American Airlines Reaches Deal With Flight Attendants

19.07.2024 - 23:47 / skift.com / Pete Buttigieg / United Airlines / Meghna Maharishi / Julie Su

American Airlines struck a tentative deal with its flight attendants union, ending years of contentious negotiations. 

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union that represents American’s flight attendants, said the agreement addresses their concerns over compensation, retroactive pay and work rules. The details of the agreement have not been released. 

The union said it would provide a timeline in the coming weeks for voting on the tentative agreement. 

The tentative deal now means a strike won’t happen this summer. At one point, negotiations between American and its flight attendants had become so tense that APFA told its members to be prepared to strike. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su sat in on negotiations in recent months, as the National Mediation Board sought to avoid a potential summer strike. 

American is the latest airline to close a contract with its flight attendants. Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines also recently reached tentative agreements with their flight attendants. Alaska’s agreement will give flight attendants 32% pay raises, a record for the industry. 

Amid negotiations, flight attendants had long raised concerns about their pay. One of the biggest issues was that flight attendants are only paid for the work they do inside the plane. They aren’t paid for assisting with boarding or deplaning. 

United Airlines flight attendants are still in the middle of negotiations. Earlier this week, they announced plans to vote on whether to authorize a strike. 

Even with the vote, it’s still unlikely that United flight attendants could stage a strike. Under the Railway Labor Act, flight attendants would need to be released from mediation to strike, something that is unlikely to happen. 

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