Comments

1. Hope those FAs were happy to work at UA. They should be, and hopefully will be, fired immediately. Forget any union help, I’m sure UA can find a couple of valid reasons to fire them. BTW, do they understand their action actually undermined their ability to get a better contract? This was a marketing event to drum up business and that ultimately helps them through contract terms (or at least profit sharing). So stupid!

2. Thank you, Gary. It’s nuanced, for sure, and I appreciate your describing the context above. Major takeaway: “It is of course correct that United’s flight attendants should get raises.” Well said.

3. @AC — Those that ‘spoke out’ here will likely not be ‘fired’ at all (and not ‘immediately’ either). Your suggestion that the airline ‘indirectly’ retaliate against them is also wrong.

   Yet again, this is one of many reasons why unions are indeed important and beneficial for workers and the society at-large. Unions enable higher wages, better benefits, increased job stability, safer workplaces, and more. I’ll keep reminding you and the others.

4. One would think we would know about a recession by now. I think one picture is clear United and Delta can and will demand premium profits. United obviously has the leg up with that given it’s hubs and premium international routes.

   While you paint a imagine of a recession it’s clear United and Delta will be fine. I’m looking at loads for United on international and you know what I’m seeing? Full, full, full
   Next Spring and summer will be no different. The only question seems to be about American…

5. These corporations all suck! They cry that they don’t have money to pay their front line workers more money but their execs make millions! Why don’t they take a pay cut so the people who actually make the business run can make a decent wage??
   The company I work for is the same way. Execs make 4x what we make and they cry about “the budget” whenever we ask for money.

6. Wow this is still going on? Good article . I assumed United had the highest paid flight attendants. The CEO is well compensated. 34million

7. There is a right way for union employees to protest. If they were not invited and crashed into this event they could be considered trespassers. Walking a line outside with signs supporting the improvements while pointing out how the new contract will only add to the best experience, might have been a better approach. Yes they need a raise but do the right thing to get it

8. Hilarious. Would love to see a video of that and Scooter running for cover. By the way what pronoun does Scooter use? He likes dresses sometimes.

9. Let’s see what happens at the meetings the DOT has called to discuss delays at EWR but if they really push forward w/ cutting EWR schedules by up to one half even for six months, UA has the potential to wipe between $1 billion and $2 billion in revenue off their books.

   The only reason why higher labor costs haven’t bit harder including for AA is because fuel is down 20% over the past year, saving the big 3 a couple billion dollars per year. If fuel starts going back up after large increases in labor costs, a number of airlines will be cooked.

   UA FAs will become increasingly restless as will UA mechanics that have already rejected a concessionary contract proposal that they nearly unanimously voted down.

   UA’s labor costs are going to go up or they will face more and more labor unrest.

10. Is behaving like this a terminating offense? It should be. Unions create harmful tribal loyalties within a business, but this takes sabotage to another level. No business should have to put up with this disloyal behavior from their employees.

11. Having flown Polaris a few times in the last years, these enhancements are amazing. But, the service on the plane needs to improve drastically and I’m not only talking about the meals. These FA’s want a contract, well maybe be better at your job. Don’t throw the trays of food down and stomp off like you’re being inconvenienced by the very people who pay your wages (hint, it’s not United). I don’t expect to be waited on hand and foot but I expect to be treated like I paid a premium to be there.

    Word from the back of the plane is, service isn’t much better. I get better service on short UA express flights than I’ve received in their premium product. Any new contract must include the ability to deal with FA’s who work the bare minimum, who piss and moan, and treat the lifeblood of the airline (the customer) with no respect.

12. The FAs are right. The senior FAs have seen it before. It’s Polaris 3.0 with higher workload. Let the decline begin. At least it’s not the Delta a-la-carte business class plan which is bizarre. Having a few conspicuous “throne suites” in each business class cabin put FAs in the stressful and awkward position of explaining why 2A doesn’t get the high-end moisturizer that 1A gets. Remember when Continental Business First with multi-course dining became Polaris with lesser dining which became Polaris with single tray dining? Counting the days until Saks bedding will only be provided to the 1A’s. There must be a better way to differentiate a product with consistent quality. Will senior execs or high-spend leisure travelers opt for this new product or for the near-private jet La Premiere experience of Air France? And will United assign non-revs to unsold suites? I guess we’ll see.

13. That’s right serve them ignorant inbred MAGA supporters get your contract! Let them know it’s time

14. @Chopsticks — Clearly, there is an impasse in the current contract negotiations. Obviously, a more constructive approach is good-faith negotiation between management and union leaders. And if that fails, a strike may be likely or even necessary.

    However, what you suggested above, sabotage and/or disloyalty, can be serious accusations (actual crimes in some cases). Yet, merely ‘speaking out,’ as these members did in-protest, certainly does not rise to that level (of a literal crime). So, thankfully, I doubt anyone is getting fired here.

