Horizon flight attendants at Alaska Air Group vote 99.8% to authorize strike
Washington, D.C. – Horizon Air flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), voted 99.8% to authorize a strike at the wholly-owned Alaska Air Group regional airline, on June 16. The vote is the result of seriously delayed bargaining and months of outrageously low economic proposals from Horizon management.
“Our 99.8% vote shows Horizon and Alaska management that we will do whatever it takes to get the contract we have earned,” said Lisa Davis Warren, president of the Horizon chapter of AFA-CWA representing 650 Horizon Air flight attendants. “We have dedicated our lives to Horizon and the communities that we serve. We are simply asking for the pay, benefits, and improvements we have earned. But Horizon management seems uninterested in resolving this dispute or showing the slightest concern for frontline workers who can’t afford rent or other basic life necessities.”
Horizon flight attendants filed for federal mediation in January 2025. They have common industry demands: living wage pay increases, increased pay for time at work including while boarding the plane, better benefits, and work rule improvements.
“Flight attendants at Horizon and other regional airlines across the industry fly the same routes and provide the same service as mainline flight attendants. It’s time they are recognized for their critical contributions to Alaska-Hawaiian,” said Sara Nelson, international president of AFA-CWA representing 55,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. “There is no reason these negotiations should take a minute longer. Flight attendants deserve a living wage contract now.”
AFA has a trademarked strike strategy known as CHAOS™ or Create Havoc Around Our System™. With CHAOS, a strike could affect the entire system or a single flight. The union decides when, where and how to strike, without notice to management or passengers. The right to strike is triggered when the National Mediation Board declares that negotiations are deadlocked and releases both parties into a 30-day “cooling off” period leading to a strike deadline.
Horizon Air is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group operating daily flights to nearly 50 destinations.