Why Are Some American Flight Attendants Still At “WAR?”

I’m curious if there’s something I’m missing, or if anyone wants to take a guess as to why this is still going on?

American flight attendants & their red lanyards

A couple of months ago, American Airlines flight attendants ratified a new contract. I’m really happy for them, as they absolutely deserve it, and I know this makes a huge difference in terms of their ability to have a decent quality of life. Despite how much inflation we’ve seen in recent years, they hadn’t gotten a raise since well before the pandemic.

More from OMAAT American Airlines Pilot Arrested At Heathrow For Being Unfit To Fly And Having Cocaine Read more

The contract negotiations were super contentious and drawn out, with the union repeatedly requesting to go on strike, but not being released to do so. For a significant amount of time, we saw a majority of American flight attendants wearing red pins and lanyards, to express their displeasure at the situation.

For those not familiar with these, these pins and lanyards have the phrase “We Are Ready,” or sometimes just the acronym “WAR.” The meaning behind this was clear — the union was ready to go to “war” with the company over a new contract, and they were ready to strike.

I of course respect the right to collectively bargain, even if I personally find the US culture of expressing this displeasure while on the job to be a bit strange. Like, try explaining to a flight attendant in Japan “yeah, so the flight attendants on your joint venture partner wear lanyards about how they’re at war with their company.” They probably wouldn’t get it.

And that brings me to what I really don’t get, given that this controversy should be over…

Many flight attendants are still wearing WAR lanyards

In the two months since a new contract has been ratified, I’m still noticing a significant number of American flight attendants wearing these red lanyards. No, not nearly as many as before, but walking through an airport or flying on an American jet, I’d say that I see maybe one out of every 10-15 flight attendants still wearing one. I just don’t get it:

• They’ve ratified a new contract, so the “WAR” is over
• Lanyards like this lose their meaning in future negotiations if they’re never taken off
• I’m surprised the company hasn’t mandated that employees stop wearing these, since the optics aren’t good, and presumably this isn’t an authorized uniform piece outside of contract negotiation periods

So I’m curious about two things:

• Is anyone else still noticing a fair number of flight attendants wearing these red lanyards?
• Does anyone understand why they’re still wearing them?

My best guess is that it actually isn’t intentional, and maybe some flight attendants just got so used to wearing these that they no longer have their standard company lanyards. You’d think that if American had any level of attention to detail, this would’ve been resolved, by simply placing extra lanyards in the flight attendant crew rooms at airports, and reminding flight attendants to swap them out.

But maybe there’s something else I’m missing?

Bottom line

Admittedly a vast majority of customers probably never notice this, but as someone who pays attention to the details of the travel experience, I can’t help but notice how some American flight attendants are still wearing their strike lanyard, two months after a new contract has been ratified.

No, there aren’t as many as there used to be, but it’s still way more common than you’d think. And I know this is a super minor point, but I’ve wondered about this almost every time I’ve flown with American over the past two months, so I can’t help but throw the question out there, and see if anyone has any insights.

Has anyone else noticed this? And does anyone have an explanation?