“Extract every last dollar” | Alaska Airlines tentatively agrees "record contract" with flight attendant employees

Alaska Airlines struck a tentative agreement with a union representing over of its 6,500 flight attendants on Friday, with the labor group describing it as a “record contract.”

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA for Alaska Airlines did not share any details of the agreement, which it plans to finalize over the coming days before presenting it to the Master Executive Council (MEC).

The union hailed the actions of its members for pushing for a better contract. “Your actions over the last two years of bargaining, including gaining support from lawmakers for our right to strike, ensured we had the leverage to extract every last dollar from Alaska Airlines management,” it told its members.

It is not clear exactly what is included in the new contract for the flight attendants.

A post shared by the union in April 2024 shows the group was aiming for a 40% to 56% increase in pay rates depending on the year of seniority, among other improvements to leaves of absence, uniforms, vacations, and grievance procedures.

However, a message added to the top of the post says it “does not contain details from the tentative agreement announced on June 21.”

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Alaska Airlines and the union will work together to produce a final version of the agreement which will still need approval from the union’s leadership and its rank-and-file members.

“All of our actions together and the leverage we created made it possible to achieve this Tentative Agreement,” the union stated.

 “With our combined efforts, we’ve been able to reach an agreement that provides quality of life and continued career growth at Alaska,” said a statement from Alaska Airlines, similarly praising the agreement.

Earlier in February, unionized Alaska Airlines flight attendants voted to strike, but were unable to do so due to the terms of the Railway Labor Act.

However, some flight attendants, alongside peers from American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines, did take part in pickets.

Seeking better pay, only attendants at Southwest were successful in securing better contracts including a 22.3% pay increase and collective $364million in retroactive wages, according to a CNN report.

Attendants at American Airlines and United Airlines are still attempting to secure a better contract with their employer.