Flight attendants at American Airlines have voted to ratify a new contract, bringing an end to a prolonged dispute that garnered attention from President Joe Biden. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants announced that the five-year contract includes pay increases of up to 20.5% effective October 1, as well as compensation for the time spent boarding planes.
Historically, flight attendants in the U.S. have not been paid for boarding time. However, Delta Air Lines recently extended 50% pay during boarding to its nonunion cabin crews in 2022, prompting unions to negotiate for similar benefits for their members.
The agreement, which covers approximately 28,000 attendants at American Airlines, received overwhelming support from union members, with 87% of voters in favor of ratification and 95% of eligible employees participating in the vote.
A tentative agreement between American Airlines and the union was reached in July, following a period of negotiations. Flight attendants, who had not received raises since 2019, had previously threatened to strike but did not receive approval from the National Mediation Board, which must declare negotiations deadlocked before unions can proceed with a strike.
In response to the potential strike, President Biden expressed concern about the impact it could have had on the airline industry and consumers. The last strike at a U.S. airline occurred in 2010 at Spirit Airlines.
Notably, last year, flight attendants at American Airlines rejected an offer that included an immediate 18% pay increase followed by annual 2% raises. The union had sought a 33% raise upfront, followed by four annual increases of 6% each.
This development at American Airlines follows a similar agreement at Southwest Airlines, where flight attendants voted in April to ratify a contract that will provide cumulative pay raises of approximately 33% over four years. Meanwhile, United flight attendants are still engaged in negotiations, and Delta's cabin crews, who are nonunion, received 5% pay raises in April.
