The employees of the only remaining airline based in the Valley may go on strike.
Roughly 1,000 flight attendants for Mesa Airlines voted to go on strike Wednesday citing being underpaid.


“Management has left us with no other choice. Mesa flight attendants are prepared to strike if released by the National Mediation Board,” said Heather Stevenson, AFA Mesa President. “Next week management can choose a different outcome by seriously negotiating a contract. Mesa Airlines is an important partner in the highly-profitable American Airlines and United Airlines networks. Fair contract now.”
Mesa Airlines operates flights for American Airlines as American Eagle and United Airlines as United Express, providing 600 daily departures to 117 cities, 39 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Mexico.

According to representatives for the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, who represents Mesa Airlines' flight attendants, the average United Airlines employee makes about $27,000 a year, with the opportunity to increase that income by doing things such as picking up more trips. A Mesa Airlines flight attendant makes between $13,000 and $36,000 a year, with most salaries on the lower end of that range.
“Mesa flight attendants will not accept poverty wages,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “Enough is enough. Mesa flight attendants have the full backing of the 50,000 members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. We are ready to do whatever it takes to achieve a fair contract.”

Negotiations, overseen by the National Mediation Board, are scheduled to continue on April 5.