15. @Justsaying — I hope you’re being satirical. People of all backgrounds fly Polaris, not just just supporters of #45/47 (and not just the ‘super wealthy’ either). Likewise, people of all backgrounds work for these airlines, too.

    Personally, I tend to be on the side of consumers and workers, because usually individually and as groups, those tend to have less power than the super-wealthy, big corporations, and management, who tend to have most of the power. Sometimes, there are great leaders who balance this well. Other times, it’s like dealing with a ruthless authoritarian.

    I’ll say this, the oligarchs seem to fear unions, and spend a lot of money villainizing them. Some of y’all above have clearly copied and parroted their propaganda. Oof.

16. @AC why should they be fired? They negotiate their contract and United has NOT bargained in good faith. They have every right to expect and want better for themselves to cost. A living in this country has skyrocketed and these flight attendants have been not without a contract for five years, which means probably no pay raise for at least 10 years. United wants to do an agreement with JetBlue. They better come up with agreement for the unit Flight Attendant or nothing is gonna happen.. just because you’re a miserable human being. Doesn’t mean you have the right to deny Flight Attendant the right to a better quality of life.

17. But what does the man being gifted a “free” $400M jet think of the no-raise situation? Can’t the flight attendants just buy fewer things? Fewer dolls and pencils?

18. @1990. Did 46 or whoever had control of the auto pen fear the railroad workers in 2022?

    @Andy. Has 45 & 47 ordered the F/A’s back to work? Was it a Demo or Repub that ordered the pilots at AA back to work?

19. It is possible to have a correct message that is delivered in a bad way.

20. They deserve a contract, period. I don’t care what the excuse is. We must respect organized labor in this country, and the company must negotiate in good faith..

21. They trespassed and disturbed a company event. Fire them. Simple as that.

22. Termination with cause. No employer of mine would have ever tolerated such an embarrassing, counterproductive display of childish insubordination.

23. Weird comme ts, here.

    Are the union bosses not doing their job?

    I think it’s rather silly for airline crew to both pay union dues to bosses who supposedly negotiate for them, and also take time away from work and pleasure to do their own “shut it down” negotiating.

    But what do I know? Im just a leisure passenger who hasn’t gotten a COLA in 20 years and am subjected to higher fares and fees and smaller seats and surly service……

24. WE DO NOT HAVE APPROPRIATE STAFFING FOR THESE ENHANCEMENTS, flight attendants here, yes we value passengers basically making the company money to support us; what you fail to understand is a lot of YOUR money is going to the CEO and higher ups while we ask for ONE more flight attendant per flight so we are able to provide a luxury service. Soooooo many Polaris seats with only 3-4 flight attendants, which are dealing with pilot breaks, meals, one is in charge of the food, we are overworked (not paid for delays) rolled into our days off yet we need to be happy! ?

25. Caviar on UA, mmmmm.

26. What happened to freedom of speech? Obviously the FA are frustrated. They are displaying a product that only the rich will be able to afford, Not a UA employee. I hope United can see how disrespected that seems to their employees who haven’t got a raise in 5 yrs. Good luck to both sides to come to a fair contract.

27. the caviar is for advertising purposes only.

    If you believe that FAs will succeed at delivering one product at row 1 and another product for the 7 rows behind, you are in for a rude awakening.

28. @ Tim — It’s pretty easy. Why are you insulting FAs?

29. The US needs to help United with these radical flights attendants

30. “These corporations all suck! They cry that they don’t have money to pay their front line workers more money but their execs make millions! Why don’t they take a pay cut so the people who actually make the business run can make a decent wage??” OK,the CEO of AA had just under $16 million in 2024 compensation. There are a bit more than 130,000 AA employees. Transfer from one to the other and it gets the employees a free latte every two weeks (or $10 a month). Kinda hard to buy into a point where the math proves it silly.

31. Sorry did AA. Same thing for UA is $27/month.

32. I would suggest the FAs get more out of a $27/month amount above to a quality CEO over the $50/month (?) they pay the union. Sorry to use multiple replies.

33. @Roger

    Radical?!?
    hahahahaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!

    And yet you continue to bend the knee to your very radical F-47

34. @1990… Does “…increased job stability…” translate to it’s almost impossible to fire someone regardless as to their performance?

35. @Thing 1 — I, too, wish the airline would negotiate in good-faith, so that this wouldn’t happen.

    @patrick — Oh, a strawman. Good one! Of course, union members can still be ‘fired,’ just not on a whim. Often, the contract (CBA) would stipulate ‘just cause’ to terminate a union employee, meaning a legitimate reason like misconduct, poor performance, or violating company policy. However, ‘speaking out’ here is not that (this wasn’t ‘on-shift’ or ‘on-the-clock,’ etc.); it appears to be advocacy.

