Oregon Public Broadcasting

More than three hundred Alaska Airlines pilots picketed the carrier’s annual shareholders meeting in Seattle Tuesday. 

The unionized pilots are threatening to strike unless the airline improves their pay and benefits.  Management says the pilots are making untenable demands in light of skyrocketing jet fuel prices.  Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

Uniformed pilots picketed quietly on the sidewalk as shareholders and executives arrived for the Alaska Airlines annual meeting.  They let their signs do the talking, including many that read, “Strike?”

Alaska pilot David Campbell says there’s no strike deadline, but contract talks are not going well.

David Campbell: “The whole product right now as they’ve proposed is concessionary.  That’s not acceptable to us. It looks like they’re going to force us to have to strike to get the contract that we’ve earned.  We will strike if that’s necessary.”

Alaska Air chairman Bill Ayer says the airline can’t be more generous to its pilots in a time of sky high fuel prices and a weakening economy.

Bill Ayer: “I wish the reality were different, but we have to deal with reality.”

Ayer says he’s willing to make tradeoffs to increase pay and head off a strike if the union gives on work rules or retirement benefits for example.

Separately, Alaska Airlines announced it’s dropping “underperforming” routes and redeploying jets.  The airline is stopping service between Portland and Orlando and between San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C.  At the same time in the fall, it is starting new service between Seattle and the Big Island of Hawaii and to Minneapolis.