH- PM Sat- one AM & one PM- no Sun

ANC: 06:00-14:00 11:45-19:45

LAX: 06:00-14:00 12:00-20:00

PDX: 06:00-14:00 09:00-17:00

SEA: 05:30-13:30 13:30-21:30 Mon-Sat

Your Base contacts are:

ANC - Johnny Toomer

LAX - Lynn Millard

PDX - Kelly Kochanek

SEA - Renee Goldfoos