American Airlines’ flight attendants have ratified their union’s tentative contract, ending negotiations that have lasted nearly five years.
The tentative contract will be in place for five years and includes pay increases of up to 20.5% on October 1 and annual raises of 2.75%, 3%, 3%, and 3.5% after that. The deal also includes retroactive pay for the time spent negotiating and a new boarding pay premium that equals 50% of the hourly rate. The package covers all 28,000 flight attendants at American Airlines and follows a month of voting amongst union members.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) announced that the deal had been ratified, sending a message to members that said, “With a 99.47% strike authorization ‘YES’ vote and endless system-wide pickets and protests, we forced management off their rigid ‘industry-standard’ framework to an industry-leading agreement”. It’s interesting that the union led with the percentage of members who voted to strike rather than the percentage who supported the tentative contract. This is likely because 13% of members did not vote in favor of the deal, far less than those who voted in favor of striking.
It does not take long to see that members are far less jubilant about the deal than APFA management. By looking at the Facebook comments underneath the APFA post, it’s clear that a significant portion of American flight attendants who voted for the deal, did so out of exhaustion rather than elation. One flight attendant explained “we voted yes because we’re tired, we can’t wait anymore, and we think you can’t do better but we’re not happy.” Another flight attendant said, “I’m glad this is over. But sad it landed us with this version”. The key question is why is there so much disappointment surrounding the deal?
APFA had previously communicated to members that the barometer for a good deal would be a 33% wage increase upfront followed by four annual increases of 6% each. What American flight attendants got was a fraction of that at a mere 20.5% wage increase. The contract also includes no provision for increases in out years (such as inflation) once it becomes amenable in 2029. This seems a risk given that the last contract took nearly five years to negotiate with American flight attendants remaining on stagnant pay during this entire period.
Beyond this, Delta Air Lines flight attendants received a 5% pay rise in April, leapfrogging over the 2-4% annual pay rises that APFA has fought so hard for. However, it is easier for Delta flight attendants given that they are not unionized and therefore do not have to enter into endless negotiations for even the slightest change to their contract.
Moving onto boarding pay, American Airlines is the first unionized airline that has received compensation for boarding but crucially not the first airline. Delta Air Lines awarded this to their flight attendants back in April 2022. By doing so, it pushed unions like APFA to make sure boarding pay was in their contracts but how long did this extend American’s contract negotiations by? And more importantly, what trade-off was given to American management to secure the boarding pay premium? These are the questions that APFA does not want answering.
In terms of trade-offs, one of the most glaring disappointments in the contract is the lack of a snap-up provision. This is a clause in a contract that would force American Airlines to match a higher pay rate set by other airlines such as Delta or United. This means that wages will remain fixed for American flight attendants, regardless of inflation or pay increases at other airlines. While the deal may look fine now, there’s no mechanism to ensure it remains like that in five years time.
Furthermore, the wage increases for flight attendants at American Airlines is not fair. The most junior flight attendants get the smallest raises (18%), while the most senior get the highest raises (20%). For a first year flight attendant that amounts to just $5.47 per hour. This is confusing given that APFA framed the urgency for a new deal around the desperate financial situation that many American flight attendants were in. Yet APFA has concluded negotiations and completely ignored the fact that many of the most junior American flight attendants will continue to struggle to make a living with this deal.
Overall, disappointing is the one word you would describe the American Airlines deal. It could have been better and both APFA and American flight attendants know this. The deal does not include a snap-up provision nor the ability to increase wages during the next contract negotiations regardless of how long they last. Rather than being an “industry leading deal”, the contract is a manual on how airline management teams can exhaust unions through endless negotiations.
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