It looks like American Airlines flight attendants won’t be going on strike anytime soon…
In this post:
National Mediation Board denies strike request
For several years, American Airlines flight attendants have been in negotiations for a new contract. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and the company’s management are worlds apart in terms of what they’re willing to accept. The union is looking for big pay raises, given that other work groups have received big raises, and the cost of living has increased considerably in recent years.
Meanwhile management is offering marginal pay increases, which the union isn’t willing to accept. The National Mediation Board (NMB) has gotten involved in the negotiations, but even so, there hasn’t been much progress. The APFA recently requested to be allowed to go on strike — this needs to be approved by the NMB, and then is subject to a 30-day cooling off period. Since the request was made in mid-November, it’s clear that the intent was to go on strike around the holidays.
There’s some bad news for flight attendants and good news for holiday travelers on that front — the NMB has denied the APFA’s request for American flight attendants to go on strike. Here’s the message that the union has shared with members:
At this time, the National Mediation Board (NMB) has refused our request for release. The Railway Labor Act (RLA) is supposed to protect us, yet here we are, fighting tooth and nail for what we rightfully deserve.
We strongly disagree with this decision. The Company has had our economic proposal since March, and has refused to respond to our comprehensive counter proposals since September. They have been stonewalling us, offering nothing but a single, rigid economic framework that does not address our current economic needs. This is not negotiations; it is a mockery of our efforts.
American Airlines management thinks they can evade the issue, but they are mistaken. We will intensify our pressure on the company but also assert our rights under the RLA. Rather than do the right thing for the Flight Attendants, the company is attempting to drag out bargaining. We are not backing down!
Over the last twenty years, the NMB has only released two groups of airline workers. As we have stated previously, we believe that the standard applied serves to benefit employers and is not consistent with the provisions or intent of the Railway Labor Act.
We have a right to strike under the Railway Labor Act. For far too long, airline management has exploited workers, funneling profits into their own pockets. The Railway Labor Act was meant to protect us, the workforce, yet it’s been twisted into a tool for corporate greed.
The NMB indicated that our mediation session scheduled for December 12th-14th will take place as scheduled. If they fail again to present a realistic proposal to resolve these negotiations, we will reiterate our request to be released.
Unity is our greatest weapon. Let us direct our collective anger where it truly belongs – at the feet of American Airlines management.
I’m curious how this situation plays out
I see both sides here, with the fundamental problem being that the airline industry is just a really bad business.
I absolutely understand why flight attendants want pay raises, and I think they deserve them. Flight attendants are currently poorly paid, and the cost of living has increased considerably in recent years. Flight attendants aren’t trying to get rich, they’re simply trying to get by. As one flight attendant comments:
I’m not going to be able to afford to stay at this job long enough to see a new contract at this rate. You guys I literally cannot afford to work here anymore.
But here’s the issue:
- There’s a never-ending pool of applicants who want to become flight attendants, given the perceived glamor of it; airlines are largely incentivized to keep a revolving door of flight attendants, since junior flight attendants cost less than senior ones (since the pay scale reflects years of service)
- Flight attendants have less bargaining power than pilots, since there has been a pilot shortage, and the 1,500-hour rule means that you can’t quickly create a pipeline of additional pilots
- I also understand why airline management wants to keep labor costs down, because the airline industry is just such a bad business; American had to give its pilots massive pay raises, and airline cost structures are getting to the point where you have to wonder at what point a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing could be on the horizon for a major US carrier with any sort of a downturn
Bottom line
American Airlines flight attendants were looking to go on strike, as their contract negotiations stalled. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants requested to be released from mediation by the National Mediation Board, which would have triggered a 30-day cooling off period, after which point flight attendants could strike.
The government has denied the request of the union, which is leaving flight attendants frustrated. Negotiations are expected to continue, though it seems that management and the union are so far apart in terms of what they’re willing to accept.
What do you make of this American flight attendant bargaining update?
As fares rise significantly to cover both pilot pay AND flight attendant salaries (assuming they get something close to what they’re asking), fewer passengers will fly. Then let the layoffs begin.
