DESTIN, Fla. — Allegiant Air pilots are picketing across the country.

Local union members were at outside the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport on Tuesday hoping to spread their message to management and passengers alike.

Pilots say a strike isn’t out of the question.

Currently, Allegiant Airlines and their pilots are involved in federal mediation — and they have been for two of the four years they’ve been trying to get this contract completed.

Legally, pilots cannot go on strike until they’re released from mediation and go through a 30-day cooling off period.

“The games must stop. The cooperate greed must stop,” said Aaron Adrian, captain with Allegiant Air. “It is our time, the time is now. Period.”

Allegiant Air pilots say although flights are ultra cheap, they shouldn’t be paid that way.

“We will not accept less than an industry standard contract,” Adrian said. “The company needs to come to the table on all issues, every section of our CBA. We lag the entire industry. This is unacceptable.”

One major point of contention is pay raises and concessions for it.

The union’s secretary treasurer says: “Allegiant has millions of dollars to sink into luxury hotels and naming rights to stadiums, but when it comes to the hardworking pilots who make this carrier profitable, they want to play hardball. Our members won’t accept any less than the contract they deserve.”

“The company needs to realize if they don’t get this deal done now, we will lose pilots,” Adrian said. “The legacy airlines are getting ready to hire significantly after the first of the year. [Something] must pick up. Delays must stop, corporate greed must stop. Get this deal done now.”

WEAR News reached out to Allegiant Air Tuesday morning. They provided this statement:

Allegiant is currently in negotiations with the Teamsters Local 2118, with the mediation assistance of the National Mediation Board (NMB), to finalize an agreement for our pilots. Allegiant has offered a competitive package – including an immediate 50% average increase in hourly wages that scales to 70% over 5 years. Additionally, we have offered a 50% increase in direct contribution to pilots’ retirement benefits, improvements in long-term disability benefits, and extensive scheduling and quality of life improvements designed to honor seniority and protect our business model.These are among the proposals that Allegiant has on the table on the issues that remain open between the parties. Allegiant has continued to try to engage with the union to close these issues, or at least narrow the gap, by making multiple comprehensive economic proposals. The union, however, has not responded or made counter proposals on the majority of the outstanding economic items in nearly two years. We remain hopeful that the union will choose to engage with us at the table over these key sections so we can meet our goal of reaching an agreement for our pilots.

To further demonstrate our commitment to this process – and to show our appreciation of our pilots – Allegiant has been accruing a retention bonus since June 2023 that represents an 82% pay increase for first-year first officers and a 35% pay increase for all other pilots. The accrued money will be paid out in a lump sum to individuals once a new contract is ratified. For senior captains, that retention bonus has already exceeded $100,000 and counting.

The members of IBT 2118 are exercising their right to conduct informational picketing. This is not a work stoppage, nor is one imminent. For a work stoppage, or strike, to occur under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which is the law that governs labor relations in the airline industry, all of the RLA’s bargaining procedures must be exhausted. Those include the following:

– The NMB – not the parties themselves – determines if there is an impasse in negotiations between the airline and union.

– The NMB offers interest arbitration to the parties to resolve their outstanding issues.

– If either party (or both) turns down interest arbitration, the NMB releases them from mediation.

– A 30-day cooling off period then ensues, which can be extended by action of the President of the United States.

It is important to note that none of these conditions have been met, and the Teamsters Local 2118 cannot legally call for a strike, a slow-down, or any other kind of “self-help” action until all of them have been met.

During this past year alone, IBT Local 2118 changed its negotiating team four times and was placed into an emergency trusteeship by the national union, which has impacted the negotiating process. Despite these unexpected changes, Allegiant remains steadfast in its commitment to working in good faith to secure a deal for our pilots.

Adrian says if something doesn’t change soon, they will strike.

“To the flying public, specifically the passengers of allegiant, we love our passengers,” he said. “We love to come work for this airline. However, they need to value our work. They need to give us our contract that rewards us for our success contributing to Allegiant. It’s that simple.”