Alaska Airlines pilots authorize strike over scheduling and other issues: Travel Weekly

Alaska Airlines pilots have the authority to strike if federal law allows it.

The Air Line Pilots Association said that 99% of union members voted in support of the authorization and that 98% of members participated in the vote. The labor contract between Alaska management and its pilots became amendable after three years.

The contract between Alaska and its pilots lags behind the industry when it comes to protecting pilots from outsourcing, according to the ALPA. The union says that the schedules of pilots in Alaska take more days to complete than those in other states, meaning that they spend more days away from home.

The negotiations with Alaska management are ongoing.

For years, we have been working toward a market-based contract with reasonable solutions that address work rules, scheduling flexibility and career-security issues that pilots at other companies enjoy, not a strike.

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Alaska's management said in a statement that they are committed to reaching a deal to provide an updated contract that is good for the pilots.

The airline said that guests and operation are unaffected by the vote.

Alaska pilots can't strike until the National Mediation Board decides that additional mediation wouldn't work. The board would give the parties the chance to go to an arbiter.

The parties would have to wait 30 days before starting a strike if either the pilots or Alaska management decided to reject the mediation.