‘The Threat of Strikes Works’: American Airlines Flight Attendants Ratify New Contract After More Than Five Years of Bargaining

After more than five years in the making, flight attendants at American Airlines have voted to ratify a new contract that will secure them a near 33% pay rise, along with boarding pay and a slew of other improvements.

Shortly after voting closed on Thursday afternoon, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents crew members at the Fort Worth-based carrier, revealed that a significant number of flight attendants had voted in favor of the hard-fought contract.

The union says that 95% of eligible flight attendants participated in the ballot, and of those, 87% voted to ratify the five-year tentative agreement.

Flight attendants will get an immediate pay raise of between 18% and 20.5%, followed by a 2.75% raise after year one, a 3% pay raise after years two and three, and a final 3.5% pay raise in the fifth and final year of the agreement.

In addition, American Air’s flight attendants will become the first unionized workgroup to receive ‘boarding pay,’ meaning that flight attendants will start getting paid from the moment passengers start boarding the plane rather than from the point at which the plane pushes back from the gate.

The concept of boarding pay will favor more junior flight attendants who typically work domestic flights with several flights or ‘legs’ per day, but the most veteran crew members will receive the highest immediate uplift in their pay of 20.5%.

However, flight attendants who have been working for American Airlines for less than seven years will only receive an immediate pay rise of 18% pay raise, while crew members with between seven and 12 years of service will earn an immediate 19% raise.

“Together, through endless pickets, displaying red t-shirts, lanyards, and pins, airline management took notice, and not just AA management,” the union told its members shortly after the results were announced on Thursday.

The memo added: “We ratified a contract with no concessions, and successfully preserved and improved upon industry-leading pay protections, rescheduling and reserve rules, and many other work rules management tried to take back.”

Flight attendants had overwhelmingly voted to approve strike action if a tentative agreement could not be reached, and APFA had twice asked federal mediators to be released to take self-help action, including a strike.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) rejected APFA’s first request and kept on delaying its decision following the second request while pushing the two sides to continue last-ditch bargaining.

In the end, American Airlines agreed to raise its offer of an 11% pay rise, which would have pushed flight attendant pay to comparable levels to what their peers at non-unionized Delta Air Lines earn.

“This contract marks a significant milestone for our Flight Attendants, providing immediate wage increases of up to 20.5%, along with significant retroactive pay to address time spent negotiating,” commented APFA National President Julie Hedrick in a public statement.

“Among the many improvements, the contract includes a new sit rig for compensation for long sits between flights, and American Airlines Flight Attendants become the first unionized workgroup to lock in pay for boarding,” Hedrick continued.

Pay rises are set to come into force on October 1, and the contract will become amendable from October 2029.

Following the ratification of the American Airlines flight attendant contract, it just leaves United Airlines and Alaska Airlines to negotiate updated contracts with their crew members.

In late August, flight attendants at United Airlines voted overwhelmingly to approve strike action if bargaining fails, while crew members at Alaska Airlines recently voted down a tentative agreement.