87% of voters accepted the labor agreement worth $4.2 billion reached between the union and American Airlines. According to the contract, flight attendants' wages will increase by 18% to 20.5% starting from October 1st, with a 3.5% annual raise thereafter.
According to the Futu Finance APP, flight attendants of American Airlines (AAL.US) have approved a five-year labor agreement, ending one of the most controversial contract negotiations in the industry and giving flight attendants a 20.5% raise in early October.
Shortly after the vote, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants in the United States issued a statement on September 12th stating that 87% of voters accepted the labor agreement worth $4.2 billion reached between the union and American Airlines. According to the contract, flight attendants' wages will increase by 18% to 20.5% starting from October 1st, with a 3.5% annual raise. Over the course of five years, the salary level will increase by 33% to 36%. The contract also includes a one-time bonus, among other things.
Julie Hedrick, President of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said, "This contract is an important milestone for our flight attendants, providing an immediate raise of up to 20.5% and a significant amount of retroactive pay to compensate for the time spent in negotiations." The association represents approximately 0.028 million crew members of American Airlines.
Flight attendants are the largest labor union organization of the airline headquartered in Fort Worth.
The contract agreement has relieved the leadership of American Airlines. If an agreement could not have been reached, they would have faced the threat of a strike by flight attendants. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Julie Su attended the negotiations supervised by the National Mediation Board (NMB) in June. Over 160 members of Congress also pushed for NMB to reach agreements throughout the aviation industry.
Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, said in a statement, "Reaching an agreement for our flight attendants has always been our top priority, and today we celebrate achieving this important milestone."
Like employees of other airlines, aviation crew members have been advocating for salary increases and other work rule improvements after negotiations derailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising cost of living in recent years.
American Airlines (UAL.US) and its cabin crew union are still negotiating a new contract, while the crew members of Alaska Air (ALK.US) recently rejected a preliminary labor agreement.
Other industries have also secured higher compensation in new contracts, some signed after strikes, such as the autos industry and Hollywood.
On Thursday, around 33,000 Boeing (BA.US) employees will vote on a new contract that includes a 25% salary increase, with some employees stating they will reject the new contract. If the new contract is rejected, Boeing could face a strike.
