Southwest Airlines flight attendants got one thing that really surprised me in the new contract they’re voting on: a whole lot of retro pay. It’s taken years to get a new contract. Part of that was the pandemic. Partially, too, they rejected the last contract that their union negotiated.
On average, cabin crew at Southwest will receive nearly $20,000 when the contract is ratified, representing pro-rated raises they would have gotten had the deal gone into effect in 2019.
Of course senior cabin crew will get the most, and new team members the least. But what’s striking here is just how much money will be paid out on ratification – “at least $364 million.”
Pilots are regularly able to secure retro pay as a signing bonus on new contracts. They have a lot more leverage than flight attendants do. It’s far more difficult to replace a pilot (given the time and cost associated with training) and pilots can far more easily inflict damage on their operation.
One of the key sticking points in the American Airlines flight attendant union negotiations, in addition to just how big of a raise they’ll get, is retro pay. The Transportation Workers Union local 556, representing flight attendants at Southwest Airlines, just gave American Airlines cabin crew a boost.
What I’ve written throughout about the American Airlines flight attendant contract is that,
- The union hasn’t been in a position to get a better deal than what was offered, because the offer on the table had already matched the top of the industry (Delta)
- So their only path to a better contract was to wait for someone else to negotiate better terms first.
It would have been a strategic mistake for the union to strike, as their leadership proposed and asked the government’s permission for. They would have been striking too early! If they get a better deal it’s precisely because things took so long.
It would be most helpful to see all of the terms of the proposed contract but giving retro to any group of non-pilot personnel is a significant change for a US airline.
It does get down to what airlines can afford and what they are willing to pay for labor peace.
WN has had a rough couple years and doesn’t appear near the end of the crisis yet, in part because of the MAX 7 delays and the inability to grow.
The bar for AA and UA FAs seems to have been raised. DL will have to figure out if it is going to add some sort of bonus for its employees even though they did not wait near as long for raises.
@ Tim Dunn … you are over-thinking .
Easy solution : CEO ought to ask the FAs one question : “Would you like to receive a check for $20,000. ?
If they say “Yes” , then give it to them .
Simple .
Tim Dunn, retro pay further down the food chain is nothing unusual. I got it at least three times in my ops days. It’s in WN’s best interest anyway. Good employees are being harder to find and training new people if current employees jump ship is expensive.
The single largest problem with the Railway Labor Act, in my opinion, is that new pay rates do not automatically start when a new contract is negotiated. If a NEGOTIATED contract expires after its term, then why are employers allowed to take YEARS to negotiate a new one? Retro pay should be mandatory, and contracts would be decided much faster. If AA, or any carrier, agrees to a four- year contract, then it should not in actuality be a 10 year term with its pay. AA flight attendants will not ratify a contract with at least some (significant) retro pay, and now AA understands that better. I am happy for WN FAs.
Yes my family and I went on Southwest Airlines last week and the flight Attendant were very helpful and caring for us as my husband is a veteran and what a ❤️ of luv they gave us.
Yes the flight Attendant needs a raise
@ An Actual AA Flight Attendant
Why do unions drag out the negotiating process? WN has already voted against a contract their own union negotiated. Why do unions drag out the process while waiting for others to negotiate their contract. The union should be obtaining the best deal they can with their company and quit worrying about everybody else. Why do unions ask for stuff they are never going to get? The union asking for more than FAs got on another airline that is more successful and measures better in every metric is ridiculous. I’ll agree with you on the backpay though. But half of it should come from the company and the other half from Union coffers.
alert,
except that’s not how union contracts work.
They have a value that the company is willing to pay and the union and company negotiate how that money is to be divided up.
gregg,
retro pay as part of a union contract settlement agreement? No, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility but it hasn’t happened in THIS cycle of labor negotiations or pay raises (for DL and other non-union employees).
and let’s also remember that AA has repeatedly offered DL pay to its FAs since DL is the only one of the big 4 that has increased FA pay post covid. DL offered retro to its pilots but to no large non-union groups.
AA’s union might have been right that someone would push the bar higher and WN and its FA union might have just done that – but we don’t know all of the terms of the contract so it is hard to know.
Either way, WN has a pristine balance sheet and can afford a cash payout now but that is less true for AA or UA.
@H2oman
They voted down the last contract because it wasn’t in the best interest of the flight attendants. It was a big time concesionary contract, when the company was making record profits, and had lots of grey area. This contract has smaller raises, less concessions, and no more grey area. There were also several quality of life improvements the flight attendants were asking for.
