Horizon Air (QX, Seattle Tacoma International) will cut back its flight schedule this summer as it faces a pilot shortage for its Dash 8-400 aircraft, of which it has fifty-two. The Alaska Airlines regional subsidiary is cancelling scheduled flights in August, following the forced cancellation of more than 318 flights in March, reports The Seattle Times.

The following routes will be affected by frequency cuts:

The Times further reports that pilots have been offered lucrative bonuses to take on extra flights, a move that has seen unexpected opposition from the pilots' union, Teamsters Local 1224. Horizon Air management is offering overtime at 200% of pay, instead of the 150% which was agreed during contract negotiations in April. Those negotiations came following a warning from the union that a shortage was imminent unless pay conditions were improved.

However, the union's Director of Representation, Greg Unterseher, says the 'bribe' is a move by the airline to change the terms of the contract without proper negotiation.

"It's not going to solve the issue," Unterseher told the Seattle Times. "They messed up on their staffing. They still don't have the people to fly the airplanes."

Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines' Senior Vice President of External Relations, said that the airline has a recruitment and training strategy in place, and the cancellations are expected to be temporary.