CrewSignal | Avelo / CWA-AFA — Mediation Overview

Key Takeaways

Avelo Flight Attendants entered the represented phase of bargaining on 2022.04.14, when the National Mediation Board certified CWA-AFA.
This is a first-contract case, not a post-amendable renegotiation, so there is no amendable date yet. The central question since certification has been whether the parties can convert representation into a first ratified agreement.
The National Mediation Board opened mediation docket A-14061 during the week of 2023.09.11–2023.09.15, formally moving the dispute into federal mediation.
In June 2024, the National Mediation Board reassigned the case from J. Mackenzie to K. Berry, showing that the file remained active inside mediation.
The National Mediation Board’s FY2026 budget justification still lists Avelo among Flight Attendant cases in mediation.
As of 2026.03.20, CrewSignal did not identify a non-union/public report of a tentative agreement, ratification calendar, or release from mediation.

Background & Context

Avelo’s Flight Attendant case begins with certification rather than amendability. The National Mediation Board certified CWA-AFA on 2022.04.14, giving Avelo Flight Attendants a formal bargaining representative under the Railway Labor Act.

That distinction matters. At a carrier with an existing collective bargaining agreement, the key date is often the amendable date. At Avelo, the key starting point is certification because the parties were building a first contract from scratch rather than reopening an existing Flight Attendant agreement.

From Certification to Federal Mediation

Public visibility into the first sixteen months of bargaining is limited. The National Mediation Board’s public record clearly shows the certification on 2022.04.14, but it does not provide a detailed public readout of direct first-contract bargaining before mediation.

The next major formal marker arrived during the week of 2023.09.11–2023.09.15, when the National Mediation Board opened mediation docket A-14061 for Avelo Flight Attendants represented by CWA-AFA. From that point forward, the case was no longer just an ordinary first-contract negotiation; it was a first-contract negotiation under active federal mediation.

Mediation with Limited Public Visibility

Avelo has been a difficult case to read from public sources. Unlike a larger publicly traded carrier, Avelo does not produce the kind of recurring SEC labor-risk disclosures that often help illuminate bargaining posture. That means the public record relies more heavily on National Mediation Board procedural markers, company news releases, and occasional third-party reporting.

The clearest formal sign that the case remained active came in June 2024, when the National Mediation Board reassigned A-14061 from J. Mackenzie to K. Berry. That did not reveal whether the parties were near agreement, but it did confirm that the file remained active inside the Board’s mediation system.

Beyond those formal markers, CrewSignal did not identify notable non-union/public bargaining-specific reporting during 2024 or 2025 that documented a tentative agreement, a ratification calendar, or an impending release from mediation. That does not prove inactivity. It means public visibility stayed weak.

Operating and Political Reset in 2025–2026

The business context around the first-contract case changed materially in 2025 and early 2026. In April 2025, ProPublica reported that Avelo had signed an agreement to dedicate three aircraft to ICE deportation flights at a time when CEO Andrew Levy described the startup as losing money and consumer confidence as weakening. That report also described the political backlash in Connecticut and the broader scrutiny surrounding the airline’s operating decisions.

Then, on 2026.01.06, Avelo announced that it had been recapitalized and would streamline its network around four current bases, open Dallas / McKinney later in 2026, and simplify its fleet. The next day, Skift reported that Avelo would end ICE deportation flights at the end of January and close its Mesa base.

None of that resolves the Flight Attendant bargaining file by itself. It does, however, explain why the first-contract case should be read against a moving operating backdrop rather than as a static labor dispute unfolding at an otherwise stable carrier.

Why the Public Record Still Feels Thin

Conservatively read, the limited public visibility reflects three overlapping facts.

It is a first-contract case. First-contract bargaining often has fewer clean public milestones than a renegotiation of an existing agreement.
The strongest public markers have been procedural, not substantive. Certification, docketing, reassignment, and the NMB’s continuing case lists tell us the case is alive, but not how close it is to settlement.
The carrier’s business context changed materially while bargaining remained unresolved. ICE flying, political backlash, recapitalization, fleet simplification, and base restructuring all altered the environment in which the parties were bargaining.

That combination helps explain why the case can be plainly real, plainly ongoing, and still thinly documented in public sources.

Status as of 2026.03.20

As of 2026.03.20, the best conservative public read is that Avelo remained an unresolved first-contract mediation case. The National Mediation Board’s FY2026 budget justification still lists Avelo among Flight Attendant cases in mediation, and CrewSignal did not identify a public report of a tentative agreement, ratification calendar, or release from mediation through that date.

That means the case should be described as active but low-visibility. Public sources support saying the file is still in mediation. They do not support stronger claims that a deal is imminent or that the parties have entered a new formal Railway Labor Act stage beyond mediation.

Avelo / CWA-AFA