Flight attendants at Alaska Airlines will receive an average pay raise of 32% under a new tentative agreement, along with boarding pay and a retro pay bonus covering the last 21 months of intensive negotiations.
The tentative agreement between Alaska Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) was reached late last month, although details of the proposed contract have only now been published ahead of a ballot later this month.
The proposed contract will see flight attendants at the Seattle-based carrier earn an average 32% increase on their pay scale, along with boarding pay, which will range from just 4.6% to 33%.
The pay raise will include an immediate 18% increase, followed by a 3% increase on August 15, 2025 and a further 3% raise a year later.
For example, a new hire flight attendant will see their hourly rate increase from less than $25 to $32 under the tentative agreement. And veteran flight attendants with at least 14 years experience will see their hourly pay rates increase from around £58 to $74.
To cover the time that the two sides have been at the bargaining table, Alaska Airlines has also agreed to pay flight attendants a retroactive bonus for the past 21 months which is based on the same formula used by Southwest Airlines.
The union admits that the headline rates agreed with Alaska Airlines mean that flight attendants at the carrier will, on the face of it, at least, earn less than their peers at Southwest Airlines, which recently agreed to a landmark and industry-leading pay deal.
However, when boarding pay is factored in, the Association of Flight Attendants claims that many of its members at Alaska Airlines will actually earn more than their Southwest colleagues.
Although Delta Air Lines became the first major US carrier to start paying flight attendants boarding pay back in April 2022, the AFA says Alaska Airlines has become the first flight attendant workgroup in the US to get contractually binding boarding pay – an issue that had become central to negotiations.
Traditionally, US airlines have only paid flight attendants their hourly rate from the moment the plane pushes back from the gate, but boarding pay is also proving a big issue in negotiations at American Airlines and United Airlines.
Voting will open on the Alaska Airlines tentative agreement on July 24 and close on August 24.