AA management makes their own bed, and sometimes they have to lie in it. They're like insurance companies, deny, deny, deny. Dragging out negotiations seems to save them money except for the anger and bitterness it fosters in the workforce. It's a messy business but it doesn't have to be.
Personally? This was the best news I could hear today. I don't care if the service will be lacking on my flight over the holidays, as long as I can get from point A to point B safely, I'm good. This much-needed vacation is vital to my mental health.
I have a good friend who is an AA FA who shared that new FAs are now required to spend their first 10 YEARS on reserve. If you're not familiar with reserve, suffice it to say, it's a brutal experience. Minimum pay isn't a living wage, and you really can't have a life because you have to be ready to fly in a few hours. I think AA would be well served by focusing on...
I have a good friend who is an AA FA who shared that new FAs are now required to spend their first 10 YEARS on reserve. If you're not familiar with reserve, suffice it to say, it's a brutal experience. Minimum pay isn't a living wage, and you really can't have a life because you have to be ready to fly in a few hours. I think AA would be well served by focusing on some things that cost them less but improve working conditions -- like not over hiring so that FAs the vast majority of FAs can have a regular schedule.
Even though I'm extremely liberal, having managed a union workforce I'm not a huge fan of unions. But stuff like this... you can understand why the FAs are unionized.
Then they will strike in the cabin. Limited and or slowed-down service (some might say "normal service")
What can APFA get away with in terms of encouraging FAs to reduce work instead of strike? coming from Europe originally I’m used to union tactics like this prior to a strike.
Can they encourage members to massively decrease cabin service? Maybe outright refuse serving some meals or beverages on certain flight durations? Can they openly support “sick days” where high numbers of FAs call in sick to disrupt operations? These are common union...
What can APFA get away with in terms of encouraging FAs to reduce work instead of strike? coming from Europe originally I’m used to union tactics like this prior to a strike.
Can they encourage members to massively decrease cabin service? Maybe outright refuse serving some meals or beverages on certain flight durations? Can they openly support “sick days” where high numbers of FAs call in sick to disrupt operations? These are common union tactics elsewhere.
I know for sure that upcoming travels on AA will be even worse given that their average FA is lukewarm at best to pax on a good day :(
I understand "anytime soon' but in actuality, when would be the first date the FA's could ask NMB to be released, which would trigger the 30 day cool off period? Inquiring minds want to know since many of us have important travel dates already ticketed in early 2024.
Not the right place for this info, Ben, (I apologize) but you must ABSOLUTELY relate the total mess that the transformation of AA's BUSINESS EXTRA into AADVANTAGE BUSINESS is becoming: Trying to turn certificates back into miles, which they offer, I have been bounced from service to service, while half the persons I spoke to were not aware that Business Extra was closing. Some didn't seem to know that it existed.
The Business Extra Customer...
Not the right place for this info, Ben, (I apologize) but you must ABSOLUTELY relate the total mess that the transformation of AA's BUSINESS EXTRA into AADVANTAGE BUSINESS is becoming: Trying to turn certificates back into miles, which they offer, I have been bounced from service to service, while half the persons I spoke to were not aware that Business Extra was closing. Some didn't seem to know that it existed.
The Business Extra Customer service telephones have been permanently disconnected and the transition has obviously not been seriousky planned. Some interesting days are ahead for the members.
Lock Out these greedy (and lazy) Boomers!
From the union statement: "They have been stonewalling us, offering nothing but a single, rigid economic framework that does not address our current economic needs."
No, what a company pays you is not always about YOUR needs. I get that costs are up, but it noils down to economics. As basically every article that Lucky has posted on this has noted, there is a massive pool of applicants for being an FA. More supply of...
From the union statement: "They have been stonewalling us, offering nothing but a single, rigid economic framework that does not address our current economic needs."
