American Airlines reaches contract agreement with flight attendants
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants updated its members, saying that a tentative agreement had been reached with American Airlines. The negotiations took place this week in Phoenix, not Washington, D.C., and without the involvement of a federal mediator, making it clear that a deal is close and all that’s left to do is work out the details.
This will allow American Airlines to tout that it has weathered labor unrest and major risks ahead of its second-quarter earnings report next Thursday.
Specific details of the agreement have yet to be revealed, but the union stresses that it addresses its “concerns” around:
- compensation
- Retroactive Payments
- Improved contracts and maintaining hard-won labor rules
The union’s board of directors will be briefed on the details of the agreement on Wednesday and further contract details will be released to flight attendants following that meeting, followed by details of the timeline and process for voting on the agreement.
This will be a bone of contention: while it would come with a significant pay increase (the union rejected an immediate 17% pay increase and pay for flight time while negotiations continue), the union also lowered its demands during the negotiations, telling flight attendants they should expect a bigger raise.
If the final contract does not meet flight attendants’ expectations, it is possible that the tentative agreement will not be approved in the vote. American Airlines flight attendants’ current contract is the result of merger-related arbitration after the last contract offered to them was rejected. Southwest Airlines also rejected a contract before ratifying its current one.
American Airlines flight attendants haven’t had a pay increase since Jan. 1, 2019, and their pay has been significantly reduced by inflation since then. The new contract changes that, and will be the first union flight attendant contract to match non-union Delta’s flight attendant pay. It will also include a profit-sharing formula similar to Delta’s, but with lower margins due to American’s lower profits.
What remains to be seen is how much the final pay increase will be, and how much back pay will be given for the years it took to get the new contract (during which no raises were given). Will the back pay be as big as Southwest’s?
Either way, this will set a new standard for United Airlines negotiations. Flight attendants union plans to call strike authorization voteAmerican Airlines flight attendants will not strike this year, and there is not enough time left this year for United Airlines flight attendants to declare an impasse and go on strike.
update: American Airlines said:
“We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Association of Professional Flight Attendants that will provide immediate financial and quality of life improvements for American Airlines flight attendants. This is a contract we are proud of and one that our flight attendants won.”
