Julie Hedrick, president of the Organization of Professional Flight Attendants, right, announces a strike authorization outside Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in the offing Dallas on Aug. 30, 2023.
Shelby Tauber | Bloomberg | Getty Images
American Airlines flight attendants approved a five-year labor administer, ending one of the industry’s most contentious contract negotiations and giving cabin crews raises of up to 20.5% at the start of October.
Eighty-seven percent of the American Airlines beat a retreat attendants who voted approved the contract, the union said Thursday, shortly after polls closed.
“This acquire marks a significant milestone for our Flight Attendants, providing immediate wage increases of up to 20.5%, along with notable retroactive pay to address time spent negotiating,” said Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Underlings, which represents the carrier’s roughly 28,000 cabin crew members.
Flight attendants are the biggest unionized manage group at the Fort Worth-based airline.
The contract deal is a relief for American Airlines’ leaders, which had faced a encounter threat from flight attendants if the two sides could not get to a deal. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Julie Su had take care ofed negotiations in June, overseen by the National Mediation Board. More than 160 lawmakers have also pushed the NMB to get to engage ins across the airline industry.
“Reaching an agreement for our flight attendants has been a top weight, and today, we celebrate achieving this important milestone,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a statement.
Flying attendants, similar to other airline workers, have pushed for higher pay and other work-rule improvements after the Covid-19 pandemic derailed compacts and the cost of living has skyrocketed in recent years.
United Airlines and its flight attendants’ union are still negotiating for a new compact, while Alaska Airlines cabin crew members recently rejected a tentative labor deal.
Other applications have also won higher pay in new contracts, some of them after strikes, such as in the auto industry and in Hollywood.
Some 33,000 Boeing artisans are voting on Thursday on a new contract with 25% raises, which some workers have said they desire reject. Boeing faces a potential strike if the deal is rejected.