Alaska Airlines and Flight Attendants Reach Tentative Agreement on Four-Year Contract.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 1999--

Using a unique expedited process and interest-based bargaining, flight attendants and Alaska Airlines today jointly announced a tentative agreement on a new, 48-month long contract.

The agreement, which now goes to the union's membership for ratification, would cover Alaska's nearly 2,000 flight attendants, who are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO. Highlights include wage and benefit increases and enhancements to the flight attendants' 401(k) plan. Exact terms of the tentative agreement will be released after flight attendants have a chance to review the contract.

"We worked hard to address the concerns of all flight attendants in this contract," said Thomas Lent, AFA Master Executive Council President at Alaska. "I think the members will be pleased with the improvement we made in compensation, benefits, work rules and scheduling flexibility."

John F. Kelly, Alaska's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "This agreement represents one of the most collaborative, cooperative negotiation processes I've witnessed in my many years in the airline business. Before the negotiations began, the two parties spent months crafting a framework for the talks that would use a collaborative approach, expedite the process, and focus attention only on the most important issues. All that effort up front has paid off, because today we have a tentative agreement that will help keep the airline in a strong competitive position, while offering our flight attendants an attractive package of pay and benefits."

Alaska Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, serves more than 40 cities and towns in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and five Western states.

AFA is the world's largest flight attendant union, representing 46,000 flight attendants at 25 airlines, including the almost 2,000 flight attendants at Alaska Airlines. AFA's website is at www.afanet.org.