Tag Archives for union.
Flight attendants at American Airlines are getting increasingly frustrated. Here’s what American’s Philadelphia base is promoting, an interesting amalgamation of complaints about society as well as a reflection on their own leadership: Being a “union thug” “overthrow capitalism” “solidarity with Palestine”
American Airlines reduced the number of flight attendants on board its widebody and premium cross-country planes during the pandemic. They were trying to save money any way they could, and there wasn’t as much service to offer back then. Travel returned, and service came back, but American has kept operating with fewer people to serve meals and drinks.
The union hates that – it’s fewer jobs, and more work – and it’s not great for customers either. Nearly four years later, an arbitrator has just hard the union’s grievance over the change.
The American Airlines New York flight attendants base is holding an in-person meeting at the TWA Hotel and wow, does the Association of Professional Flight Attendants have a cruel sense of irony. The American Airlines flight attendants union took a boot to the throats of all ex-TWA flight attendants when that airline was acquired by American in 2001.
Flight attendants union head Sara Nelson, who is trying to organize at JetBlue founder Dave Neeleman’s startup Breeze Airways, took to social media to blast the airline’s employee handbook as antiquated and outdated. She compares their conflict of interest policy to a “pregnancy and the weight program” from 1952. Except the airline’s policies seem… downright reasonable?
These aren’t factory workers during the industrial revolution. On average Air France pilots earn around $160,000 with senior captains frequently earning in excess of $250,000 per year. French per capita GDP is only just over half that of the United States, so these numbers are even more impressive.
Frontier Airlines’ new scheduling strategy aimed at improving operational efficiency and ensuring planes return to base nightly has sparked significant backlash from flight attendants, who decry the loss of per diems, increased lodging costs, and daily commutes as shifts toward a more conventional job structure away from their traditional, travel-centric roles.
Southwest Airlines’ flight attendants have secured a landmark four-year contract valued at $6.3 billion, featuring unprecedented benefits including $20,000 retroactive pay, quality of life enhancements, and a set of provisions that position them at the forefront of the industry’s labor standards. It sets a bar for negotiations at United and American – and creates a new challenge for Delta.
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.
I flew American Airlines on Saturday and was reminded how much of a difference a great crewmember makes to the flight experience – even on a very short flight.
American Airlines flight attendants haven’t had a raise since 2019. Their contract became amendable, but negotiations were first delayed by the pandemic and have been slow since. And the value of their wages have been eroded by inflation.
The airline has offered to match the top of the industry – what non-union Delta pays its flight attendants. The union has rejected this. Now American has made an intriguing new offer.
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 »
