After Thursday’s tense showdown between American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and the head of the airline’s flight attendant’s union, it may seem like the parties are farther apart than ever.
Pres Hedrick to AA CEO Isom: “@AmericanAir Flight Attendants are ready to #strike. If you want to push it any further, push it. We are ready.” #1u #corporategreed pic.twitter.com/njHYNTSJNP
— Association of Professional Flight Attendants (@APFAunity) April 25, 2024
The union is asking the federal National Mediation Board for the right to strike. Negotiations have dragged on for years, and the labor head dropped her mic and headed off after reading Robert Isom the riot act in an employee meeting following the airline’s first quarter earnings call.
However read between the lines and it looks like a labor agreement is closer than ever, and a strike is unlikely. American is increasing its offer to the flight attendants. The union’s leadership has more room to maneuver, and has changed the rhetoric around what it is asking for – to get closer to what the airline could offer. While the parties could still mess this up, a deal is finally within reach.
And we haven’t been there before! American wants to pay at the top end of what other airlines pay. They’re not as profitable as their largest competitors, either. Yet American Airlines flight attendants had been demanding up to 50% raises and their union’s leadership couldn’t walk back the rhetoric. They wrote to members, “One area we are holding firm on is wages.” That’s why talk has been about a strike.
I’ve been writing for 18 months that:
- In order to come to a deal, union officers first had to get re-elected. If they agreed to move off of their demands before the officer election, they wouldn’t get re-elected since they’d appear weak. Re-election has happened.
- To get a better deal from the company, they needed to wait for another flight attendant work group to negotiate something better. Southwest Airlines got a better deal. Non-union Delta gave their flight attendants (and other non-union employees) a raise.
Flight Attendant Union Leaders Confront CEO Robert Isom At Employee Meeting, October 2023
This allows both parties to move. American is clear that they’ll match Delta pay rates. They’re offering the first flight attendant union contract ever that will include boarding pay (matching non-union Delta). Sara Nelson’s AFA-CWA has agreed to forego boarding pay even after Delta introduced it two years ago.
And it does seem that the parties are moving.
- American says it’s increasing its economic offer, in light of Delta’s increase in wages. They said that during the airline’s earnings call and again in the employee meeting that followed.
They don’t want to bargain against Southwest’s contract. What that mostly means is they don’t want to make bonus payouts for ‘retro pay’ (all of the wage increases flight attendants would have gotten, back to 2019, for the time they’ve been without a new contract).
- The union says they want to bargain against the Southwest contract but that means they’re now looking at competitor contracts as a benchmark and have come off of pie in the sky asks like 50% raises (later reduced to 40% increases). They haven’t told their members they’ve reduced their demands, but their rhetoric has changed about what those demands are.
One of my favorite (apocryphal) Winston Churchill stories involves Churchill asking a British socialite if she’d sleep with him for a million pounds sterling? She agrees. Then he asks if she’d consider it for 50 pence? She’s appalled: “What kind of woman do you think I am?” Churchill replies, “We’ve already established that madam, now we’re just haggling over price.”
It seems we’ve finally reached a point where the parties are within a zone of possible agreement – and they’re haggling over price. Will it be Delta wages, or Delta wages plus 1%? American probably has to do some retro pay – not Southwest full retro pay and not zero.
The Straussian read of the conflict between American Airlines CEO Robert Isom and Flight attendants union head Julie Hedrick is that the two are closer to rapprochement than they’ve ever been. The fireworks were for the members.
A strike is getting tougher to do now, with American increasing its offer (suggests there’s no deadlock in negotiations) and with the election getting closer (since the President’s appointees are the majority of the mediation board, and a strike would be unpopular with voters). If the economy worsens, getting the current offer on the table becomes harder. Flight attendants can’t afford to go without pay from a strike, which is why the union has been talking about at most doing more limited job actions if released by the government anyway.
Even under current offer terms American’s flight attendants will see meaningful wage gains of about 25%, which is huge for the first and second years that are today eligible for food stamps. And the company will avoid a strike, while retaining flight attendant wage costs similar to those of their largest competitors.
Delta flight attendants will still be better off, though, because while American cabin crew will get a contract that offers the same profit sharing formula, American doesn’t earn as much profit – and has more employees to share the profit pool across.
AA is desperate . FAs ought not back down one inch .
Why do these things drag on for 5 years? The company should pay “retro” wage increases from the date the last contract expired as this could continue to go on for another 5 years.
Gary, you are grossly underestimating the will power of AA FA’s right now. For 5 years, Southwest has been a comparative contract in our negotiations. Even AA has upheld that until now. Suddenly, SWA has earned a ~$91 raise and AA (and you apparently) no longer wants to view them as comparable. Meanwhile, Isom touts his OWN $31m salary as justified by SWA.
Even if our union sends us a compromise TA, we will strike for $91 top out and SWA style retro pay. That is simply a COLA and a minor raise at this point.
