Alaska flight attendants approve tentative contract
SEATTLE – Alaska Airlines’ flight attendants overwhelmingly approved a tentative contract with the SeaTac-based airline, concluding more than two years of negotiations and setting the stage for more bargaining with Alaska and Hawaiian flight attendants later this year.
The Association of Flight Attendants, the union representing Alaska’s flight attendants, said on Friday that 95% of members who voted approved the contract. Turnout among the 6,900 Alaska employees was 91%.
“This contract will immediately and significantly improve the lives of Alaska Flight Attendants,” said Jeffrey Peterson, AFA President at Alaska Airlines, in a news release. “Alaska Flight Attendants’ solidarity pushed management to recognize our critical role to the safety and success of this airline.”
All Alaska flight attendants will receive immediate pay raises between 18% and 28%, depending on how many years they’ve worked. They’ll also receive a 3% raise in March 2026 and another 3% in March 2027.
For the first time, they will earn “boarding pay” for the work they do before aircraft doors close, such as greeting passengers, setting up meals and conducting safety checks. Alaska is among the first airlines in the industry to mandate boarding pay in a contract.
Rank-and-file flight attendants rejected the union’s first tentative three-year contract deal in August in a vote that forced leaders with the union and the airline back to the bargaining table. The two sides resumed negotiations in November with a revised proposal and a federal mediator.
Alaska uses a system called “trips for pay” to pay its flight attendants based on calculated “segments” derived from the distance flown. A flight from Seattle to Portland counts as one segment, while a flight from Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska, counts as four.
Though the initial contract included boarding pay, the approved contract increased the amount, which is calculated by a portion of a flight segment per departure.
A first-year flight attendant currently earns $24.95 per flight segment. Under the initial contract, they would have been been paid $32 per segment and an additional $13.44 in boarding pay. With the new contract, that flight attendant will be paid $32 per segment and $16 in boarding pay.
Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci described the new contract as a major milestone for the company.
“One of the many reasons our guests choose to fly Alaska is our flight attendants and the warm welcome, fantastic service and commitment to safety they provide onboard. … We are focused on making Alaska Airlines a place for the best people in the business to grow their careers, and this new contract reflects that,” Minicucci said in a statement.
The final round of negotiations had a greater sense of urgency than the first round, as they were the last chance for Alaska flight attendants to include new elements in a contract before they work on a merged contract with Hawaiian flight attendants in April. Alaska completed its acquisition of Hawaiian in September in a $1.9 billion deal.
In a letter to members, union leadership wrote “the choice before us is clear; your vote will either solidify the enhancements secured in (the second tentative contract) or it will indicate your desire to retain our current contract without any improvements in pay and working conditions” until the end of merge negotiations, which could take years.
Some flight attendants said they approved the contract because they felt they had no choice with the impending negotiations with Hawaiian.
“Our backs were against the wall,” said Thresia Raynor, an Alaska flight attendant based in Anchorage. “There are lots of pieces that are concessions, but we had to vote yes or be put in a position of not knowing when or if we would get a deal.”