Frontier pilots ready to strike

Frontier Airline pilots are warning Jackson Hole Airport customers they are ready to strike this summer.

Pilots say a strike is a real possibility until the management agrees to pay pilots in line with industry peers. Pilots asked the National Mediation Board to be released from federal mediation. If approved, the action could start a 30-day cooling-off period. At the end of that time, pilots could strike. Frontier pilots voted 100 percent in favor of authorizing a legal strike last year.

The last major U.S. pilot strike was against Spirit Airlines in June 2010. That strike lasted 5 days, stranding thousands of passengers. At the time, Spirit was owned by the same equity firm that now owns Frontier.

The Air Line Pilots Association, International claims Frontier pilots are the lowest paid major airline pilots in North America, earning 40 percent less than their peers. They are the last pilots in the country working under a bankruptcy-era contract.