Alaska Air, Attendants Reach Pact

Alaska Airlines said Thursday that it reached an understanding with the union representing its 2,400 flight attendants on the terms of a tentative new contract.

The terms won’t be disclosed until the language has been completed and the contract is ratified by the union, the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, according to a joint statement by the flight attendants and the airline, a unit of Seattle-based Alaska Air Group Inc.

The two sides have been in talks for almost two years.

“I would not say that it’s a concessionary agreement,” Veda Shook of the Assn. of Flight Attendants said.

The union hopes to get the language completed by June 9, with a vote of its members sometime in July, she said.

Alaska Airlines this month locked out 500 baggage handlers and fleet workers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and hired an outside company to load bags and guide planes to gates. The airline said the move would save it $13 million a year.

The lockout came after the International Assn. of Machinists rejected a contract that would have provided $13 million in concessions. The union is seeking an emergency injunction to return workers to their jobs.

“The goal for all the current labor negotiations is the same: to get our agreements to a level that’s competitive with the rest of the market and ensure the long-term viability of the company,” Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Caroline Boren said.