Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

SEATTLE (December 19, 2023) — Alaska Flight Attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), will take a strike vote after mounting frustrations in mediated negotiations. This is the first time since the historic 1993 CHAOS Strike that Alaska Flight Attendants will vote on strike authorization. The vote announcement coincides with demonstrations at eight major airports nationwide as holiday travel takes off. 

Alaska Flight Attendants have engaged in over a year of contract negotiations with negotiations stalling over management’s inadequate economic proposals. Just months after stating that Flight Attendant proposals were not “economically feasible,” Alaska management announced plans to purchase Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion. The hypocrisy angered Flight Attendants who are Alaska’s largest workgroup and the face of the airline. 

“The truth is Alaska management can afford an industry leading contract,” said Jeffrey Peterson, president of the Alaska chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “Management’s unwillingness to present adequate proposals brought us to this strike vote announcement. Our quality of life is non-negotiable. We will not accept terms that leave us falling even further behind the industry for years to come. Enough. If you want to PLAY like a big airline, you need to PAY like one. It’s time for Alaska to pay us or CHAOS.”

Strike vote ballots will be sent to the almost 6,800 Flight Attendants in the New Year, with the vote opening January 8th and closing on February 13, 2024.

AFA has a trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS™ or Create Havoc Around Our System™. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike without notice to management or passengers. The right to strike is triggered when the National Mediation Board (NMB) declares that negotiations are deadlocked and releases both parties into a 30-day "cooling off" period leading to a strike deadline. 

Alaska Flight Attendant pay has fallen in comparison with the rest of the industry while the cost of living and medical expenses continue to rise. Alaska Flight Attendants are fighting for increased wages, improved work rules, and pay for all time on the job, on the ground and in the air.

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The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 78 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.