Negotiating Update (6/13/2024)

Allegiant Air Pilots:

Your Negotiating Committee concluded the latest round of mediation today and will resume mediation June 24-26 in Las Vegas.

Additional Mediation Dates:

The Mediators informed the Union that they will schedule additional mediation sessions for August. In July, the Union Negotiating Committee will work in caucus and meet with Company negotiators as we continue to move forward towards a CBA that includes significant improvements to quality of life (QOL), job security and compensation.

Quality of Work Life and Compensation Improvements A Must:

As we informed you in our June 10, 2024 announcement, we met with the Company last week to discuss Section 15 (Scheduling). Due to the very encouraging conversations last week, we expected that the Company would be ready to continue and build on those positive scheduling discussions when mediation began on Monday. Instead, the Company was not prepared to meet with us until late Tuesday afternoon, essentially voiding two of our precious negotiation days, and then took a very different approach than they had promised.

Rather than engage in continued discussions on scheduling issues and work towards agreements on this QOL portion of our contract, as they said they would, management instead presented what they described as a “comprehensive proposal,” that included compensation, insurance and retirement benefits, although the parties have not reached agreement on any scheduling or reserve issues. The company’s proposal was significantly below standard industry ranges in almost all major areas and was not in line with either the current pilot market or current watercooler rumors. Additionally, our requests for additional scheduling data were not fulfilled and management did not take any steps to provide the promised access to the PBS software solutions being considered. QOL/scheduling discussions did not resume in earnest until Thursday.

Two important points –

First, in today’s pilot market, you do not have to choose between Improved Compensation or Improved QOL. Both are expected and achievable. Like pilots across the airline industry, you have spoken through our survey data loud and clear – Quality of Life improvements are a priority in this contract. We know that 1) you place a high value on stability when it comes to your days off and scheduling predictability; and 2) you recognize the pilot labor market has effectively determined compensation for pilots – carriers that fall behind “the market” put their own businesses at grave risk. In this environment, significant compensation increases benefit the air carriers as much or more so than pilots.

Second, a union that negotiates over compensation prior to reaching agreements on QOL issues like key scheduling issues sets itself and its membership up for failure. This is one of the oldest management negotiating ploys in the book: “trade your QOL for dollars”. Management negotiators who use this ploy claim their ability to increase compensation depends on giving up proposed QOL improvements and/or requiring the membership to fund its own pay increases through a reduction in their current QOL. This would be a major tactical advantage to the Company should your Negotiating Committee fall for it. We won’t do that because Allegiant pilots will not accept backwards movement on scheduling and want real improvements in QOL.

Don’t Pick a Fight With Us, Negotiate:

We hope we are wrong, but we are preparing for the possibility that management is starting another aggressive “FedEx mailer” style campaign to undermine your trust in this committee while simultaneously claiming they are doing it foryour benefit.

Why do we believe management may be preparing to go down this road? Today we received multiple reports that managers at the ECTC were spreading misinformation – claiming the mediators were unhappy with the Union and that no negotiation sessions would be scheduled for after June 26. This is a lie – the Mediators told us they are scheduling additional mediation dates. In addition, rather than start the week off by building on the very positive discussions from the previous week on the remaining scheduling issues, which is what the Company told us they would do last week, they made slight modifications and passed a substandard full proposal on the remaining CBA sections.

Should the company embark on a campaign similar to the past, it would likely take the form of one or more of the following: systematic leaks of selective items from company proposals, misleading information in flight operations or negotiations updates, letters to your home, management disparaging the union negotiating team, or whispered rumors of what is being discussed or offered. All of this is designed to cause you to question which side of the table has your best interests in mind. “Trust management, not the Union” is the not-so-subtle message. Rest assured, you have a team at the table who have no personal agendas and who are solely focused on achieving the contract that you all deserve. If they want a fight, we will win, but everyone’s time is better spent negotiating solutions that work for pilots and Allegiant.

There will likely never be a better time than NOW to fix the mistakes of the past and chart a better future. We will not squander the opportunity. Other pilot groups have proven that it is no longer a question of QOL or Compensation improvements. We can achieve both and our membership is poised to do so – as long as we have your support and don’t defeat ourselves.

Yesterday’s News – The RLA is Frustrating by Design:

Although not lengthy in airline historical terms, we have been negotiating for over three years. We know some members of our pilot group are frustrated with the long, drawn out Railway Labor Act (RLA) negotiating process. That is exactly what the RLA process is designed to do to pilots: wear you down so you bring down your expectations even as others in the industry make significant gains by refusing to give in to that mindset.

Don’t let the RLA mediation process cause you to lose sight of what we can achieve if management understands that you will not settle for anything less than the contract you deserve. Our priorities are to deliver an agreement based on your stated desires: QOL improvements to schedules, improved scope to protect our livelihood, compensation in line with our peers, and filling in the largest of the voids in our contract when compared to our peers e.g. industry standard LTD/LOL.

Looking Forward

It is important to note that we see a clear pathway from where we are today to an agreement. The company must return to the table with the collaborative and participatory form that we witnessed during our week of non-mediated meetings. The ball is in the Company’s court.

Despite what occurred during the first two days of mediations, we resumed focused scheduling negotiations today. The Company again promised to engage on this key QOL issue, said it understood the need for PBS software access, and would provide the data needed to reach an agreement on Section 15 and Section 16. We stand ready to build on the momentum from last week and our discussions today . We remain fully committed to working expeditiously and collaboratively with management to achieve a contract that ensures financial success for the company and also recognizes the vital role the pilot group plays in the overall success of the company moving forward. We are laser focused on getting an agreement done without delay.

Alternatively, should the company refuse to deliver on QOL and compensation improvements (not one at the expense of the other), or worse, revert to the tactics of the past (FedEx mailers, passes left in the training center, etc.), you should know that we now have the personnel, resources, and backing to defeat any attempt to circumvent the bargaining process. However, we are hopeful that after this week the company will regroup and see the benefits of a collaborative effort to get a deal across the finish line and we stand ready to do so.

For now, stay united and help to build an even stronger Union. We are working hard to preserve our quality of life and achieve the advances in other areas you demand. More information to follow.

In Unity,

Captain Joshua Allen
Negotiating Committee Chairman

Captain Jay Killen
Pilot Negotiator

Captain J.R. Lynch
Chief of Staff

Captain Jim Cole
Recording Analyst