    @Coffee Please — Nice whataboutism. Quick! Look over there! Railroads! And you managed to disparage the former President, too. Talk about ‘good faith’… Yeesh.

    I do also care about rail safety, infrastructure needs, and the well-being of rail workers. Paid sick leave is still important for rail workers and all industries. I think #46 did a good job intervening to avert that strike because the consequences would have been severe, especially for supply chain recovery in 2022 (following the pandemic and that horrible derailment in Ohio). Recall that these companies and unions did reach deals. So, I don’t think this is the ‘own’ that you may think it is.

    @CHRIS @Mantis — Nah. Not how that works. Nice try, though.

36. All the people on this thread who posted their comments while at work should be fired for wage theft.

37. @InLA — Bah! I needed a good laugh today.

    You do realize that ‘wage theft’ is often ‘when an employer fails to pay an employee the full wages they are legally entitled to for work performed’ and not about employee performance, right?

    So, once again, it’s not the ‘own’ that you may think it is.

38. @Chopsticks and others

    While several here like to decry the flight attendants for drawing attention to their plight, calling for their firing, there seems to be a tone deaf attitude from these same posters to the underlying issues here which is that Exec compensation has gone up by hundreds of percent over last several years – with Kirby getting an eye watering near 250% raise over the last four years.

    While the executive suites of many US corporations like United (or Boeing) authorize massive bonus payouts and pay hikes to themselves, they think that it’s totally ok for the front line teams to take concessions and have what amounts to a significant pay and overall compensation / work terms cut – when inflation and cost of living over last 5 years has gone up massively.

    From the US Senate to Kirby in December 2024:
    Flight Attendants worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic amid not only a public health crisis, but also a surge in conflict and aggression on planes. Flight Attendants risked their own health and safety day after day and do the difficult, essential work that allowed United Airlines to thrive.

    While United Flight Attendants have been working for nearly four years without a raise or any improvements to their contract, the airline has yielded billions in profits. As CEO, you have experienced a increase in your compensation during this time. In October, United Airlines announced a $1.5 billion stock buyback plan, even as Flight Attendants struggled to meet their basic needs and keep up with the cost of living.

39. Gene,
    it has nothing to do with the FAs.
    It has to do with an artificially different product for one row and stocking that.

    I can guarantee you that the first row product will be degraded in time to what AA is doing – bigger same, same product.

40. AFA is unorganized. It leads to things like this. AFA would have been better off organizing a picket outside of the event. They would’ve had supporters from other unions protesting in their favor along with a bigger crowd of their own. I see too often FAs picking up “white flag” trips outside their own base/hub. White flag pays extra to work the trip. Doing that doesn’t help their negotiating stance as it success United’s problem of staffing correctly for the current scenario. If they want to get a contract they’ve got to make management feel the pain. That means no picking up trips. Flying what they’ve bid and letting the staffing problems happen. It’s not good for customers but it makes the company realize they’re serious about negotiating a good contract. Until then the company will string then along making kits of money. The problems at EWR won’t help the FAs as the company now has extra FAs from the cancelled flights to work elsewhere in the system. They need to organize and act as one more while things are still in their favor. Takes leadership and not seeing any from their union. Good luck.

41. United FA here… while I can agree that not all flight attendants provide great service (something I am embarrassed to witness at work and strive to remedy when possible), the fact is that the starting wage for a United flight attendant is $2400 a month. After taxes and health insurance, it is not enough to live in most places in America, never mind the largest, most expensive cities where UA bases are located. We don’t get paid for our 6.5 weeks of training. We only get paid “door to door,” the time period after which the aircraft door is closed and until it opens. Those of us on reserve (on call essentially) must be available for 24 hours and only get paid for five unless we get a trip with more hours. (Most airlines have 12 hour reserve.) If we’re on reserve, which a large number of us are, we are not pay protected, so that if a trip falls apart, we are paid only for one hour of flying time. (More senior FAs get paid for the entire failed trip.) Some of these are UA’s failings, some of these are union failings in a union that seems to overwhelmingly protect its most senior FAs at the expense of juniors. But let’s be clear: United has demonstrated it’s willingness to spend its money on absolutely ANYTHING but FA wage increases: new training centers, medical clinics, stock buybacks, new uniforms, obscene CEO bonuses, and yes, fancier premium products and caviar to boot. If we show up to protest at an event such as this, it is to draw attention to a tone-deaf company that sends weekly emails thanking us for our hard work, tells us we are the face of the company and then fails to compensate us accordingly. I love my job. I especially love serving my customers. And I love so much about United. But they have to fix this, and blaming flight attendants for drawing attention to the issue at a company event (the company, I remind you, that we also work for) is misplaced hostility.

