Tag Archives for union.
American Airlines is firing flight attendants for offering other crewmembers incentives to pick up their trips. The union says this is new, and violates their contract. The Chicago base notified crewmembers on Friday that “Posting a trip with an incentive to drop” had led to “The absolute worst outcome available” and that was done without any progressive discipline.
This is a fascinating peek inside United Airlines flight attendant union politics.
I wouldn’t order a coffee on my next flight if I were this pilot – or ask for a flight attendant’s help blocking off the lavatory.
I wrote that a revolt against the contract was brewing for both legitimate gripes and misunderstandings.
Ultimately 71% of voting flight attendants rejected the contract, with 92 of those eligible casting ballots.
28-year United Airlines flight attendant Ruben Sanchez killed time in the jumpseat on a Los Angeles – Cleveland redeye chatting theology with another Catholic crewmember. Pride Month started the next day, and Sanchez remarks that the Church “will never believe men give birth or bless same‑sex marriage.”
The flight attendants union – which represents about 20,000 flight attendants and has long embodied the premise that a customer-facing work group could be unionized and still provide exemplary service – appears to be in the midst of an internal scandal.
The airline can start putting up flight attendants in much lower quality hotels during their layovers. Instead of business class hotels, we could start to see hovels.
The United Airlines flight attendant contract that the union negotiated may already be in trouble. Online chatter is heavily negative. The future of the contract – whether flight attendants vote to ratify it or not – likely hinges on how well the union communicates with its members, and how much flight attendants trust the union. They need to quell these concerns quickly.
Flight attendants will still have to ratify the deal. Pending major surprises though it seems likely, though some flight attendants will believe that they can always do better – that you should ‘never take the first deal’. However starting the click on “40% total economic improvements” in the first year along with retro pay is going to be something most crew will want right away.
Nelson is clearly incorrect in her claim that the union protest was ‘protected,’ and put her members in jeopardy. Airline employees do not have an open-ended right to storm a private corporate event.
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 »
