Tag Archives for union.
Food and beverage workers at American Airlines’ Phoenix Admirals Clubs walked out amid a contract fight with Compass Eurest, just as American promotes upgraded lounge dining. The airline says customer impact should be minimal – which says as much about the lounge offerings in Phoenix as the contribution of the employees of its contractor.
American Airlines has a regional jet with a table placed on a window seat, making it unusable on purpose. The reason is not comfort or safety, but pilot contract scope rules: blocking one seat keeps the Embraer 170 at 65 seats instead of 66, avoiding limits that apply to larger outsourced regional jets.
A few months ago, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom was under pressure from unions, operational failures, takeover chatter, and questions about whether he would survive. Now the pilots union is still unhappy, but the complaints have shifted to more ordinary contract-positioning issues: lost internal tools, layover hotels, and whether pilots should be reimbursed for Uber Black.
Delta’s pilot union has launched a passenger-advice site that points travelers to delay tips, DOT complaints, compensation rules, and Elliott Advocacy, but the real message is aimed at management. As Delta struggles to recover from disruptions, pilots are trying to frame cancellations as a management failure of staffing, scheduling, technology, and operational investment ahead of contract negotiations.
United’s largest IAM-represented work groups have rejected a proposed contract, including baggage, ramp, check-in, customer service, and load-planning workers. The vote is as much a rebuke of the union as the airline, with members objecting to healthcare costs, scope, retirement, scheduling protections, outsourcing risk, and raises they believe fall short once the deal stretches to 2031.
The Ninth Circuit revived claims by two fired Alaska Airlines flight attendants who say they were terminated over Christian comments about LGBTQ rights and abandoned by the union meant to defend them. The record includes explosive union texts calling their posts bigoted, urging management to act, and even joking about putting them “in a burlap bag and drop them in a well.”
Flight attendants at Delta regional Endeavor Air get three days of paid funeral leave, while pilots get five. The difference is not about who grieves more — it reflects risk, bargaining power, and the way union contracts divide total compensation across pay, per diems, leave, and benefits.
Airlines are fighting state sick leave laws that apply to flight crews, arguing they can disrupt staffing, delay flights, and interfere with federally regulated airline service. A Michigan case is moving forward, courts are split around the country, and the fight over whether states can layer labor rules onto airline contracts may eventually land at the Supreme Court.
Southwest is restoring cabin jumpseat access for mechanics and other employees after a union challenge, reversing a flight-attendant-only policy with new annual training required, in a conflict between two unions over who gets access to a scarce resource that matters to their quality of life and benefits.
American Airlines flight attendants are suing for overtime pay under Illinois law, arguing that time at the airport should count as work even though their union contract pays under a very different system. It is part of a growing wave of lawsuits trying to use state wage laws to punch through airline labor contracts.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
