Status This Week
CWA-AFA published its July-session account on 2026.08.24 as the parties approached the scheduled August 25–26 NMB-mediated session. The update said the committee had developed a compensation counter it intended to present in Chicago and that AFA General Counsel Joe Burns would join the session. No written post-session result was published within this reporting window, so CrewSignal does not import a later account or infer an August outcome.
Contract timing: Horizon’s Flight Attendant agreement became amendable on 2024.05.01. As of 2026.08.28, 2 years, 3 months and 27 days—849 days—had elapsed since that date. The first NMB-mediated session began on 2025.06.23, so 1 year, 2 months and 5 days—431 days—had elapsed in the mediated phase. The amendable-date and mediation clocks are tracked separately.
Process Signals
- The August 24 update said management’s wage position remained tied to regional-airline comparators, while CWA-AFA had modeled an average 25 percent increase using the Alaska agreement. It also described a dispute over financial support for management’s cost claims and said the company supplied boarding data after additional information was requested.
- The published mediation calendar listed August 25–26, October 5–6, November 12–13 and December 15–17. The NMB FY2027 budget continues to identify Horizon among active CWA-AFA Flight Attendant mediation cases, while the August 24–28 weekly report did not announce a formal status change.
- The 99.8 percent strike-authorization vote remains a solidarity and bargaining-pressure signal, not permission for an immediate strike. Lawful self-help would still require later NMB steps, including an impasse determination, an arbitration proffer, rejection of that proffer and a statutory cooling-off period.
CrewSignal Assessment
The addition of AFA’s General Counsel and a developed wage counter are concrete examples of multi-carrier legal and bargaining resources being deployed. At 849 days past the amendable date and 431 days into mediation, resource deployment alone is no longer a sufficient performance measure; the next measure is documented movement at the table.
The competing wage frameworks reveal the central dispute more clearly than mobilization language does. CrewSignal will assess whether the union’s comparator model and information requests produce a stronger company proposal, additional tentative agreements or a complete settlement. The strike vote can reinforce leverage, but it does not shorten the RLA process by itself.
Notable Public References
- National Mediation Board Weekly Activity Report, August 24–28, 2026 — View →
- National Mediation Board FY2027 Congressional Budget Justification — View →
- Horizon CWA-AFA July Negotiations Update, Published August 24 — View →
- Horizon CWA-AFA Mediation Schedule — View →
- Horizon CWA-AFA Amendable-Date Committee Notice — View →
- Horizon First NMB-Mediated Session Update — View →
- Horizon CWA-AFA Strike-Authorization Process Explanation — View →