United Airlines Flight Attendants Ratify New Contract Following 6 Years of Negotiations. Was The Wait Worth It?

United flight attendants ratified the tentative agreement yesterday with a vote of 82% in favour. The result emerged after eight months of further mediated talks and was announced on March 26 following a four-day session in Washington D.C. The agreed contract will last for five years from May 31, 2026, to May 31, 2031. 

The United Airlines flight attendants have been on stagnant pay since the pandemic as they watch rival aviation companies Delta and American reward their workers fairly. After a long, aggrieved battle in 2025, United flight attendants are finally satisfied with the terms of the contract. 

Are the Headline Pay Figures Hiding the Truth?

The new contract means that there will be an increase of 31% boarding pay with most senior attendants earning more than $100 per hour, added value in the form of Sit Pay, and a $741 million payout in Retro Pay. Earlier in 2025 a whopping 71% of flight attendants voted against the proposed five-year agreement, this time a resounding 82% voted yes. 

AFA United President, Ken Diaz said “the contract will immediately change the lives of [nearly 30 000] United Flight Attendants”. Financially, the contract is a landmark achievement for flight attendants who have gone without a pay rise since the pandemic. While their peers have received pay rise after pay rise, some United flight attendants have been forced to get second jobs just to make ends meet. However, there is still some dissatisfaction. The United flight attendants’ contract is far below what workers were demanding; in order to earn $100 per hour flight attendants have to be in their 13^th year of service or beyond and not until July 30, 2030.  It is worth noting that one-time back pay equal to $740 million is the equivalent of 4 percent of eligible earnings for September through December 2021, 4 percent for 2022, 2023 and 2024, then 22 percent for 2025 and 25 percent for January through May 2026. For example, a flight attendant who earned $60,000 in 2024 will receive $2,400 for that year. 

Five Years Without a Deal 

Yet notably the contract has historically had issues that go beyond the figures. United flight attendants have struggled to negotiate a pay rise over the last five years and have been constrained by the Railway Labor Act, which makes it very difficult for flight attendants to strike. 

USTN accurately predicted the failing of the previous tentative agreement, which was rejected by the very workers it was designed to benefit. Poor AFA-CWA leadership spent less time defending the deal itself and more time trying to censor criticism and combat analytical media coverage.  AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson went so far as to blame the rise of A.I. and ChatGPT in a Forbes article, arguing that it was fuelling disinformation. In a move that completely contradicted her battle against disinformation, Nelson’s team reached out to outlets, including USTN, asking them to remove any coverage that highlighted the negative aspects of the deal.  This is the combative stage in which the latest tentative agreement was formed. 

Does Boarding Pay Go Far Enough? 

One of the key reasons that United flight attendants rejected the previous deal was over concerns that they were only being paid for time in the air. The AFA-CWA leadership are keen to highlight that the new contract includes compensation mechanisms, enabling United flight attendants to be paid for time boarding (“boarding pay”) and time between flights (“Sit Pay”). However, what they are less keen to publicise is that boarding pay only applies to a fixed period determined by the company rather than the actual time United flight attendants spend boarding passengers. Moreover, this compensation is classified separately from regular wages, meaning it does not count toward vacation accrual and certain other benefit calculations. Compensation for long waits between flights (“sit time”) is treated the same way.  

Has Scheduling Been Resolved? 

In the past, United Airlines have appeared keen to prioritise high productivity over staff wellbeing. Previously, they attempted to include the Preferential Bidding System (PBS) in the contract; which replaces a traditional system where a computer dictates your schedule according to preferences you input, rather than choosing your trips. AFA-CWA have successfully blocked this proposal highlighting this withdrawal as a major milestone for their negotiations. Yet, the contract leaves broad scheduling powers in United’s hands. Restrictions on overnight “red-eye” assignments apply only within a narrow 2:00–4:00 a.m. window, while the airline retains the ability to schedule duty periods lasting up to 16 hours that include overnight flying.

Following a moment of false hope in 2025, attendants are finally accepting the new contract having demanded economic and welfare compensation for the last 6 years. But to what extent is the success of the contract due to pure exhaustion on behalf of United flight attendants rather than the negotiating skills of AFA-CWA leadership? Many workers on social media have commented their frustration with the whole process. One flight attendant said ahead of the vote: “Right, I’m voting yes because I have to. It’s nearly under duress. Strong word I know. But I literally cannot wait another year. I need to be able to afford my own place to live. On these wages that’s just not possible.”

Has United Airlines re-established its dominance amongst the “top three”? 

The airline says it will make its flight attendants the best-paid in the American airline industry, but at what cost to their bottom line? Although they have resolved a major Labour issue, they will see a $241 million come out of this year’s margins on top of a planned $500 million one-time payment for flight attendants backpay. In constant competition with Delta and American airlines, United have successfully tackled labor peace but at a considerable cost. The extent to which the payout negatively impacts United’s balance sheet remains to be seen but given that it’s a particularly turbulent time for airlines with Spirit going bankrupt and ticket prices going up, it shouldn’t be long till we know whether this deal is truly sustainable.