99.48% of Alaska Airlines flight attendants vote to strike

An overwhelming majority of Alaska Airlines flight attendants have voted in favour of strike action if airline management fails to ‘agree to significant improvements,’ reports the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). 93.47% of Alaska Airlines flight attendants participated in the ballot, with AFA Alaska president Jeffrey Peterson defining the dispute as a “fight for an industry-leading contract” after it became amenable in December 2022. He also added: “Alaska management has the money to buy another airline, they certainly have money to invest in flight attendants”. AFA filed for federal mediation with the National Mediation Board in September 2023. Now that union members have authorized a strike, the union can request a release from the NFB leading to a 30-day ‘cooling-off’ period. However, a strike could ‘affect the entire system or a single flight’, with the union deciding how to implement industrial action ‘without notice to management or passengers’. Alaska Airlines flight attendants last went on strike in 1993, during which the airline saw ‘dramatic reductions’ in ticket bookings, adds the AFA.