No, what a company pays you is not always about YOUR needs. I get that costs are up, but it noils down to economics. As basically every article that Lucky has posted on this has noted, there is a massive pool of applicants for being an FA. More supply of labor, lower price of labor. Econ 101. Why would the airline pay a huge amount more for an FA who can be replaced with a cheaper employee extremely quickly? When a buyer makes a purchase - and that is really what a wage is - they are not going to pay much more than the value they receive. If the value provided by an FA - in the various ways the company may measure that - does not meet the wage those FAs demand, they won't pay it for long because, in the long term, such an arrangement, if applied to all of their inputs of doing business, result in losses. And a business can't last running at a loss for long.
I was part of the team doing the analysis on outsourcing stations and/or adjusting pay scale for direct employees at an airline about 10 years ago.... The point that was made, and where you sit in the operation definitely influences your view, is "What does a 7 year seniority agent get me that a 6 year doesn't?" Why is the pay scale continuing to escalate, outside of cost of living adjustments, for a job that...
I was part of the team doing the analysis on outsourcing stations and/or adjusting pay scale for direct employees at an airline about 10 years ago.... The point that was made, and where you sit in the operation definitely influences your view, is "What does a 7 year seniority agent get me that a 6 year doesn't?" Why is the pay scale continuing to escalate, outside of cost of living adjustments, for a job that if anything is getting easier with technology? We decided to end the pay scale at 6 years and give something like another 20 cents a year on that, plus locality overrides and the such. The point being: We sought to create natural attrition. If you want to stick around forever, awesome and thanks for the loyalty. But if your skill set has reached the maturity of knowledge (experiential knowledge is a whole different discussion) why should you just get more money for doing the same job?
To an extent you can look at this situation similarly. There is a wide pool of applicants. The technical skills are trained and with some experience on the job become refined and reach a point of efficiency but stop progressing after that.
The cat ranchers need their herd culled. There are to many senior mamas in the FA ranks who either choose not to, or are no longer able to perform their actual job. So rather than retire they whine about everything in front of them and fail to recognize that they are replaceable in days. The fact that there is a huge pool of new applicants should highlight that fact.
This APFA leadership team clearly plays toward the senior folks. Again that group wants to eat its own young. This failure to secure a 30-day countdown will be the end of their terms in office. Boarding pay is more meaningful to the bottom line of more flight attendants than a higher hourly rate.
The last US airline, I believe, to actually go out on strike was Spirit pilots and that was back in 2010....
This APFA leadership team clearly plays toward the senior folks. Again that group wants to eat its own young. This failure to secure a 30-day countdown will be the end of their terms in office. Boarding pay is more meaningful to the bottom line of more flight attendants than a higher hourly rate.
The last US airline, I believe, to actually go out on strike was Spirit pilots and that was back in 2010. That ended within days mainly because ALPA leadership was so enamored with making a point by going on strike they weren't going to let anything get in the way of a walk-out. Spirit leadership FedEx'd copies of their last offering to the union out to individual pilots basically saying "This is what we offered and your union isn't sharing" and it was over.
So this means the complete lack of service on flights will continue? FA's did only one trash collection after the beverage service yesterday. Guess they figure the cleaning staff will get it all during the turn, so why bother doing it themselves? Aircraft was littered with cups, cans, and pretzel wrappers when I deplaned
The reality is that the airlines won't be able to pay these salaries in the long run UNLESS they raise fares and stop flying unprofitable flying. That would ultimately layoffs. So employees need to pick their poison.
As I said in before, the process to be released from mediation is long and a release rarely happens when labor wants it. Airline unions in the US know exactly how the process works. WN pilots' request for release was also denied.
The APFA was trying to rush the process in order to gain political gain w/ their membership and try to use the holidays as part of the bargaining process.
And no, flight...
As I said in before, the process to be released from mediation is long and a release rarely happens when labor wants it. Airline unions in the US know exactly how the process works. WN pilots' request for release was also denied.
The APFA was trying to rush the process in order to gain political gain w/ their membership and try to use the holidays as part of the bargaining process.
And no, flight attendants as a group are not paid low wages. The Dept. of Labor provides salaries and benefit costs for all US workgroups and flight attendants as a group make well above average wages. The problem is that the average is heavily skewed in favor of senior FAs and that is why Delta's decision to provide boarding pay so completely upends the collective bargaining process since less junior flight attendants work shorter flights where pay accrues at a slower rate and also where trip construction isn't as good as longer flights.
