Alaska Airlines flight attendants reach preliminary agreement on pay raise and avoid strike

Alaska Airlines flight attendants say they have reached a tentative agreement with the airline on a new contract that includes a 32% pay increase and also compensates flight attendants for the time they spend on the flight deck before the plane takes off.

If ratified by members of the Alaska Flight Attendants Association, the three-year contract could avert strikes authorized in February. The union said the agreement is the result of 20 months of negotiations.

It would be the first union contract by a U.S. airline to provide for the payment of flight attendants while passengers are boarding the plane, the union said. Until now, airlines have only paid their cabin crew after the cabin door was closed. Delta Air Lines, whose flight attendants are not unionized, began paying for boarding time in 2022.

The union said that boarding school wages alone would represent an average increase of 8%.

The agreement also includes reimbursement of 21 months’ salary to cover the time spent on negotiations.

Voting on the treaty begins later this month and ends on August 14.

Alaska Airlines confirmed the preliminary agreement with the flight attendants’ association.

“We are grateful to our colleagues at AFA who negotiated with determination and dedication on behalf of our flight attendants,” the company said in a statement. “With our collective efforts, we were able to reach an agreement that provides quality of life and continued career growth at Alaska.”

The union, meanwhile, pointed out that Alaska’s proposal to buy Hawaiian Airlines for $19 billion could trigger new rounds of contract negotiations.

“With the merger with Hawaiian Airlines looming, we expect to be back at the bargaining table very soon to negotiate joint collective bargaining agreements,” the union said in presenting its tentative agreement to members. “This gives us another opportunity to fight for further improvements.”

Flight attendants at United and American are still negotiating new contracts with those airlines. Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines signed a new contract in April.

— Elliot Njus is business news editor for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at [email protected].