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  Alaska Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  AS/ASA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Anchorage International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Portland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1932

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  CEO:

  Ben Minicucci

  Country:

  United States

  Region:

  North America

Recent weeks with Alaska Airlines and the pilots' union have been turbulent. First, on May 25, the airline's Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) chapter voted to authorize a strike when the National Mediation Board may release the Alaska Airlines company and union from currently mediated negotiations. According to a statement,

"With nearly 96 % of members participating, an overwhelming 99 percent of Alaska pilots authorized union leaders to call a strike."

But just because a strike has been authorized does not mean that either a strike is in effect or negotiations have ended - quite the contrary.

Why did pilots of Alaska Airlines authorize a strike?

The main issues for the Alaska Airlines' pilots are as per the statement above from Capt. Will McQuillan, chairman of the Alaska Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council:

For years, we have been working toward a market-based contract with reasonable solutions that address work rules, scheduling flexibility, and career-security issues that pilots at other companies enjoy, not a strike. Now is the time for management to respond and engage constructively at the bargaining table.

Worth noting that negotiations have been underway for over three years between the pilots' union and airline management. Concerns have been mainly about the working environment at Alaska Airlines, where the pilots feel they are over-assigned. In a recent union podcast, Simple Flying covered, "Alaska Airlines pilots set to vote on strike action" Captain Will McQuillen noted the biggest problem was,

It's in the hands of scheduling, when we have record reassignments happening every month, to the point where nobody has any control over their life.

Legal pathway to a strike

Reviewing the legal pathway to an Alaska Airlines pilots' strike is worthwhile now that a strike has been authorized. The strike cannot happen before the National Mediation Board's Mike Tosi declares an impasse. Negotiations are ongoing between union leaders and Alaska Airlines management, as discussed below. But suppose a true impasse is hit and proclaimed by the federal mediator. In that case, a 30-day cooling-off period is initiated before any "self-help" such as lockouts, strikes, or arbitrary contract changes.

But once the federal mediator has declared an impasse, US President Joe Biden may create a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to look into the situation, which then has thirty (30) days to issue a report and start another 30-day cooling-off period afterward. Former US President Bill Clinton did so with the early 1997 American Airlines pilots' strike, buying critical time for both parties to agree to stop strike action.

Further details on the process specifics are covered in "A Look At How Airline Labor Negotiations Are Carried Out."

Alaska Airlines' management response

During an April 21, 2022, earnings call, Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said;

We're focused on getting a deal with our pilots, recognizing their contributions. And get a deal that makes sense for our business model. So we are entirely focused on getting a deal with our pilots.

Second, Alaska Airlines Communications issued this statement the day the vote was announced with their emphasis below:

Alaska Airlines pilots are not on strike.

As ALPA said this morning, a strike can only occur after a specific, multi-step process involving the federal government and National Mediation Board.

Our guests and operation are not impacted by this vote. 

We remain committed to reaching a deal to provide an updated contract that is good for Alaska’s pilots.

Renewed efforts to get to a contract

In the latest Alaska Pilots Podcast posted above, the pilots' union leaders shared with their members and listeners that negotiations are moving forward. After the April 1 informational picket, in the words of Alaska Pilots Union President Capt. Will McQuillan,

"Ben Minicucci reached out and indicated that he had a strong desire to get negotiations on track, and to focus forward and to be able to get a deal done."

The pilots union met and responded with,

"Expectations have certainly galvanized around the goals of the pilots. And it's going to take meaningful progress for that to happen. But we are certainly interested in the conversation."

Capt. McQuillen amplified the point later on with these two thoughts,

If anything, a look out the window on April 1 should have probably revealed that the solidarity of this pilot group is incredibly strong. But when somebody knocks on the door, we always have an obligation to listen.

. . .

Negotiations move forward when the ice cracks, as I said, and that's been I guess maybe the point that we're all trying to say here is that things have been effective, and the ice is cracked. And now we're going to continue to advocate and continue to move things forward.

Concerns about scope

One of the issues being collective bargained is scope, or the ability to protect pilots' flying careers in a time of mergers, growth, and change. For instance, the pilots want protections from lower-paying regional jetliner aircrew taking work away and a guarantee of a two-person, adequately trained crew in every Alaska Airlines aircraft. One can watch the below YouTube by the pilots' union documenting their side of the situation:

Considering recent industry developments and the observations of some Simple Flying commentators, these concerns about scope seem timely. In fact, in a May 28, 2022 podcast has, Captain Will McQuillen stating Alaska Airlines management came to the pilots with "A comprehensive scope proposal," which was "constructive, and it provided the basis for the comprehensive response that we're going to provide, it should provide a path for negotiations to move forward on this topic. And the answers and the tone were different than when we've tried to engage on this topic." So there is finally a reason for hope on this matter.

Potential future public-facing events by ALPA chapters

Later in the podcast, as mentioned above, the union's Strategic Planning Chairman Ronan O’Donoghue made clear that more "tactics" are on the table and, "There still are tactics being built out. And they will continue to be built out and ready to go." Although nonspecific on those tactics, another informational picket of Alaska Airlines employees 100% not on duty is always possible.

As the Alaska Airlines Podcast mentioned, other airlines' ALPA chapters also plan informational pickets for June, such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, and Southwest Airlines. The podcasts also mentioned that the Alaska Airlines ALPA chapter intends some unity events for the summer. These events are likely timed around when the airlines do earnings calls at the end of June to brief shareholders on the company's financial status and resulting media attention.

Flight attendants are also negotiating a new Alaska Airlines contract.

Yes, Alaska Airlines is in the process of initiating negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) chapter representing Alaska Airlines' flight attendants/cabin crew. Already the AFA chapter has spun up a negotiations website - contract2022.afaalaska.org - with regular postings.

Recent comments by AFA Alaska on their union website - separate from the contract negotiations website - present a situation where flight attendants feel management is now listening. For instance, the flight attendants received compensation for delayed bid awards - aka opportunities to crew flights - for May and June. The AFA Alaska chapter even wrote,

"This non-precedential monetary settlement compensates FAs for the inconvenience resulting from the contractual violations and demonstrates management’s willingness to accept responsibility for their actions."

What are your sentiments on the progress of Alaska Airlines' labor negotiations? Please share with civility in the comments.

Source: AFA Alaska, Alaska Airlines Podcast,