Horizon Air flight attendants protested outside the Medford airport Sunday as the airline closed its local crew base and contract negotiations stretched into a third year.
The closure affects dozens of Southern Oregon-based employees, many of whom will now commute to other airports for work.
The demonstration also comes as members of the Association of Flight Attendants vote on whether to authorize a strike after more than two years of contract negotiations with management. The union and airline remain at odds over pay increases and benefits.
Among those affected by the closure is Steve Gilman, a Medford-based flight attendant and union representative.
"Of all of our system, Medford's the least expensive to live in, so it's very affordable for us," Gilman said.
The airline provides some relocation benefits, but Gilman said many employees who live in Southern Oregon have homes, families and community ties that make relocation difficult. Others will face longer commutes to bases elsewhere in Horizon's network.
The union said commuting has become more difficult because Alaska's other regional partner, SkyWest, now operates many routes that Horizon once flew from Medford. Horizon flight attendants receive low priority for open seats on those flights, forcing many to leave earlier in case they cannot get a seat to the airport where they are scheduled to begin work.
"So it's get up early enough to get there and hope to finish in time to get home," Gilman said. "Each time you're taking hours away from your family."
Alaska Airlines, Horizon's parent company, said in a statement it is closing the Medford base because a new base is opening in Las Vegas.
"Horizon's crew base in Medford opened in 2012," the statement reads. "Since then, it hasn't grown to the size we need to be for it to be sustainable for future growth. It's Horizon's smallest base, both in terms of departures and number of employees."
The closure comes despite growing passenger demand at the Medford airport and plans to nearly double the size of its terminal.
Lisa Davis Warren, master executive council president for the Horizon Air flight attendants union, said flight attendants have grown increasingly frustrated.
"They're actually really tired of being told that they're less than worthy of the provisions that the mainline carriers are getting," she said. "It's taking longer across the board at carriers now, but it's taking more because we're finally using our voices and we're not settling."
Davis Warren said if the union is unable to make progress, it could move forward with targeted strikes on certain routes, among other tactics.
The Association of Flight Attendants has a trademarked strategy known as CHAOS, or Create Havoc Around Our System, which allows workers to conduct limited, unpredictable strikes.
The union first used the strategy in 1993 during a dispute involving Alaska Airlines flight attendants. The campaign ultimately led to significant pay increases.
"We have a history of reaching agreements with our unions, and we have no reason to believe that our negotiations with AFA will be any different," Alaska Airlines said in a statement.
Alaska Airlines said it does not expect passengers to be affected by the labor dispute in the near term, if at all.
The union is seeking a 24% pay increase for most flight attendants, along with health care and retirement benefits comparable to those provided to pilots.
Negotiations have already resulted in an agreement to pay flight attendants while passengers are boarding, a change unions have sought in recent years.
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This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
