Alaska Air : Airlines April 2, 2022 Operational Update

9 a.m., Saturday, April 2

Cancellations today

Alaska Airlines continues to experience significant flight cancellations today, April 2.

Communicating with our guests is important: We're notifying them if their flights are impacted and we're doing what we can to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible. We know the sudden cancellation of their travel plans is frustrating - we apologize to all of our guests who we let down.

As of 9 a.m. this morning, we have cancelled 88 flights - about 7% of our overall operation today - impacting more than 12,000 guests. That's in addition to our flight cancellations from Friday. Additional cancellations are possible.

We remain grateful for all our employees who are working hard to get our guests to where they need to go.

Friday, April 1, 2022

Cancellations Today

Alaska Airlines is experiencing significant flight cancellations today. We're notifying our guests whose flights are impacted, and we're working as quickly as possible to make things right and get them to their destinations. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

As of 9 a.m. this morning, we have cancelled more than 120 flights - about 9% of our overall operation - impacting more than 15,300 guests. Additional cancellations are possible over the weekend.

It takes everyone at Alaska to run a successful and reliable operation. Today, we fell short. We're grateful for all employees who are working hard to get our guests to where they need to go.

Commitment to a new pilot contract

We understand how important it is to our pilots to secure a new contract. As the negotiations continue, we respect their right to engage in lawfully protected activities to voice their concerns. 

We're committed to reaching a collective bargaining agreement that recognizes the contributions of our pilots and supports them with increased pay, job security and greater work flexibility - key issues important to them.  

It's also vital for Alaska Airlines to negotiate a deal that allows us to maintain growth and profitability for a strong future. It's crucial we continue to provide all of our employees with competitive pay and benefits as we hire more people, invest in new planes and fly our guests to new destinations. We believe the goals of the company and the goals of our pilots complement each other. 

"A new pilot contract remains a top priority for Alaska," said Jenny Wetzel, vice president of labor relations for Alaska Airlines. "We've put a package on the table that's competitive and addresses the issues most important to our pilots. It's a significant financial investment in our pilot group while recognizing that we are still working to recover from $2.3 billion in losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are eager to conclude negotiations quickly so our pilots can enjoy these new benefits as soon as possible."  

In support of our pilots, we recently presented the union with a comprehensive proposal. Among the highlights: 

• We're offering a top of scale wage of $280 per hour for captains and a market wage adjustment a year after the contract is ratified to keep our pilots' wages competitive with their peers at other airlines. For reference, an Alaska captain's average salary is currently $341,000 per year. For first officers, we've proposed a rate of $100 per hour, which would be the #1 new hire rate in the nation. 
• We're ready to increase the job security of our pilots: Any aircraft operated by Alaska Air Group over 76 seats will be flown by Alaska's seniority list pilots. 

• We'd add significant flexibility on how our pilots can set their schedules along with additional support for our reserve pilots. Our pilots currently work 16 days a month on average.  

We've been in talks with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) for a new agreement since the summer of 2019, with a mutual pause in talks for a year - from March 2020 to March 2021 - as the industry weathered the pandemic. As a normal part of the process, we filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board in October 2021 to help move the process forward and facilitate an agreement.

We look forward to making further progress at our next mediation session scheduled for later this month. 

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