Fellow Pilots,
As you know, the Negotiating Committee has made the decision to pass a Comprehensive Proposal to the company. That proposal has officially been delivered.
Up to this point during negotiations, the Negotiating Committee’s core principle was to avoid concessions and protect or improve current working conditions and quality-of-life (QOL) prior to negotiating economics. This is standard bargaining strategy and is designed to prevent management from withholding increases in compensation until the Union makes work rule/QOL concessions. Our approach was not developed in a vacuum. Management negotiators, on many occasions, have told us that the pilots will pay for a portion of their compensation increases through scheduling concessions.
Despite management’s resistance, and within a very limited amount of mediation time (approximately 30 days of mediation over 15 months), the Union secured agreements on Section 14 – Hours of Service and Section 16 – Reserve and approximately 50% of Section 15 – Scheduling. We are now three mediators and over two years into the mediation process. After multiple efforts, including a lengthy “supposal” bargaining process and numerous small group meetings, the company continued to demand scheduling concessions resulting in an impasse on schedule solves. At the same time, management repeatedly insisted they could not make progress without a comprehensive proposal.
In April 2025, after four years of negotiations, the Union requested a status meeting and proffer of arbitration due to the company’s intractable position on scheduling. With discussions on scheduling and quality of life at a standstill and given the 10+ year history of labor disputes over scheduling at Allegiant, we believed the logical next step was to make our case to the NMB that we were at an impasse. In June, almost two months after filing, we received a letter from the NMB stating that we were to continue mediation while our request would “continue to be considered.” Subsequently, the mediator offered the parties three hours of virtual mediation on July 28, approximately a month after notifying the Union to continue mediation. The next available date(s) after the July virtual meeting are tentatively (i.e., “maybe”) in the last week of August. One three-hour virtual session in a month, and the possibility of a few additional dates in August is UNACCEPTABLE.
The NMB has not, and likely will not, have sufficient availability for the parties to get a deal done soon. Throughout the last 15 months, the NC has consistently asked the company to meet more often. If the company wanted to get a deal done, they would have taken us up on that offer. We will not get the contract done if we only meet three days a month. Even Maury told us in the past that a contract will not get done meeting once a month. The company knows this.
Having made significant improvements in both Sections 14 and 16 and agreeing in principle to many of the concepts in Section 15 we were at an impasse. We believe that the next logical step is to package the remaining open items into a comprehensive proposal for presentation to management. This proposal will either provide a basis for significant strides towards completing the agreement or strengthen our case that we are at an impasse. The company has told us on numerous occasions that without a comprehensive proposal they will not agree to any of the major outstanding scheduling items. You will soon find out if the company’s repeated claims (that they are willing to quickly move forward to reach an agreement on a CBA after receiving a comprehensive proposal) are true or just another management lie.
It’s time for the company to put up or shut up. When the decision was made to present a comprehensive proposal, the Union reached out to the company to request an in-person meeting in order to pass the comprehensive proposal before mediation. The meeting would, at a minimum, have given the company time to review the Union’s proposals, ask questions, and provide feedback, which would have given the company the ability to come to the mediation session prepared to negotiate. It would have also prevented wasting our limited mediation time. The company refused. Instead, the Company not only said that they had ZERO availability to meet with us to receive the proposal, but then subsequently released a disingenuous and blatantly dishonest update in which they said the Union “demanded” a meeting.
Quoted from recent Allegiant Labor Relations emails:
“…we continue to be singularly focused on our work toward reaching a new agreement and look forward to getting back to the bargaining table to receive responses to our latest scheduling proposals as soon as possible.” (May 9)
“We are pleased with the Board’s decision [to continue mediation while considering the Union’s request for a proffer] and look forward to getting back to the bargaining table as soon as possible to continue our work toward reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.” (June 13)
It is ironic that these quotes came from the same company that could not find a few hours in a two-week period to receive the Union’s proposal. Their words say one thing, but their behavior says something completely different! This does not seem like a company that is “singularly focused” on reaching a new agreement. If they believe that three days or less of mediation a month will result in a contract, on what timeline? The true answer is (and it is painfully obvious) that the company DOES NOT want a contract anytime soon and is relying on the lack of mediation dates to help drag out negotiations for as long as possible.
The company likes to use the line that “meeting outside of mediation is not productive.” Even if they genuinely believed negotiations outside of mediation would not be productive, there is NO REASON for the company to refuse to meet to receive a proposal and ask questions about it in order to make the next mediation session more productive. The company knows that there is no way that three hours is enough to even explain the full comprehensive proposal, much less have time to make any appreciable headway in negotiations. In order to give the company the best chance of being prepared for the upcoming mediation session, we have provided them with our comprehensive proposal two weeks in advance. The Union expects the company to prepare a counter proposal (the one that they have been “singularly focused” on) and present it at the scheduled mediation in July. Unfortunately, the company will likely find a reason why nearly two weeks advance notice is not enough time to prepare a response. With that said, the NC is standing by and will gladly schedule an in-person or virtual meeting with the company to answer any questions between now and mediation in two weeks.
Although not ideal, presenting a comprehensive proposal has the benefit of shining a light on many of the falsehoods being spread by management about how the NC is being unreasonable. We have and will continue to fight for your QOL and work rules, the same ones that keep many of us at Allegiant. You have earned it through numerous trials and tribulations, many of which were exacerbated by poor management decisions.
In full transparency of what we are fighting for on your behalf, we have included an executive summary outlining our proposals on the major open items. Additionally, we have attached an updated industry contract comparison which outlines current industry norms against both our comprehensive proposal and the company’s latest offer (from their Mailer 3.0/Contract Comparison), so that you can compare the proposals to what your peers receive at other major airlines. Please review the attached information. Our Pilot group is comprised of more than 1300 Pilots all of which have different opinions of what is acceptable or not. With that said, please direct your questions and comments to the NC at negotiations@apa2118.org.
PLEASE DO NOT NEGOTIATE IN PUBLIC.
PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO MANAGEMENT OR NEGOTIATE WITH THEM DIRECTLY.
DO NOT USE THE NC’s TRANSPARENCY TO HARM YOUR OWN INTERESTS.
The company said a comprehensive proposal will lead to progress. Now they have one. Standby for further communications from the NC.
Thank you for your support.
In Unity,
Captain Joshua Allen
Negotiating Committee Chairman
Captain Jay Killen
Pilot Negotiator
Captain Brad Keller
Pilot Negotiator
Captain J.R. Lynch
NC Chief of Staff
Captain Jim Cole
Recording Analyst
