Alaska Airlines flight attendants have authorized a strike, if their union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, fail to reach an agreement with the company.
“Alaska Flight Attendants today backed up our fight for an industry-leading contract with a 99.48% strike vote. And we’re out on the picket line demonstrating that we’re ready to do whatever it takes to get the contract we deserve. There’s no excuse: Alaska management has the money to buy another airline, they certainly have the money to invest in Flight Attendants. We have a simple message for management: Pay us, or CHAOS!” said AFA Alaska President Jeffrey Peterson.
The last time Alaska Airlines flight attendants went on strike was in 1993, when the Alaska flight attendants adopted the CHAOS slogan. A CHAOS strike is an intermittent strike strategy, where attendants could strike any flight at any time without notice to management or passengers.
The group has even trademarked the CHAOS strategy, which is intended to do maximum damage to the company.
“This trademarked strike strategy has the power to disrupt operations system-wide by striking just a few flights at a time, one hub location, or the entire system. In 1993’s strike, Alaska saw dramatic reductions in ticket bookings as passengers never knew whether Alaska flights might take off until they had already arrived at the airport,” the union said.
“You can’t fly without Flight Attendants. If Alaska management doesn’t remember what happens when you disrespect Flight Attendants, we are ready to show them. It’s past time for a fair deal,” said AFA International President Sara Nelson.
Now that members have authorized a strike, the union can request a release from the National Mediation Board leading to a 30-day “cooling off” period and strike deadline.
Alaska Airlines is going to woke itself into bankruptcy.
Right on point. Remember that the President of US can order them to return. Been done. JB would never.
Once again workers show the paying consumer that they care little about us, who pay the airfares, and more about them.
They gotta come up with a better slogan. Hmmmm……
“Use my pronoun, or this plane’s going down!”
They sort of do have a point. They make crap money and the profitable airline could pay them more but it prefers not to.
What do they even do anymore? Not like they serve any food.
Right on! Compared to the job of the 1970-80 flight attendedant, these folks basically get you sat, give you a drink, and then go spend the flight in the back passing the time. They would lose their minds if they had to do what the “stewardess” had to do
Or chaos? Are they not on their own flights?
Really want to get support? Promise to improve the experience. If you can.
Generations today need a good shot of being Thankful and content with what they earn and possess. I don’t look forward to this team striking. Because of they will undoubtedly cause passengers delays and reschedules making them fill up my employment delaying me from having to get home earlier starting my homeschooling later.
Which 37.60$ is enormous money plus they all have a benefit package setting them up into a comfortable retirement. Everyone be grateful for what you have.
Once again Jen is deciding how much is “enough” for all of us. I hate to break it to you, but given that FAs (just like pilots) only get paid when the engines are running (and therefore only credit 70-90 hours per month) $37.60 per hour is not a lot of money. I don’t know how their pay compares to other airlines but they have an important job and deserve to be fairly compensated for it.
Flight attendants only get paid while the engines are running, I can understand pilots only getting paid for engine time, but flight attendants?
I don’t know about the engine running deal for flight attendants, but I do know flight attendants only get paid when the doors to the aircraft are shut.
That means they don’t get paid when they are waiting on people to board or de-plane. That also means that when the flight is delayed or canceled, those flight attendants don’t get paid for any of that time.
Pay them a fair wage for all the hours they are there or pay them more so you can keep the status quo of only paying when the doors are closed.
Simple solution to this problem, take some of those corporate profits paid to the c suite and stock buybacks, and pay the flight attendants fairly for their time.
My source for this info is a friend’s wife who is a flight attendant for AK Airlines.
Engines running, doors shut, brakes released, beacon on are all different ways of saying the same thing which is that crewmembers (pilots and flight attendants) DON’T get paid during boarding/deplaning, DON’T get paid while waiting between flights, DON’T get paid during the two-hour maintenance delay, etc. The specifics may vary from company to company but the principle is the same.
Evidently the doors don’t get shut on some flights after takeoff.
Fully support what FA’s are asking for. Alaskas employment practices are ridiculous. Will fly Delta until Alaska makes it right.
I say let them strike!
Can’t afford plane tics now – this will guarantee I will not be flying anytime soon… Not because I’m worried about “chaos”, but only by the already spendy tickets. They need to find another way to lever the company… seems to me there is something called “essential air service” that at least some of their flights qualify under.
