Summary

  • Alaska Airlines flight attendants are set to receive a 32% pay scale increase through a new tentative agreement (TA).
  • However, the new contract has to be approved by Alaska AIrlines members of the the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA).
  • Voting will begin on July 24 and will end on August 14.

Alaska Airlines and its flight attendants, represented by the Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council (MEC) of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), agreed to a tentative agreement (TA), which will result in an average 32% pay scale increase.

Pay and other benefits achieved with the new TA

However, the Alaska Airlines MEC emphasized that the final language of the new TA was being finalized, with the voting on the new contract beginning on July 24, 2024, and ending on August 14. Still, the union published a summary of the new agreement, which includes the updated compensation table.

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 taking off.

Photo: Alaska Airlines

In a summary of the new TA, the MEC stated that the negotiating team was pleased to present the ground-breaking agreement, which took 20 months of bargaining with Alaska Airlines. As a result of the new TA, Alaska Airline’s AFA-represented cabin crew members became the first flight attendants to secure boarding pay in a legally binding contract.

“We would like to thank you for your patience as we created helpful explanatory resources and content to assist in understanding the changes and impact of the TA provisions.”

The MEC also noted that schedule integrity was paramount in the new agreement, as was increasing the penalties paid by Alaska Airlines for reassigning flight attendants. Further benefits and improvements include vacation, reserve, hotels, expenses, and other day-to-day-related matters.

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32% pay scale increase

The MEC also highlighted that with the new TA, flight attendants’ pay scale would increase by an average of 32%. For example, with the old agreement, year one cabin crew members were paid $24.95 per hour, which would now increase to $32. Meanwhile, flight attendants working at the airline for eight years have been receiving $42.99 per hour, which would increase to $54.25 with the new TA.

AFA day of action alaska airlines flight attendant pickets at seattle tacoma June 2024

Photo: Joe Kunzler | Simple Flying

Lastly, the pay scale tops out at 16 years. Previously, veteran flight attendants received $60.31 per hour, which would increase to $74, with the sum remaining the same for year 14, year 15, and year 16. In addition, the new TA will offer 3% salary increases on August 15, 2025, and on the same day a year later, resulting in year 14-16 flight attendants earning as much as $78.51 per hour by the latter date.

Meanwhile, the new boarding pay, which would be ratified if Alaska Airlines’ flight attendants ratify the contract, will increase the overall pay by around 8%, ranging from 4.7% to 33.6%, depending on the number of flights/boardings worked by an employee. Other improvements of the TA include, but are not exclusive to, as highlighted by the MEC:

  • 21 months of retro pay (December 2022 – August 2024
  • 1.5x reassignment pay
  • Maintaining a maximum of 10.5-hour duty time daily and 4k stage length
  • 6th week of vacation reinstated
  • Per diem increase
  • 401(k) match increase

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Alaska Airlines pilot contract

Alaska Airlines and its pilots, represented by the Alaska Airlines MEC of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), approved a new labor deal in October 2022. At the time, Ben Minicucci, the airline’s chief executive officer (CEO), detailed that the agreement affirmed that Alaska Airlines was a “great place to spend a pilot career.”

oneworld alaska airlines 737

Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock

Some of the highlights of the agreement included a pay increase of 23%, depending on the years of service, with top-of-the-scale captains making $306 per hour initially, increasing to $330 in October 2024. The agreement also has a market rate adjustment, which has ensured that the carrier’s pilots’ pay remains in line with flight crews working at other airlines, as well as other benefits.

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