Alaska Airlines and its flight attendants' union reach a preliminary labor agreement.
The terms of the agreement are yet to be disclosed, but the union referred to it as a "historic contract".
This new contract is expected to include a substantial salary hike, which has been a key demand across the aviation sector, with unions fighting for wage increases for their members who have gone years without a pay raise.
In April, the union announced that they were aiming for salary increases ranging from 43% to 56% based on seniority, to be implemented by 2026. These salary hikes would also include back pay for a period of 1.5 years since they've been working under the previous contract.
The union expressed gratitude to its members for their persistent negotiations, stating, "Your commitment over the past two years has given us the bargaining power to extract every penny from Alaska Airlines management."
Alaska Airlines expressed satisfaction with reaching an agreement and thanked the union negotiators.
"With our joint efforts, we've managed to secure an agreement that offers a better quality of life and continued career growth at Alaska," said the airline in a statement. The agreement is subject to approval from the union leadership and the members before it can take effect.
In February, the union members voted 99.5% in favor of a strike, but due to the Railway Labor Act, they were unable to go on strike, even though their contract had expired in December 2022. Instead, they continued to work under the terms and pay dictated by the old contract. This labor law has stricter strike regulations than those in the private sector.
In February, flight attendants from Alaska, alongside those from American, United, and Southwest, held a joint demonstration demanding new contracts.
Since then, flight attendants at Southwest have reached an agreement that includes an immediate 22.3% salary increase from May 1 and $364 million in retroactive wages.
While flight attendants at American and United are still negotiating for new deals, American flight attendants have requested to be excused from restrictions to allow for a strike. Even if this is granted, there would be cooling-off periods before they could go on strike, as per the Railway Labor Act.
Steve Maller, a flight attendant with almost 20 years of experience, was among those on the picket lines in February. Maller was one of the flight crew on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which garnered international attention on January 5 when a door plug blew off, creating a large hole in the side of the plane.
Maller spoke to CNN in February, expressing appreciation for the recognition from Alaska Airlines' top management for their actions during the incident, which resulted in an accident-free landing. However, he picketed because the existing contract did not provide a reasonable salary for many flight attendants.
Maller shared that he had worked as a bartender in his spare time and that most of the flight attendants he knew also had additional jobs to make ends meet.
"You need something to have a livable income," he said.
Maller also expressed concern about the high number of experienced flight attendants leaving due to the lack of wage increases.
"It was almost unheard of five years ago (for flight attendants to) quit their jobs," he said. "Now we have 20, 25, 30 a month (quitting)."
