That wouldn't surprise me assuming it's true. The leverage timer started for the Alaska pilots when they entered mediation. In a sense, they just accelerated the timer with the results of their strike authorization vote.

Alaska management knows that it becomes realistic that the NMB may release the Alaska pilots into a strike about two-ish years from now ("The time during which disputes between employees and commuter rail companies are in mediation must be compared with all other carrier disputes mediated before the Board. In this case, the Board has offered evidence that the time in mediation falls within the range of average times in other mediation cases." [888 F.2d 1428]) Two years from now a NMB appointed by a Democratic administration (more friendly to labor) will still be seated. If Alaska management allows their mediated negotiations to continue without resolution, they are aware that the leverage of the pilots grows while their own leverage shrinks. Ultimately, they run the risk that the pilots are allowed to strike a couple of years from now, which could become an existential crisis for the company. In the midst of a historic pilot shortage, where will the replacement pilots come from? If I were Alaska management, I'd be keen to end these negotiations sooner rather than later while I still had some leverage.