The company wasn’t initially negotiating in good faith, and told the negotiating team on the last tentative agreement that the things they were asking for wouldn’t be given to any work group within the company. Then 1 month later the pilots got their contact and got everything the company said they wouldn’t be able to do.
It’s common practice in union negotiations to use contracts from peers, to keep your benefit competitive with other companies. In the end, staying competitive with pay and benefits only helps with recruitment and retention.
Backpay is fun, but everyone would much rather have their contracts settled on time. The company is the only one that truly benefits from being years out of contract.
@Tim Dunn…question about a rumor floating around AA, UA and WN…we’ve heard that DL F/As getting another raise in April bringing the top of pay scale to $83 per flight hour. Any truth to this rumor that you know of? Pay looks great on this new TA WN just put out bringing top of pay scale to approx $89 per hour, but I haven’t had the time to look at all the other terms of this contract. Overall, I hear it’s pretty good.
FYI, it’s not full retro. And the company wouldn’t budge on the 4% annual raises. I’m voting a big fat NO
And the company has billions of dollars in savings. So the fact that they will be hurting for money is an utter lie. Just look at the spring break travel. Not a single plane isn’t full. The company has the money, they just are greedy money pinchers.
@H2oman: You have it exactly backward. It is AA that drags out negotiations, by not offering a decent package, gambling that they won’t have to pay any retro pay. I’ve been through many contract negotiations with AA, and it’s always the same. The APFA presented its compensation package in March of last year. AA didn’t even bother to respond for SIX MONTHS. They’re the ones dragging it out.
Helpful comments
Payroll will then withhold 50% because they are lazy and/or don’t have a basic understanding of the tax code.
lump sum payments are withheld at high rates because withholding is based on a consistent stream of similar income.
It is very possible for someone to adjust their own withholding on their regular pay after the lump sum to reduce the size of the refund check you receive when the end of year tax return is filed.
AA does not care about flight attendants our union been contract negation more 5yrs Robert isom CEO AA Cindi simone AA labor attorney are just dragging negations for ever the they are corrupted not negotiating good faith
Well I’m a 43 yr SWA Flight Attendant and the RETRO Ck is being called a BONUS and that bonus gives SWA tax advantages while imposing a high tax rate for the recipient.
@Charla Chilcott – that is not accurate. Your actual tax liability is based on your total adjusted gross income for the year. The amount of tax WITHHOLDING may be higher than normal on a bonus. But the total taxes you owe will not be higher because of the classification of the payment. If they withhold more than you’d owe you can get that back on your tax return! But bear in mind that when you get a big incremental boost to your income, you may be paying taxes at a higher marginal tax rate (you may be in a higher tax bracket).
I’m really tired of sites like this getting involved in labor issues. You know nothing of the industry except for sitting on an airplane. So sit down and shut up.
And to say you’re surprised au how much it is… do the math in what 3-5% each of those pervious years without a deal would have yielded. I’m sure they deserve more, especially given inflation.
This denegration of the crew is part of a larger issue. People complaining car prices for them will go up because labor negotiated higher wages. Or your burger at McDonald’s will go up because workers want a higher min wage. You’re mad at your fellow citizens for trying to make enough to get by while CEOs and other management takes more. How much did GM or Ford’s contract cost? Maybe 1b. Well they made 33b. So is it so bad they only take 32b now? Cmon!
You people are focused on the wrong things AND you minimize the jobs of others. You think your job about writing a column about flying merits the hundreds of thousands you likely make from it? That’s lazy and the epitome of BS!
Well, regardless whether it’s called retro/bonus, the company is still selling us short the $.
Before you just look at an hourly rate at Delta and think they are ahead of the pack, no. . You need to fully understand how our duty rigs work. We are per diem only paid for a day on the ground ( hotel stay) with no flight.
Other airlines are paid a day rig. ENORMOUS difference. This makes a trip worth less “ pay” when sitting in a hotel. In other words trips are worth less hourly pay.
We need to fly more days to get the hours in. This is quality of life and money… Also look at quality of life changes not just pay that directly influence crew members .
It’s not about just what the hourly wage is.
So much more to get into here in how we are paid as crew but this is enough to give a brief overview.
Top scale swa airlines crew member ( a neighbor) topped out in pay scale with get 43,000 signing bonus. Back pay while negations continued for some time.