Flight
attendants at Southwest Airlines will now be the highest paid in the industry
after ratifying a new contract.
The new deal
calls for an immediate
raise of more than 22 percent and a total of 33 percent over four years. Southwest
flight attendants will now make 14 percent more than their counterparts at
Delta Air Lines.
United Airlines,
Alaska Airlines and American Airlines are all in contract negotiations as well.
“This is
a significant victory for Flight Attendants industrywide and the Transit Workers Union has once again proven that we are an incredibly effective
voice for Flight Attendants,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said
in a statement.
Part of
the negotiations was the inclusion of parental rights.
“We’re
proud of the new collective bargaining agreement, providing our dedicated
Flight Attendants with industry-leading compensation and quality of life
enhancements, while also providing key efficiencies to Southwest’s operations,”
a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told Fortune,
adding that the
company hasn’t “had any issues with hiring or retaining flight attendants,” and
is instead limiting hiring this year.
“This
deal provides significant raises and critical quality-of-life improvements for
TWU’s Southwest Flight Attendants who worked through historic operational
meltdowns and a global pandemic,” TWU International EVP Alex Garcia said in a
statement. “TWU Local 556 won quantifiable compensation throughout all phases
of the day that will put real money into our Flight Attendants’ paychecks. This
is the least they deserve after years of hard work and negotiations.”
There is
a long history here. Southwest flight attendants became the second unionized
workgroup at the airline, after the mechanics, in the 1970s.
Nearly 20,000
Southwest Airlines flight attendants reached a tentative agreement in
March.
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