While Alaska Airlines pilots have come to a long-awaited tentative agreement, the opposite is true for now for flight attendants at Hawaii-centric, United Airlines.
Starting with the good news for Hawaii flyers, following three years of strife, much contention, and the prior 96% pilot strike approval, Alaska pilots and management, yesterday, representatives for the pilots opted to approve a new tentative agreement. That contract remains to be confirmed by the remaining pilots, which is expected to happen shortly.
Captain Will McQuillen, Chair of the Alaska Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC)
We are pleased, after three years, that we have reached an agreement addressing all the areas in which we’ve lagged our mainline carrier pilot peers for nearly a decade. Not only does this agreement recognize the crucial role pilots have played in the success of Alaska Airlines, it will also help our airline remain competitive in the industry.” — Will McQuillen, Captain/AS ALPA Chairperson.
Pilots are due to receive wage increases effective 9/1/22. First officers are set to receive from 8% to 23% more while captains will receive 15% to 23% additional pay. For captains, that means their pay will be as much as $331/hour. Pilots fly up to 1,000 hours per year.
United Airlines Honolulu flight attendant picketing next week.
United Airlines flight attendants, many in recognizable uniforms, will descend on Honolulu Airport and 14 other US, Guam, and London airports next week. It is expected that thousands will participate in the planned September 27 sign-waving event which was promoted by the union in the image above.
This is due to the dispute between the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) and the airline, which the flight attendants union says is a result of “unsustainable working conditions.”
The cities where picketing is set to occur include Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Newark, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa, and Washington.
Among the issues alleged by the flight attendants, are the long wait flight attendants go through in order to schedule their flights. There are also circumstances under which flight attendants say they aren’t provided hotel accommodation or transportation.
The FA union said that there have been “some inroads” made with management, despite the labor action. The union said that it’s “no coincidence” that they’re seeing some changes in part due to the upcoming highly visible “September 27th Day of Action.” The union’s plan is to keep the pressure on. “Members will come together to educate the traveling public about the issues we face and simultaneously ensure management is aware of our Solidarity as it pertains to the issues we face.”
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