Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants Ratify 3-Year Contract

Alaska Airlines said it reached an agreement on a three-year contract with its flight attendants union on Friday, ending more than two years of thorny negotiations. 

Around 90% of the union’s members participated in voting for the contract, which passed with 95% approval.

The contract goes into effect March 2. It includes increased pay, which entails compensation for boarding and a ratification payment, scheduling improvements, and caps on insurance benefits. 

Jeff Peterson, the president of Alaska’s chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants, said the new contract sets the stage for further negotiations with Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants. Alaska’s $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian was cleared by the federal government in September 2024. 

Flight attendants rejected an earlier offer from Alaska in August, with the union saying, “There is more work to do.”

U.S. airlines have been in years-long and heated contract negotiations with their flight attendants. One of the major issues for flight attendants has been pay — historically, flight attendants have only been paid for their work inside the plane. They aren’t paid for assisting with boarding or deplaning. 

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have so far reached contract agreements with their respective flight attendants unions. During the summer, negotiations among American flight attendants and management became so heated that former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su joined negotiations. 

United Airlines is still in the middle of negotiations with its flight attendants, who voted overwhelmingly in August to authorize a strike. Despite the vote, flight attendants could not immediately strike due to provisions in the Railway Labor Act.