Flight attendants at several US airlines are currently trying to negotiate new contracts. We’ve seen pilots at ratify new contracts with massive bonuses, and flight attendants are now trying to get in one the action as well.
Southwest Airlines flight attendants have just become the first flight attendants at a major US airline to ratify a new contract, and it’s incredibly lucrative, and sets the new standard for compensation in the industry.
Southwest flight attendants now best paid in industry
Southwest Airlines management and the union representing flight attendants (Transport Workers Union Local 556) have been in negotiations for a new contract for years, and it has been contentious. After endless negotiations, Southwest’s nearly 20,000 flight attendants have finally voted to ratify a new contract, worth $6.3 billion. 93% of eligible flight attendants voted, and 81% voted in favor of the new contract.
The new contract is a four year deal, which kicks in as of May 1, 2024, and becomes amendable as of May 1, 2028. It includes an immediate 22% pay increase, and raises of 3% in 2025, 2026, and 2027.
This also includes $364 million worth of retroactive pay, accounting for the delay in getting a new contract ratified. When you do the math on that $364 million number and the nearly 20,000 Southwest flight attendants, that means flight attendants will on average be getting over $18,000 in retroactive pay, which is huge.
This new contract not only includes pay increases, but also quality of life improvements. For example, Southwest will have an industry first paid maternal and paternal leave, including healthcare coverage while a flight attendant is caring for a newborn child.
With these pay bumps, Southwest flight attendants will be the highest paid in the industry. According to the union, Southwest flight attendants will on average earn 14% more than Delta flight attendants, who are about to receive 5% pay increases. Delta flight attendants aren’t unionized, and have the second highest pay in the industry.
Here’s how John Samuelsen, TWU International President, describes this new contract:
“This new TWU contract has so many significant improvements that its impact will resonate across the industry as carriers like United, Alaska, and American bargain with their Flight Attendants, who have been in contract negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) for several years. This is a significant victory for Flight Attendants industrywide and the TWU has once again proven that we are an incredibly effective voice for Flight Attendants.”
This contract will have implications for the industry
Like any unionized work groups, flight attendants engage in pattern bargaining. It can take a lot of time for the first work group to ratify a contract, since there’s no precedent they can go off of. However, once the first contract is ratified, other companies tend to follow pretty quickly. That’s what happened with pilot contracts, and now I’m sure it will happen with flight attendant contracts.
Flight attendants at other US airlines are also in the process of negotiating new contracts, with management at most airlines promising an industry leading deal. Well, we now know what industry leading pay looks like for flight attendants, and it’s going to be costly for the airlines (though pay increases are well deserved, in my opinion).
I’m curious to see how Delta handles this situation. Delta is the only major US airline where flight attendants aren’t unionized, and Delta has managed that by offering flight attendants among the best pay in the industry. Let’s see how quickly Delta offers flight attendants proactive pay raises, given that the risk of flight attendants unionizing keeps increasing.
Bottom line
After drawn out negotiations, Southwest Airlines flight attendants have finally ratified a new contract. Flight attendants will shortly be getting a 22% pay increase, with 3% pay increases in subsequent years. On top of that, they’ll get a significant amount of retro pay, averaging to over $18,000 per flight attendant.
Southwest flight attendants will now be the best paid flight attendants in the industry by a large margin. Since flight attendants at most US airlines are currently negotiating new contracts, this is the new standard. I imagine we’ll see flight attendants at other airlines ratifying new contracts in the near future as well, and I’m also curious to see how Delta reacts.
What do you make of this new Southwest flight attendant contract?
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