AFA Union: Alaska Airlines Has to PAY If It Wants to PLAY
"If you want to play like a big airline, you need to pay like one.” That’s the line coming from the union that represents flight attendants at Alaska Airlines.
"If you want to play like a big airline, you need to pay like one.” That’s the line coming from the union that represents flight attendants at Alaska Airlines.
DALLAS — "If you want to play like a big airline, you need to pay like one.” That’s the line coming from the union that represents flight attendants at Alaska Airlines (AS).
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), which represents the FAs at the airline, says it will push for a vote on whether to back a strike authorization against AS as part of an escalating dispute over pay and working conditions.
The union and airline have been in talks for over a year. The former says it is now becoming frustrated with what it sees as continual inadequate pay proposals coming from the latter.
Meanwhile, the airline has recently closed on a deal to acquire Hawaiian Airlines (HA) for US$1.9 billion, all the while telling the union that it couldn’t afford its pay demands.
How much is the average salary of a Flight Attendant in the United States? According to Salary.com, the median salary for Flight Attendants in the United States is US$84,881 as of November 27, 2023. However, the salary range usually falls between US$72,207 and US$100,893.
“The truth is Alaska management can afford an industry-leading contract,” explained Jeffrey Peterson, president of the Alaska chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants—CWA.
“Management’s unwillingness to present adequate proposals brought us to this strike vote announcement. Our quality of life is non-negotiable. We will not accept terms that leave us falling even further behind the industry for years to come,” Peterson continued.
A little over a week after AS announced its purchase of HA, Peterson slammed, “If you want to PLAY like a big airline, you need to PAY like one."
For its part, AS says it has already offered its crew members an immediate 15% pay rise, as well as a mechanism to match pay with flight attendants at rival airlines such as United and American Airlines (AA), which is also in active contract negotiations. The airline also says it is “eager” to resume negotiations in the New Year and wants to reach an agreement on outstanding issues such as pay.
While the APA website hero section reads "red hot and ready for a contract," the airline's website states that even though "some off-duty Alaska flight attendants are planning to participate in demonstrations such as informational picketing," the AFA ‘strike authorization vote’ "does not impact" its guests.
Federal mediators have been engaged and will help the two sides negotiate at meetings now scheduled for January and February 2024. During that time, flight attendants will begin voting on January 8 on whether they authorize strike action, and the vote will close on February 13.
The result should be published shortly after the vote closes.
Featured image: Alaska Airlines FAs. Photo: Alaska Airlines
https://airwaysmag.com/alaska-air-group-purchasing-hawaiian-holdings/
.webp)
David H. Stringer, the History Editor for AIRWAYS Magazine, has chronicled the story of the commercial aviation industry with his airline history articles that have appeared in AIRWAYS over two decades. Here, for the first time, is a compilation of those articles.
Subjects A through C are presented in this first of three volumes. Covering topics such as the airlines of Alaska at the time of statehood and Canada's regional airlines of the 1960s, the individual histories of such carriers as Allegheny, American, Braniff, and Continental are also included in Volume One. Get your copy today!
