by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:45 AM ET, Sat December 15, 2018
Hundreds of United Airlines flight attendants took to the streets Thursday as part of organized protests at several airports across the country.
According to CNBC.com, the protests came after United announced plans to reduce staffing by one flight attendant per flight in the carrier's international business cabins. To alleviate pressure on the remaining attendants, the airline revealed meals will be pre-plated by ground caterers.
While United will still meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations for the number of staff members per flight, the flight attendants' union argues the reduced numbers will put both safety and customer service at risk.
In response, United CEO Oscar Munoz said the idea behind the change was to align the carrier with its main competition, American and Delta, saying the airline has been "staffed higher than all other of our major competitors on those flights."
"It is not about taking people out of the system or anything, but we're a competitive financial business as well," Munoz continued. "Everyone in the United family is contributing, and this is a way that we're going to ask our flight attendants to do that as well."
Thursday's protests from the flight attendants were the first since United and their union forged a new five-year labor contract in 2016. Airline officials said the company plans to hire about 2,100 flight attendants next year.
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