Horizon Air pilots represented by Teamsters Local 1224 held an informational picket October 14 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Boise Airport, demanding the carrier end what the union calls delay tactics and agree to a fair collective bargaining agreement.
The nearly 650 pilots in the unit have been in negotiations for close to four years, with the union citing unresolved issues around wages, staffing, training shortages, and broader operational concerns.
Central to the dispute is a pay gap relative to Alaska Airlines pilots. Horizon feeds Alaska’s network across the western United States, serving close to 50 destinations, and Teamsters Local 1224 argues its pilots perform nearly the same flying as their Alaska counterparts while earning below industry-standard wages. The union attributes that gap to Horizon management’s unwillingness to bargain a fair deal.
A Teamsters statement issued October 13 accused the carrier of “a pattern of mismanagement and corporate greed that has affected the negotiating process.”
The pickets were scheduled to begin at 10:30 local time at both locations.
For Horizon pilots, the stakes are straightforward: four years without a contract means four years of working under terms neither side has formally agreed to close, with wages, staffing levels, and training provisions all still in dispute. Regional flying margins are thin, and crew at carriers feeding major network airlines have historically had a harder time closing the pay gap with their mainline counterparts — which is precisely the argument Teamsters Local 1224 is making public.
