United flight attendants’ new pay deal barely beats inflation
- icarussmith20
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
On Tuesday the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) unveiled the full conditions of a new pay agreement between United Airlines and its flight attendants. The fine print is disappointing reading for AFA members who have been without a contract since 2020 – particularly after the union hailed the terms as “industry leading” when a deal was first announced in May.
On the surface the agreement looks impressive, representing as it does the cumulative raises that crew would have received since 2021 after the last contract expired. However, with an average pay increase of 26.9% across all seniority levels, this just barely compensates the 24% loss in real-term earnings that United staff have suffered due to inflation.
By contrast, cabin crew at non-unionised Delta Air Lines have received a 25% bump in earnings since 2022, as well as a 10% bonus (equivalent to five weeks’ pay) as part of the airline’s profit-sharing programme in 2024.
American Airlines staff reached a labor agreement through their union, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (AFPA), in October last year. This deal included just a 20% wage increase but only three years had passed since the airline’s last contract expired.
The United deal is particularly galling after the AFA convinced members to play hardball with the airline for five years. Following the expiry of their previous labor agreement during the pandemic (the worst time for airline staff to negotiate) the AFA decided to let American Airlines flight attendants negotiate first in the hopes of setting a higher bar. They even lent AFPA their top negotiator in the hopes of securing a better deal.
Then, in 2024, United flight attendants voted to approve a strike. However, due to laws governing the aviation industry, workers require approval from the National Mediation Board – a federal body appointed by the President – to take industrial action. AFA’s timing again couldn’t have been worse as within a few months the pro-union Biden administration had been voted out of office and the Trump White House was now unlikely to allow a strike to go ahead. United flight attendants’ bargaining position had once again been undermined.
There are of course some bright spots in the contract: $595 million in retro pay will help make up for some of the hardships endured by flight attendants over the last five years. An increased per diem of 24% and more union input on layover hotels and in-flight meals will also be a nice bonus.
However, it is hardly the ‘revolutionary’ deal that AFA promised members. The union had previously pledged to implement the novel concept of ‘ground pay’, ensuring that flight attendants are compensated from the minute they set foot in the airport, rather than just the time they spend in the air. In the end, AFA only managed to secure boarding pay – something that AA crew have received since last year and non-unionised Delta first pioneered in 2022.
United flight attendants are set to vote on the new agreement in the next few weeks. After five years of static pay – including no compensation for time spent boarding the aircraft – many will likely want to accept the just-above-inflation deal on the table. However, the lacklustre agreement raises serious questions about AFA’s approach to negotiations and indeed the benefits of union representation in the airline industry more generally.