As Alaska Airlines continues its transcontinental expansion, flight attendants say the airline is understaffing its newest long-haul routes from Seattle, leaving flight attendants scrambling.
The union representing those employees, the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America, filed a grievance against the airline last week and met with the company for a hearing Thursday. The outcome of that hearing will determine whether Alaska has to make a change to its in-flight long-haul operations.
The complaint centers on routes flown on Alaska’s fleet of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which the airline is using to expand its nonstop transcontinental flights from its hometown. Alaska announced two more of those routes Thursday, launching nonstop flights from Seattle to Paris and Athens, Greece, next spring.
Alaska Air Group acquired Hawaiian Airlines in 2024, bringing the carrier under the same umbrella as Alaska, regional airline Horizon Air and ground support company McGee Air Services. That acquisition helped kick off Alaska’s current transcontinental expansion, as it added more planes, people and resources to Alaska’s network.
Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants who work on Alaska-branded planes flying transcontinental routes from Seattle filed the grievance. There are roughly 400 Hawaiian flight attendants based at the airline's Seattle hub, according to the union.
In its grievance, the union said Alaska violated part of its contract with Hawaiian flight attendants that requires company management and flight attendants to mutually agree on in-flight service requirements.
The airline decided to move one flight attendant from the main cabin to the front of the cabin, according to Josh Aoki, a Hawaiian flight attendant and Hawaiian AFA’s local president for Seattle and Los Angeles.
The union had been under the impression that, with one fewer person in the main cabin, Alaska wouldn’t make changes to the in-flight food and drink options, Aoki said. But it instead added new offerings, like ice cream and warm cookies, and left flight attendants rushing to get through the main cabin.
For passengers, that means waiting longer for drinks and meals, and for their trays to be cleared, Aoki said. On long-haul flights, that cuts into valuable sleep time for passengers.
Hawaiian flight attendants have set the standard for long-haul flying for decades, Aoki said. “Now we’re in a transition period where Alaska has handed us this service model where, operationally, it just does not make sense,” he said. “It creates this chaotic environment on board.”
The union is asking Alaska management to negotiate a change with them, whether that means increased staffing or changing its in-flight offerings on the long-haul routes, Aoki said.
Alaska in a statement said the airline's priority is to support our crews while delivering the safe, consistent and remarkable travel experience our guests expect — and that keeps us competitive in the markets we serve."
Since announcing its plans in December 2024 to turn Seattle into a “global gateway,” Alaska has introduced seven nonstop transcontinental routes from its hometown. Those routes are Tokyo-Narita, Seoul, Rome, London, Reykjavik, Paris and Athens. It plans to add at least five more by 2030.
The grievance filed last week focuses only on the routes flown on Alaska-branded Boeing 787s. That includes current flights to Seoul, Rome and London.
In the future, Alaska 787s will fly routes to Tokyo-Narita, which Alaska currently operates on an Airbus A330, and to Paris and Athens. Alaska flies to Reykjavik on Boeing’s narrowbody 737 MAX.
The in-flight service grievance isn’t the first complaint Alaska has faced from its flight attendants since its acquisition of Hawaiian and its ambitious expansion plans.
Alaska told Hawaiian flight attendants earlier this year they could not wear leis, flowers in their hair or Aloha shirts on some Alaska-branded flights from Seattle to its newest transcontinental destinations. The crew can still wear those items on flights to and from Hawaiʻi.
In June, Horizon Air flight attendants overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, after two years of contract negotiations. The union said Alaska hasn’t offered a wage proposal that keeps up with the rising cost of living in Horizon’s hubs, including Seattle.
Hawaiian’s flight attendants’ union met with Alaska on Thursday for a hearing on the inflight service grievance, according to Aoki. Now, a company representative will make a ruling.
If the representative rules in favor of the union, Alaska will have to negotiate a change to its current 787 service model. If the representative rules in favor of the company, it won’t have to do so. Aoki said the union could then take the grievance to arbitration.
"We are not opposed to doing cookies or ice cream or whatever it is," Aoki said. "We just need the bodies to do it.
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