Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants Vote to Authorize Strike

Alaska Airlines flight attendants this week voted to authorize a strike, opening the door for a potential flight attendant strike at some point in the future.

Members of the Association of Flight Attendants Alaska, the union representing the flight attendants, voted 99.48% yes on strike authorization this week. The group’s contract became amendable in December 2022, and the union filed for federal mediation in September 2023. It is seeking a pay raise for its members, something that it says hasn’t happened in five years.

“Alaska Flight Attendants are fired up and ready to go,” said AFA International President Sara Nelson. “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.”

The news does not mean that a strike, and the travel complications and disruptions that come with a flight attendant strike, are imminent.

The union that represents the flight attendants would have to seek permission to be released from talks with Alaska from the National Mediation Board. From there, the union would be forced to enter a 30-day cooling-off period. If that period expired without an arbitration agreement, and without President Biden creating a Presidential Emergency Board to manually avert a strike, only then would flight attendants be able to strike.

The last time Alaska Airlines flight attendants went on strike was 1993, more than 30 years ago.