True, but going on vacation or a trip to see relatives is not considered essential.
‘https://www.transportation.gov/policy/aviation-policy/small-community-rural-air-service/essential-air-service
Jim, it’s not what you think. EAS affects ~60 communities in Alaska and even more elsewhere. It isn’t about *why* you travel.
“Now that members have authorized a strike, the union can request a release from the National Mediation Board leading to a 30-day “cooling off” period and strike deadline.” Does this mean that they can’t strike until 30 days after the release?
That’s correct. The Railway Labor Act (which also covers airlines) is designed such that strikes are an absolute last resort to be employed only when all else has failed.
I may have my flight canceled and that would suck, but I fully support the flight attendants. Sadly their bosses do not treat them with dignity and respect and would rather pay them peanuts to keep their shareholders happier. I would rather fly with flight attendants that feel valued and respected. I support them in their strike!
Do you think they’ll treat us the client with the same level and respect we treat them? If so, when does that begin to happen? The stories I could tell.
“……..You can’t fly without Flight Attendants……..”
I’m not going anywhere. Strike. I’ll read about it in the comics.
Last I checked, the essential personnel in an airplane are the pilots.
It would be easier to be sympathetic to them if so many had not treated people like crap during Covid.
Flight attendants are required by the regulations. Their job is to facilitate the evacuation of the airplane in an emergency; serving drinks is just what they do to pass the time.
I’m sympathetic to their cause, they do get the shaft on pay. But I can’t stand flying AK Air anymore. It’s become a terrible experience even when flying first class full fare. If they wanted customer support for their cause, they’d make efforts to make the flight experience a pleasant one again. I’m tired of paying full fare only to be treated as a social outcast. Enough.
Messing up the general public’s travel plans is hardly a good strategy to win sympathy. Nobody is being forced to work under deplorable conditions, they all competed to get their jobs and the pay offered when they signed on. There’s nothing stopping them from working elsewhere, or even living off the government as many people are now doing. If the pay is bad, then the airline would have to increase it in order to fill the positions, which doesn’t seem to be the case. There is no shortage of applicants.
Your post is full of contradiction. The fact you’d prefer these people suckle on the teat of government than have gainful employment speaks for itself.
You missed the point. The reason that entry level jobs remain vacant is because of how easy it is to get on the government benefits. We will never have a workforce again until the handouts go only to the real needy. Just look at the help wanted signs at every small business. And watch who is driving the cars parking in the handicap spots to get food with snap cards.
If that was your point you didn’t say anything closely related to that in your initial post. These aren’t entry level jobs into the work force like a job at McDonald’s or Walmart.
If you make me miss my upcoming vacation you better be prepared to put me on another flight another airline and reimbursed me for my trouble.
So if average $62000.00 pay isn’t enough, along with the $4k bonus check this year, what is enough? That job is not that tough, I don’t care who you are. Walmart checkout clerks put up with more crap than these flight attendants.
Do Walmart workers get to sleep in their own beds at night? Comparing a Walmart worker who is restricted to a certain number of hours and instructed on how to sign up for government assistance as part of the hiring process to a flight attendant isn’t even apples and oranges.
It would be interesting to see the entire compensation/benefit package that the flight attendants get now compared to what they want to avoid a strike. This issue should be about fair compensation and not about recent profits at Alaska Airlines.
Flight attendants could have called for a strike, non fa’s might even have helped picket, because:
(a) safety is so compromised that a cabin door fell off mid flight,
(b) Alaska’s first open-air flight 1282 had been restricted from open-water flight because the union-management team already knew about door problems,
(c) pilot Joe Emerson apparently tried to kill 84 customers by opening a cabin door mid-flight but attempted-murder charges were dropped,
(d) they’d rather strike than enforce mask mandates against customers,
(e) they feared predictable safety consequences of woke corporate policy embracing sexual deviancy and mental instabilities necessary to sustain deviant behavior.
.
But they didn’t. Why?
.
Because all they ever cared about was squeezing the company and customers for more money?
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No? They’ll even disrupt taxpayer-subsidized “essential air service” to get it.
.
Forget Pay us or CHAOS.
.
How about “Work or walk”?
As an Alaska Airline stockholder, an Alaska Airline customer, and a person who believes that public sector unions have no place but that private sector unions certainly have a place I can only hope that the flight attendants and AK Air get this issue sorted out before it has an impact upon travel.