APFA isn't capable of weighing the positives and negatives of DL's changes and tried to get it all.
Federal mediators said the process hasn't played out.
The bigger FA labor issue to watch is Southwest flight attendants.
Do you know when the WN FA vote is over?
They had their TA in late October, right?
voting is supposed to end early December
Maybe the millionaire pilots should chip in some cash for the flight attendants…
I just completed a leisure trip on AA, 1st row first class both ways. Surprisingly got served a pre-departure cocktail going out. None coming back, but upon reaching high altitude, did get a strong pre-mixed one, followed by an unrequested but welcomed second strong cocktail.
Coming back on the small aircraft, entertainment was provided by 1st class air hostess, who looked like a former SI model, using her prison-matron voice to disallow roller bags of...
I just completed a leisure trip on AA, 1st row first class both ways. Surprisingly got served a pre-departure cocktail going out. None coming back, but upon reaching high altitude, did get a strong pre-mixed one, followed by an unrequested but welcomed second strong cocktail.
Coming back on the small aircraft, entertainment was provided by 1st class air hostess, who looked like a former SI model, using her prison-matron voice to disallow roller bags of several passengers, except for one exchange with a brutish salesman-like passenger. After a couple minutes of back-and-forth tik-tok-worthy words between them, the passenger prevailed, and took his roller bag on-board and behind me to economy class.
I don't have any big issues with AA staff.
Also, check-in counter staff were cheerful and efficient, both ways. And the staffer at the return check-in counter looked like a GQ model.
@BigTee, tell me you have no understanding of TikTok without telling me. Also, mentioning the appearance of AA staffers not once but twice in the same comment - the thirst is real….
Maybe the FA's should have trained for years to be pilots--instead of a job that pretty much anyone pulled off the street can do with only a few weeks of training.
Airlines on verge of bankruptcy? I think not! Higher prices, planes always full if not oversold, & baggage fee? They definitely should be able to strike with how long they’ve been without a contract. And I’m a former TWA flight attendant so there’s NO love lost here for AA anything after what they did to us!!
there’s this guy called JonNYC, damn he’s right again. he said day 1 there will not be a strike. i wonder why he got banned from flyertalk though.
Because he's an insufferable prick. If you ever question him, he'll slide in your DMs to berate you about how you're a moron and he's the only king of the airline industry.
For the strike to capture the attention of AA, it should have started just before Thanksgiving and run thru Xmas. The union has lost its leverage with a strike delayed till the 1st quarter of 2024.
As for the job being glamours, I think not!! Great for someone just out of school looking to travel. However, all the good routes (Europe, Asia, etc) are taken by senior FA based on a bidding process leaving...
For the strike to capture the attention of AA, it should have started just before Thanksgiving and run thru Xmas. The union has lost its leverage with a strike delayed till the 1st quarter of 2024.
As for the job being glamours, I think not!! Great for someone just out of school looking to travel. However, all the good routes (Europe, Asia, etc) are taken by senior FA based on a bidding process leaving the juniors multiple leg flights with the cabin door open more than shut during the day. Also, any union contract has a "Last Hired, First Fired" clause. The low man (or woman) on the totem pole is screwed again in a down turn.
Based on my past experiences, the AA flight attendants based out of Miami have been the most militant in both coach and 1st Class. Either a lack of service or complete indifference towards the passenger!! Yet, those based out of New York have been great. You don't gain empathy with this big a swing in attitude within the same airline.
The other airlines (both legacy and LCC) will act as an alternative should there be a strike. Those that cannot get a seat will hold malice towards AA till things settle down and FF points are disbursed like beads and trinkets at a Mardi Gras parade.
The worst part is those at the bottom of seniority will get the smallest increase in relative terms while those at the top (and the ones sitting at the bargaining table) will gain the most. Not an intriguing situation which breeds dissent among the new kids on the flight roster.