Flight attendants have evidently reached the end of their ropes. U.S. airline pilots collectively won increases in pay and benefits to the tune of tens of billions of dollars by threatening to go on strike earlier this year at a time when air travel had already all but descended into chaos.
Amid the ongoing pilot shortage, United, Delta and American agreed to increase pilots’ pay anywhere from 34 percent to 40 percent over a four-year period, increase benefits and make other substantial concessions.
Yet, airlines failed to reward the contributions of aircraft cabin crews and airport service workers, who—especially given the unprecedented levels of unruly passenger behavior they’ve dealt with over the past few years—feel they deserve the same consideration. So, as the busy holiday travel season approaches, they’re making their own demands heard.
At multiple major U.S. carriers—Alaska, American, Southwest and United, Alaska—flight attendants' labor contracts are coming up for renegotiation. Last month, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) union almost unanimously voted to authorize a strike. That threat most likely remains a negotiating tactic for now, as regulations would require several more steps to be taken before flight attendants could actually walk out.
However, Paul Hartshorn, national communications chair at APFA, explained that if negotiations with American don’t make progress soon, the union is ready to take the next step toward a formal strike by as early as the end-of-year holidays. “We've been given a clear mandate from our flight attendants for a contract that is industry leading, and we have a strike vote to back that up," Hartshorn said.
While Delta flight attendants actually aren’t unionized, those that represent Southwest, United and Alaska flight attendants have similarly threatened to increase pressure on the airlines.
Back in June, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556 managed to reach a labor agreement-in-principal with Southwest representatives, which was later rejected by the union’s board. Further negotiations, overseen by the National Mediation Board (NMB), were scheduled to start last week. Simultaneously, TWU 556 has started a Change.org petition that’s already received more than 10,000 signatures.
"While Southwest Airlines flight attendants continue performing their important jobs to help ensure passengers' safety and comfort in the air, they have endured too much," the petition posits. The document points to increased passenger aggression, airlines’ operational failures and pay rates that don’t hold up to inflation, among other grievances.
Currently, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), which represents Alaska Airlines flight attendants, are also negotiating with the airline through a mediator. United flight attendants, represented by the AFA, are still in direct negotiations with the carrier. But, like flight attendants for American, Alaska and Southwest, they’ve also started picketing and sharing information with the public.
Of pilots’ recent labor contracts, Hartshorn said, "Our wage increases should be in line with, if not more than they received." AFPA’s proposal calls for 50-percent pay increases over the course of a four-year contract, along with other quality-of-life improvements.
However, Bloomberg Intelligence aviation industry analyst George Ferguson has opined that flight attendants are unlikely to have the same bargaining leverage as pilots, largely because they can be trained quickly by comparison, whereas pilot training takes several years. "The scarcity factor isn't as high," he said. "It's going to make it harder for them to get the same gains the pilots have had."
Having already committed to paying pilots much more, airlines are unlikely to agree to increasing operational costs much further, said Ferguson. But, CEO of travel industry consultancy Hospitio Brad Beakley thinks that the operational struggles airlines are contending with post-pandemic could work in flight attendants’ favor.
Even in the absence of federal authorization to strike, airline workers will sometimes quietly take action on their own, calling out sick more often and being less willing to accept shifts, which can disrupt flight schedules and make life harder for their employers.
"You look at the tone and the attitude right now out of the flight attendant work groups, that could be in the cards," said Beakley. "The question is, will the airlines cave as fast as they did with the pilots."
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