42. @Scott553 — Oh, come now, they’re plenty ‘organized’… they’re ‘organized labor’! *slaps knee*

    I presume you mean well here, though your ‘good luck’ comment did seem a bit cynical. The AFA-CWA (and the AFL-CIO) are very well-organized. As with any organization, there is always room for improvement. Good leadership and the strategies they implement definitely matter here. Also, the active engagement of the members is vital. So, if your/their goal is for management to ‘feel the pain,’ then I’d say this little ‘episode’ is certainly part of that; otherwise, they’re basically being ignored at the moment. Generally, you seem to be advocating for an ‘strike,’ and that could still happen, but there are a lot of steps before then. It’s not like they just start picketing on a whim. (@Coffee Please, ironically, the Railway Labor Act, ‘RLA’, does govern some of this.) As a frequent flyer, I hope management finally ‘does the right thing’ and agrees to a better contract soon.

43. @Robin Schofield – Freedom of Speech – Really?! Do you not understand the first thing about the Constitution (obviously not). Freedom of speech on applies to government restrictions. Private businesses are not bound. Also many people can speak but that doesn’t mean they are exempt from recourse (firing, loss of sales, etc)

    As for the person that said they shouldn’t be fired because they are frustrated and should speak out. As others posted if they set up an informational picket outside on public property that is fine. Instead they trespassed at a private company event and disrupted activities. That is why they should be fired.

    Amazes me how many union Jackie’s have absolutely no clue about the law or similar such matters.

    BTW I say if the sky waitresses don’t like their job then find another one – simple solution

44. @Retired Gambler — Yuck. At least you ‘show your cards’ by calling them ‘sky waitresses.’ Keep ignoring the critical safety responsibilities that these trained and talented crew perform every flight. And you oversimplified the Constitution because private businesses are bound in many situations, perhaps here, maybe only in-part, all of which is often for a court to decide, not us. I doubt these folks will face any punishment, as much as you may wish that for them. I hope they get a better deal soon!

45. This is a complicated issue. Employees are told to “own” the product/service/good being produced. Well, the eventual result of no raises during a period with a total inflation of 20%+ is going to be low numbers of poorly trained employees dealing with financial stress. This will make the product suffer; this will increase the safety risk. [An issue clearly at play for both Boeing and the FAA as other examples in Aviation].

    So an employee who truly engaged at their company should be using ever escalating tactics to try to resolve this obvious issue. The concept that these workers are just “Flight Attendants” is nonsense. A workers strike, such as the one Boeing experienced, would be very reasonable faced with a 20%+ loss of real wages. Since this is not likely to be permitted, I see a mass disengagement and loss of morale as the consquence. What are the employees responsibilities before doing that? This seems a very reasonable warning step to me. I suspect work retention and performance is already suffering. This usually happens in slow enough increments though that upper management rarely has enough runway left to course correct when the data becomes obvious. Ala Boeing, its manufacturing performance in 2023-2024 and massive multi-billion dollar erasing strike.

46. These FA’s will easily be fired, as they entered private property to protest, they did not do so from a publicy accessible area.

    They earned their situation with their irrational behavior.

    United has been offering the flight attendants contractrs for almost 5 years, all denied. The FA’s won’t meet anywhere close to the middle.

    If they don’t like their jobs, leave. Oh, you say then you lose seniority, premium routes, etc? Those sound like benefits of your current employment you lose if you swtich jobs.

    Do they deserve a raise, a cost of living adjustment? You bet. Do they have to work with UA to get to a contract both sides agree on? You bet, and that’s what they won’t do.

    Employers, not employees, set wages. If you don’t like the pay, benefits, don’t take the job, or don’t stay. Period.

47. Retired gambler is 100% correct, whether you hate the term “sky waitresses: or not.

    Private property, damaging the business they are employed by.

    And anyone saying “Freedom of Speech”! Really? Feedom of speed doesn’t exist in the private world. Sure, you are free to say what you want, but there is no freedom from consequences. Do people who think Freedom of Speech here think UA FA’s could wear “Fly United” or “United Sucks” shirts and stay employed? A Pepsi employeed wear a shirt that says “Buy Pepsi” or “Pepsi tastes better”?

    Freedom of spech is from the “government”, period.

48. Was there a No Tresspassing sign? Was there a doorman checking invitations? Was there a sign saying INVITATIONS ONLY?

    Those are the questions that come too my mind..

49. United may fire 12 but WHAT are they going to do about the 27,988 other United flight attendants??

    I say settle the contract ! I for one do not look forward to being a front seat witness to this SHOW.

50. While United likes to tout itself as the “largest best” airline in America (which isn’t saying much, compared to other truly world class carriers) it does so while relying on esoteric technology and a workforce stretched to its human limits at compensation rates that have stagnated and not kept up with inflation. United can put golden commodes in the lavatories — if no one takes care of them, who will want them?