Mediation & Negotiation · Weekly Report
Week Ending 2026.02.06
The most meaningful public bargaining activity in the week ending 2026.02.06 occurred at the table rather than through a company filing. The best public recap of the period said Horizon and CWA-AFA met in Chicago on January 21–23 and again in Portland on February 2–4, with the mediator joining virtually on February 4 after the first two February days proceeded without on-site mediator participation.
The same public recap said the parties made measurable progress in Scheduling (Article 6), began costing economic proposals between sessions, hit a deadlock on certain non-economic protections, and secured management’s commitment to bring a meaningful comprehensive proposal, including pay, to the next March session. For lineholders, the week mattered because the case appeared to be moving from contract cleanup into true economics.
The key analytical shift this week was not a public tentative agreement or a release signal. It was the visible move into economic costing. Once that happens, compensation, scheduling, reserve, and other quality-of-life asks start to interact as a single closing package rather than as isolated articles.
The other important point was enforceability. The public recap highlighted a dispute over whether management policy is enough protection on certain issues or whether language must be placed in the contract. That is exactly the kind of ratification-sensitive divide that can matter more than headline wages.