Flight attendants at Alaska Airlines have voted overwhelmingly in favor of approving a new contract, with 95% of crew members who took part in the ballot to pass the agreement and locked in improved pay and updated terms and conditions.
This is the second time flight attendants at the Seattle-based carrier have voted on a new contract in the past 12 months after crew members rejected the first tentative agreement last July.
On this occasion, however, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) had warned its members at Alaska Airlines that if they didn’t vote in favor of the contract, they would likely be stuck with their existing agreement for years to come.
Highlights of the ratified contract include the highest boarding pay in the US aviation industry, which the union believes will add nearly 10% in additional pay on top of improved hourly rates.
The contract retains the previously negotiated pay raises, along with retroactive pay for the past two years that the contract has been amendable and a ratification bonus.
Flight attendants had been warned that if they voted down this agreement, then federal mediators would likely have rejected a request to help negotiate a third tentative agreement.
That would have left Alaska flight attendants without an updated contract until the Alaska Airlines Group negotiates a joint collective bargaining agreement for an expanded flight attendant workgroup that includes crew members at Hawaiian Airlines.
Those negotiations are expected to start in March, although it could be years before the two sides reach a tentative agreement.
Following today’s ballot, United Airlines remains the only major US airline where flight attendants are still negotiating for an updated contract. Bargaining, however, remains slow, and the two sides remain far apart on many key issues, such as boarding pay.
Commenting on the ballot results, Jeffrey Peterson, AFA President at Alaska Airlines, said: “This contract will immediately and significantly improve the lives of Alaska Flight Attendants.
Meanwhile, Sara Nelson, the international president of the union, added: “As all eyes have turned to the essential work of Flight Attendants, this industry-leading contract not only provides Alaska Flight Attendants with what they’ve earned, but it reinforces the contract standards for all Flight Attendants across the industry.”