If, as AK Pilot says, flight attendants are only paid for engine time then they likely spend as much time not being paid to do their job as they do for doing their job. When I go to work I am paid for every hour I work, not just the number of hours that equipment runs.
Perhaps they should spend less on Gay/Tranny pride and ESG initiatives, and just hire a better class of employee?
To be brutally honest, in these hateful times, I wouldn’t want to be a flight attendant. They are faced with some of the most obnoxious passengers. They are either drunk or just a$$holes! They deserve much higher wages and our respect.
I support the Flight Attendants. I support unions. Flight Attendants are on board for safety purposes–to do their best to help keep you safe/evacuate you off of a burning, sinking, otherwise disabled aircraft, not glorified waitresses. Flight Attendants earn their money and are definitely not paid enough. They don’t get paid until the doors close. I am a frequent flyer, and I’ve witnessed atrocious behaviour by passengers towards other passengers and Flight Attendants. It isn’t the FAs fault the quality of the food served has decreased or that meals have been eliminated entirely. It isn’t the fault of the FAs that passengers can’t bring their support goat on board. It isn’t the FA’s fault that airfare has increased. I usually fly middle of the plane, and over the years, the number of seats on many airlines has increased and have become smaller and more uncomfortable.
It isn’t the FAs fault you are uncomfortable in your seat, or that you are jammed in like a sardine. Also, people have become much ruder, basic civility forgotten (possibly inspired by the above mentioned changes in flying over the years). I fly internationally too. Recent travel through the UK, Netherlands, Turkey, and Africa show a distinct difference in passenger attitudes towards flying. Namely passengers were much more civil. It was rather remarkable. One example was a gal in the row ahead of me on a Turkish Airlines flight called an FA to ask if there was anything the FA could do to help with her nausea. The FA had gone back to the galley to get her an ice pack, but the poor girl ended up puking in the aisle next to my row. Passengers around her, me included provided hankies, wet wipes, and napkins to assist her in tidying herself up and EVEN HELPING TO SOP UP THE AISLE. The FA returned with the ice pack, and was surprised at this outpouring of help, and thanked every one. Even boarding and deplaning on different airlines was not the mad scramble to get off the plane.
Finally, the one thing I think would help the FAs immensely is for the airlines to stop serving alcohol. I enjoy a toddy while flying, but I wouldn’t miss it, and feel like alcohol is the cause of a lot of ugly behaviour in passengers.
I don’t want to hear any more bellyaching about the fact the employees don’t get paid until the door closes, or whenever. They knew or should have known prior to accepting the job offer, that they’d be working for free during a significant chunk of their day. They waived their right to complain about that particular issue once they took the job. And, if after having taken the job, they now feel differently about working for free, they are free to quit the job anyplace, anytime …
They are also free to ask for a pay raise.
Evidently some doors don’t close. Do they still get paid?
Thar’s plenty of Mexicans who’ll do the work.
Filipinos would be great. The ones that clean out the planes between flights. They’re small and wiry so they can get through the aisle easier, they don’t get fat, they don’t hate the passengers, they have a great work ethic, they have a great attitude, and they’d work for cheap!
Unions continuously drive up costs and most of the time, it is unnecessary. A flight attendant is basically an unskilled job that requires minimal education and training, but they can hold the employer and customers hostage with the help of a union.
I’ve never seen a flight attendant who looked like they were having financial trouble -they’re always decked out with fancy hairdos, nails and jewelry. They get free travel for their families and they stay in high-end hotels with nice meals paid for by the employer when they have to overnight. Many are good, but many have lost the talent for service with a smile and really seem to revel in the chance to bark at people for compliance with austere rules like putting your phone in airplane mode or putting your seatback up.
A lot of AK Air FA’s were the worst in the business when it came to the dictatorial goose-stepping ridiculous face covering mandates during Covid; just ask a certain Alaska senator 😉
In short, the union is just going increase costs for travel and further increase inflation; the money to pay these raises has to come from somewhere. Union thugs argue it should come from profits, but that is misinformed. Profit is the reason for business – what’s the point of taking all the risk of the reward is not there? Unprofitable businesses are not attractive to investors, banks or anyone else. Let’s hope the union considers the necessity for profits so they don’t put AK Air out of business and cripple Alaska’s transportation needs.
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