@Gary I believe the quotation you attribute to Winston Churchill is more properly attributed to Oscar Wilde.
You get it, Gary.
However, AA won’t offer retro but the union will haggle for something to make up for the lost pay.
AA can’t afford a $500 million one-time payment.
And remember that UA has not settled with its FAs and has undoubtedly kept them at peace by promising to pay the best of whatever the big 4 cough up which means UA could end up paying retro AND the highest of what AA and DL offer.
What’s surprising? Deals are often done when there seems to be the most visible public outcry. What happens in public and what occurs in private are often quite different. After all, everyone has to put on their dog and pony shows for the media.
It’s Union Free not Non Union
It only makes sense since 94% of the private sector workforce is Union Free.
Delta FAs made a free choice to be Union Free.
Well if they do get boarding pay then they better 100% of the time do PDB’s. I’ll be writing in everytime they don’t sense they will now be getting paid to do so.
I can’t wait for AA to, yet again, file chapter 11 and unilaterally cut the wages across the board (bankruptcy courts have broad discretion to amend or void contracts for the benefit of creditors). Maybe we will actually have a pro business administration then instead of one that bows down to unions. While I agree dragging the FA contract out for years hurts the members (BTW most of the blame for that is on your union leadership). However, I can see pilots and machinists having leverage due to special skills and more limited workforce. If AA (or any other airline) fired all the sky waitresses today there would be a ready supply of replacements. If you want higher wages take an in demand job with specific skills instead of one that is so easily replaced.
Love how when it comes to ceo comps swa is included for isom but aa is trying to say that they shouldn’t include swa in negotiations with their flight attendants ha joke
Maybe AA knowing that bankruptcy is on the horizon is willing to give apfa their victory knowing that when they file, they’ll blow up the contract anyway as a part of restructuring.
Either way, I hope AA and the flight attendants both lose.
I’m saying this as an EP who is onboard very frequently. They suck. The flight attendants won’t improve performance even if AA gave them every last thing they wanted. In fact, it will only embolden them.
I hope they both fail in that AA will downsize as part of bk and shed 50% of the now unnecessary flight attendants, bring back premium service as part of the path to profitability and charge a premium for it. I’d be still willing to pay but it damn well better be worth it.
Unless AA agrees to full retro and an inflation adjustment of over 22% plus boarding pay, a strike is eventually going to happen
Yeah if you think FAs are going to vote in a TA with no retro pay and a raise that barely matches Delta and inflation, you’re crazy. Delta will end up topping SWA which will still leave AA FAs being paid the least amount in the industry. A strike is coming if they don’t get serious.
Retired Gambler, Dare you to preach your crap, when your getting defibrillated or emergency evacuated off the A/C by your flt att.
@mrnonrever – that may happen once every few thousand flights. Also I am in very good shape with no major medical issues. Sure FAs go through a crash course on medical emergencies but most just sit in the galley as much as possible and avoid working g for their paying customers.
@rob – no strike EVER unless government allows it. Do a little research on the provisions that restrict airline strikes. Also the President or Congress could order you back to work even if you did eventually strike (has happened before) due to the national interest. I say hire replacements and get rid of the disgruntled bitter AA FAs. Would be a better world for travelers.
@NONREVER
I’ll take my chances. Thanks.
Here comes Retired Gambler and CHRIS again. We’ve already heard many times from you two. We get it. We know you are not happy with yourselves and your lives but you keep telling us that over and over again. I feel for you your families. Please seek help. Life is too short to be so hateful and angry.
@Flyer1 – I am VERY happy and content. I’ve retired from a senior corporate executive position and now basically travel the world (just got back from Singapore), play a lot of golf and gamble (mainly poker and sports betting). Have more money than my kids will ever spend.
My comment has nothing to do with me but with people that somehow think they are worth more than they are (jobs are worth what people pay and no one is entitled to a “living wage” – get a better job). Also I expect FAs to be proactive and efficient. Don’t need to be waited on and frankly don’t even care if they are friendly. I’m a 40 year customer of AA and retired lifetime elite w 3 million “butt in seat” miles. I have seen the quality of service go down. BTW flying back today on Delta (lifetime Platinum with them) and the difference in FAs is amazing. Very proactive even on short flights and quickly get out PDBs in first which I haven’t gotten on AA in a long time.
Raise your game or quit and let someone else take the position.
Retired Gambler, can you even pick out the reasons why I wrote that comment? I could care less if you have more money than Jeff Bezos. So, why do you care how much money I make? I could care less if you call me sky waitress, trash picker upper, loser, whatever. You would be VERY surprised if you actually knew who I was. When you try to push down on others, it speaks more about you than about me. As long as anyone goes out and earns an honest living, no one should EVER treat them crappy. That’s not how my parents raised me. Wishing bankruptcy on my airline, that is just pure meanness. If you have kids as you say, I hope they never learned that kind of hate from you. Have a nice day.
@Flyer
I’ll answer this one. Because you don’t earn what you make now let alone what you feel you deserve.
