NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Pilots with Breeze Airways held an informational picket at Norfolk International Airport Tuesday after more than a year-and-a-half of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement, according to officials.

“Our airline is on track for a profitable quarter, but our pilots are experiencing unilateral pay cuts and worsening work rules without protections,” said Capt. Alexander Kluge, Breeze Airways ALPA Master Executive Council chairman. “Breeze pilots have a long-term stake in their airline and want to collaborate with management to ensure its success today and in the future. Now is the time for management to stop profiting off the backs of all labor and invest in its pilots.”

According to the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), Breeze Airways pilots joined ALPA, which represents more than 77,000 pilots at 41 airlines, in 2022. The low-fare Breeze Airways began operating in May 2021.

The 21 Breeze pilots at Norfolk International Airport said they held the picket in the hopes of protecting and improving their quality of life, as well as making the airline desirable for pilots and their families.

They were complaining about broken promises from management, along with the need for collective bargaining to improve work conditions. The pilots sought to bring attention to the negotiations of their first collective bargaining contract.

They carried signs that read, “Breeze pilots are tired of broken promises,” “No more pay cuts” and “Contracts protect our seniority.” 

“We are here today to show our resolve to get a contract,” Kluge said, “that it will protect our jobs. That is going to give us better quality of life, and that is going to let us spend more time with our families.” 

Kluge is critical of management, and he wants more stability for pilots. 

“Right now, we have very little practicability,” Kluge said, “and things can change at a whim and we don’t know what tomorrow brings because management could change the rules tomorrow.” 

Scheduling is one of the biggest issues to be negotiated when talks resume May 21. 

“For us, the biggest issue is definitely the scheduling,” Kluge said, “just because it is something you need when you want to spend more time with your family so that you can plan things, and it is that we find missing.”

That’s what the collective bargaining does — it highlights the issues to hammer out and what both sides will abide by, and that includes management paying attention to airline needs.

“It seems like sometimes they don’t care,” Kluge said, “so I don’t think they forgot we exist, but we want to be part of the success of this airline, and we all came there to the airline when we could have gone to any other airline. We need protections and the rules, and that’s why we came here.” 

Kluge says when Breeze began operating in Norfolk in 2021, the company made promises to the pilots.

“Particularly here in Norfolk, we were told day trips,” Kluge said, “and that means, hypothetically, [being] home every night. Instead, what turned out happening [is] they are gone six days in a row with 12 days off.” 

That means less time at home.

“It’s challenging,” Kluge said. “You want to spend time with your family, and now some are gone for a week at a time. Sometimes guys have been gone three weeks at a time.” 

How will success at collective bargaining, or a lack of it, help or hurt the traveling public?

“It won’t be impacted as of now,” Kluge said, “so we are still in negotiations with the company, and we are here today to raise awareness and to put pressure on management to change some of our work rules.” 

The pilots also suggested management needs to get out of headquarters in Utah and see the rest of the country.” 

“We feel they make these decision in glass palaces in Cottonwood Heights Utah, and they forget we are human beings,” Kluge said.  

Cottonwood Heights is where the airline’s corporate headquarters is.

Kluge thinks Breeze Airways is at a critical crossroads.

“You can run an airline in different ways, a revolving door where people come, and they don’t leave,” Kluge said, “or you can build something that is special, where they want to stay and build their seniority. They want to build an amazing culture, and they pass that along to their customers, so that’s the reason you need collective bargaining in a contract.”