Summary
- Negotiations continue as Alaska Airlines flight attendants reject the tentative agreement.
- 68% of union members voted against the agreement, calling for improvements.
- The union representing Alaska Airlines flight attendants has outlined steps for further discussion.
Alaska Airlines is staring at more negotiations, as its flight attendants have rejected the tentative contract deal. The carrier’s cabin crew have been trying to negotiate a deal for some time now, even authorizing a strike earlier this year.
Negotiations to continue
Alaska Airlines
cabin crew members have rejected the tentative agreement, which offered an average pay increase of 32%. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents Alaska Airlines flight attendants, said it will talk to its members about issues that still need to be resolved.
Photo: Ryken Papy | Shutterstock
In an online statement, the union said that in a ratification vote for the 2024 Tentative Agreement (TA), there was a 92.4% participation rate of eligible voters. Of those, 68% voted against the agreement, while 32% voted for the agreement.
The union highlighted that there’s more work to do and that the carrier’s flight attendants need “improvements as soon as possible,” calling the process “democracy in action.” Alaska Airlines also released a statement regarding the development, which said,
“We remain committed to reaching an agreement that reflects the critical role of our flight attendants and is good for Alaska’s long-term success. We will assess the details available to us and reconvene with AFA to discuss next steps.”
A tentative agreement was reached in June
In June, the union said that a deal for a three-year contract was reached during federal mediation. It included solutions to various issues regarding pay hikes and other benefits. Some of the main elements of the deal included average pay raises of 32% (over three years), boarding pay, retro pay, and reassignment pay when management fails to maintain schedule integrity.

Related
Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants Could See 32% Pay Raise Under New Contract
The flight attendants will begin voting on the tentative agreement (TA) on July 24.
The agreement for boarding pay was seen as a major development as it could add between 5% and 34%, all the way up to 150% if changes were made to a flight attendant’s schedule in the middle of a trip.
What next?
The tentative agreement was reached in June after negotiations that lasted for a year and a half. This was followed by roadshows during which the union outlined the details of the agreement to its members. However, a majority clearly had problems with some of the terms, given the results of the latest round of voting.
The union has outlined the steps it will take to further this conversation, such as creating and sending a survey to members, analyzing survey results and drafting revised proposals, presenting the revised proposals to the MEC for feedback and approval, and requesting additional mediation dates with management and the mediator from the National Mediation Board (NMB), among other things.
Photo: Wangkun Jia | Shutterstock
The union is prepared to take several other steps to ensure that a favorable agreement is reached. It also intends to “schedule additional Mobilization efforts which will be necessary to put pressure on management, increase our leverage, and get additional money into a new tentative agreement.”
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming days.

Related
American Airlines Offers Flight Attendants Immediate 18% Pay Bump, Retro Pay & Boarding Premium In Tentative Deal
The agreement will see an added value of $4.2 billion to the contracts over the period of five years.