I would like to first introduce to you some new members to our Hotel committee.

The first person I would like to introduce to you is Scotye Englert he will now be your new LEC Hotel Rep out of CLT.  He has held this position before and is excited to get back into it. Scotye will be a big help in CLT to all you flight attendants when it comes to hotel related issues so I do ask that you contact him. You can reach Scotye through email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 325-212-1145.

Your new LEC Hotel Rep in PHX is Leah Thomas.  This is her first position with the union and she is excited to help out her PHX and go! flight attendants. Leah can be reached by email (this is to be announced) or by phone 520-309-0785. I will be working closely with these two members to make sure that we get all hotel issues solved within a timely manner.

I am also looking for a LEC Hotel Rep in ORD and IAD if you're interested please contact me.

And of course your can also get in contact with me, your MEC Hotel Chair, Jason Vela anytime.  My email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and number is 602-741-1773. I have asked all my reps to return all communication with flight attendants via email or phone call within 24 hours.

I had the honor to attend the International Hotel Committee conference in Newark in October. I can say it was the best experience. I was in the conference and learned so much from listening to all these different airlines and how their hotel committees are run. There were several airlines in attendance  including: Airtran, United, Northwest/Delta, Mesaba, Mesa Air Group, American Eagle, American Airlines, Air Canada, Piedmont, Continental, Express Jet, US Airways.

I have a lot of exciting things that I am working on with Curt to better our hotels.

Some updates on hotels and issues/concerns that have been brought to our attention:

CVG- Quality Inn Hotel: I hear this hotel has been out of compliance when it comes to safety issues such as locks on door, fire alarms in rooms, a/c and heater not working properly, fitness center, and the cleanliness of the hotel.  I have addressed all these issues to Curt and he sent the concerns over to the hotel. I received an email from the hotel management and they have ordered 60 new a/c and heater units for crew rooms. They have purchased new fitness center equipment, maintenance workers are checking all crews' rooms to make sure they lock properly and will be replacing locks on them inside and out, they are replacing the GFCI outlets to make sure the microwaves are working properly, they have also ordered brand new refrigerators for the rooms, and are replacing the phones to make sure they work properly in rooms and will be making sure there are smoke detectors as well. We will be giving this hotel a few weeks to make sure all these changes are properly done and if not, I will go back to Curt and request that we move hotels Immediately.

GJT- We were staying at the La Quinta Hotel however a new Holiday Inn Express opened up and came to Mesa looking for our business. They gave us a good rate that was lower than the La Quinta and we figured it being a new hotel that this would be a good opportunity to take advantage of this so hopefully you guys will be happy here. I would like feedback on this hotel from flight attendants who overnight here. We will be in this new hotel Dec 1, 2010

ELP- I was told that we are finally moving hotels here due to safety related concerns that I have been bringing up to Curt. I received many of your emails and calls about the safety around hotel and that there nothing to eat around here as everything closes early and the noise control on weekends due to the block parties they have across the street. I am working with Curt to try and find us a hotel in ELP so look for a new a hotel soon.

Curt would like me to mention to all flight attendants that when you sign in on the hotel sign in sheet that you please please print your names. If the accounts payable can't read the flight attendant's name the hotel will not get paid. We have had a few altercations between hotel staff and our crew members because of this. So please Print where it says print and sign where it says signature on the hotel sign in sheet.

There have been some issues as well at hotel due to professionalism from the crew members so I was asked to address this issue with our flight attendants. If you have a problem with a hotel staff member or any issues period: First, report it to the hotel management or Supervisor on Duty. Second, email me or one of your hotel reps with the name of person or persons involved and what the issue was.  We need specific information: room numbers, pictures always helps but not necessary, and information that will help us investigate.

We ask that you provide as much information as possible without emotion please. If you have problems with a hotel such as hotel staff, room issues, safety issues, shuttle issues, anything at a hotel that we need to know PLEASE email the company and CC your Hotel Committee.  Again, if you don't email us or inform us of the problems at our hotels then we don't know. If you email the company more than 99.9% of the time they don't tell the Union, so PLEASE ensure you are cc'ing the Hotel Committee!

We have a new LOA (letter of Agreement) passed with the company when it comes to hotels. I am really excited about this because we actually now have more language in the LOA than we did before. We will be rolling this out to you guys soon for you to review, I think most of you will be pleased with it. Now of course we have to remember this is a start for us. The company has seen us focus on hotels more than ever and they now know they can't slip up anymore and just put us in any hotel they want. Thanks Chantil and Angie for your hard work with this.

I will be doing crew room sits after the holidays in each base along with my LEC Reps. I look forward to meeting and talking with each of you and hearing your concerns about hotels. I will be sending out more information on crew room sits the closer they get. You will also be seeing a hotel survey soon that I would like each of you to fill out on your overnights. This survey covers questions about the hotel that I would like you to answer and turn them in into your LEC Hotel Reps. You don't have to provide a name or anything its just feedback for me to take to the company and let them know how we feel about each hotel.

Finally, please remember as I mentioned earlier in this blast contact your hotel reps for any hotel issues. And again I can't stress this enough If you don't email us or contact us about issues in hotels we won't know there is an issue and your problem at a hotel might be someone else's problem as well so we need to speak up on these issues.

Have a Safe Holiday Season and I look forward to hearing from all of you on any hotel concerns. Until next time fly safe, and remember always practice good judgment and common sense on your overnight!

Jason R. Vela
MEC Hotel Chair
Mesa Airlines
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
602-741-1773