Most flight attendants (oh this absolutely includes you) add nothing to the flying experience and at this point really only serve to hamper an airlines reliability and profitability….which does affect me and presumably RG.
So yes, your airline should file for bk and then not rehire you or the 70% that are like you. Then they might have a chance at a reliable and premium operation.
AA can help themselves here by putting in bulletproof consequences for poor performance in your next contract and by having management actually hold you to some standards. They can start with Jasmine, (fa on one of my flights last week) then you.
Play ball or get out. If you don’t make enough money at AA, unless you are an idiot, you would have already gotten a job elsewhere where your pay matches your expectations. You can be “here for my safety” at Home Depot.
@ Retired Gambler in one comment, you first said FAs are not needed and then contradicted yourself saying they’re so important to the national interest that the president would order them to work. Clever.
Hire replacements? There are 25,000 FAs. FAA requires 6 week training. Not possible to replace without sinking the airline. Look up what happened to Lufthansa- down $375 million due to FA strike. So, yes, they’ll never allow that to happen, but it’s not as easy as replacing.
CHRIS, CHRIS, CHRIS, I’m so sorry you feel that way. Have I been an F/A or your flight? I don’t think I have because people get out of their seat and come to my galley to tell me how they are having such a nice flight. As far as another job, well I have degrees that could have climbed a corporate ladder. Why didn’t I? I traveled the World on someone else’s dime and had a great time doing it so I decided that was more important to me. My husband did the ladder and our household coffers are just fine. Headed across the Pacific two weeks from now. Maybe you’ll be on my flight. Who knows. Have a great night.
A couple observations…one, I got to know where so many of you get your crystal balls that you can express with such certainty what will and won’t happen between the FAs and the company. Second, I see so many people complaining about AA and the FAs. Why do you continue to fly them?…are you a masochist? Third, if ignorance is bliss then a great majority of commenters on here must be giddy with joy.
@chris you said “Most flight attendants (oh this absolutely includes you) add nothing to the flying experience and at this point really only serve to hamper an airlines reliability and profitability”. But, the government will not allow a strike without a lengthy process and the President will even interfere due to the economic impact to the country it would have if FAs went on strike. Does that not show you just how valuable FAs are to the flying experience? The President would force them to work?!! Logically, can you see hour error? Per the FAA, who could care less if you get pre-departure drinks or good service. The planes can not go without the minimum requirement of FAs (AA flights are only staffed to min crew requirements). Ever. They can’t take off. Does that tell you there are important reasons for FAs that you might not understand because you just see the silly stuff?
@Bella
They also can’t take off without a lav ashtray. Would you be willing to fly on an airplane without a lav ashtray? I would.
Government has all kinds of silly rules.
@Retired Gambler. World traveler, more money than kids will spend, corporate executive, yet……here you are sitting at a computer commenting on a travel blog about fas. lol Me thinks someone isn’t as big a deal as they think.
Where do you get your information? You are so often wildly off base when you bash flight attendants. APFA has not asked for 50% raise EVER, their opening offer was 33%, and gone down. The company’s “increased” offer? 15%, up from the original 11%. Most conservative estimates of inflation since FAs got a raise (pre COVID) is 22%ish, some higher, 15% is a pay cut. Robert Isom just gave himself a raise to get to $3.1 million dollar salary, the 2nd highest in the industry. Being without that raise (when the contract expired and FAs were contractually supposed to get a new one, 5 years ago), the company has stolen money out of their pockets. AA’s dragging out of this negotiation trying to get us to cave is a despicable example of corporate greed.
To Chris and Retired Gambler.. if you both earned as much as you claim you did, may I suggest you go fly corporate or buy your own jet! Your self absorption and entitlement is astounding.
To Chris and Retired Gambler.. if you both earned as much as you claim you did, may I suggest you go fly corporate or buy your own jet! Corporate executive greed at its finest!
@retired gambler. You are so funny . The basement life if real.
@Chris. Please tell us about the flying experience. Ahahahahah. Entertain us.
There is no strike threat. Stop saying that. That would require Biden to sign off on it and the chances of the president, ant president, doing that, especially in an election year, is the smallest number you can think of.
Sara Nelson thinks she’s some 19th Century radical labor leader, willing to shut down the steel mill, and does everything she can to allow the rank and file to think that’s what’s happening
The truth of the matter is that the union’s onlhy power is their CHAOS campaign where they dump the burden of their actions on gate agents and reservations staff, to say nothing of an infitessimal fraction of the traveling public.
Gary, you are so wrong. We will not settle for partial retro pay. Southwest’s new contract sets the bar -period. There’s no logic for any AA FA to settle for less than Southwest wages and 100% retro pay. AA models everything they do after Southwest. You can’t even get anything more than a biscoff or pretzels on a three hour flight on AA. As far as AA not being as profitable as the peers, that’s due to poor management decisions and it sure doesn’t stop them from paying the CEO like their peers rather than by his performance.