Several weeks ago, we learned how United flight attendants had a new tentative contract, after a very drawn out negotiation process. There’s now a major update, as we’ve just learned that this contract has been ratified, which is huge news.
In this post:
United flight attendants ratify new contract
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) and United Airlines have announced that a new contract has been ratified for 30,000 flight attendants. For some background, in recent years we’ve seen flight attendants at most major airlines in the United States negotiate new contracts, following the pandemic.
Delta flight attendants aren’t unionized, so they get proactive pay raises, but don’t negotiate new contracts in the same way, since they don’t have collective bargaining. Meanwhile the only major airline where flight attendants haven’t received a new contract is United.
Around the middle of 2025, a tentative agreement was reached for a new contract at United. However, flight attendants ended up rejecting the contract in a vote, with 71% of the membership base voting against the contract. This has been a really drawn out negotiation process, and it has certainly caused some bad blood between management and the union.
Voting on the new contract took place between April 23 and May 12, 2026, and the results have just been announced. 88.85% of eligible flight attendants participated in the vote, and 82% of those voted in favor of the contract (I’m a bit surprised the turnout wasn’t even 90%, for something this important?). The new contact now takes effect as of May 31, 2026.
United has obviously been improving financially in recent years, and is increasingly moving out of American’s league and into Delta’s league. However, United has also had a major advantage when it comes to labor costs, given the number of employee work groups that don’t have new contracts.
Here’s how the head of United’s flight attendant union, Ken Diaz, describes this:
This marks a powerful demonstration of our collective strength, steadfast Solidarity, and determination to secure a better future for our careers.
Together, we have achieved a Contract that sets a new standard for our profession. This agreement delivers well-overdue Base Pay raises, with an average increase of 31%, plus added value in the form of Boarding Pay, Sit Pay, and a $741 million payout in Retro Pay.
This Contract brings meaningful change to United Flight Attendants. It not only addresses the economic gains we have earned, but it also introduces priorities that address quality of life improvements.
Our collective efforts made these achievements possible. But our fight is far from over. This Contract has set a strong foundation and precedent to shape our future. A launching point to build upon, improve from, and organize as we prepare for the next round of bargaining. We are a Union built on power, a power rooted in Unity, perseverance, and the unwavering belief in our collective strength.
We will continue to stand together, fight for our rights, and shape the future of our profession today, tomorrow, and for the generations of Flight Attendants yet to come.
Details of the new United flight attendant contract
Back in 2025 when flight attendants voted on the first contract, the agreement included the following (or so it was described):
- Industry leading compensation
- Industry leading retro pay
- Hotel, scheduling, reserve, and other quality of life improvements
- In the first year alone, flight attendants would gain 40% of total economic improvements
It was actually a very competitive contract, but flight attendants wanted an industry leading contract, and there were some specific provisions the membership base wasn’t happy about. It seems that with this updated contract, flight attendants can expect the following incremental improvements over the last contract:
- Improved base pay rates
- Restrictions on redeye flying
- Sit pay for scheduled and rescheduled sits of over 2.5 hours
- Increased retro pay
- Improved language in hotels and electronic notifications
For example, below is the new pay scale, looking at how rates evolve over the course of the contract.
With this contract, flight attendants also get retro pay dating back several years, which is a percentage of eligible earnings. For example, they get 4% pay for September through December 2021, 4% pay for 2022, 2023, and 2024, 22% pay for 2025, and 25% pay for January through May 2026.
Bottom line
United flight attendants and management have reached a new agreement on a contract, after the membership overwhelmingly rejected the 2025 contract proposal. This time around it was approved by a wide margin, so the new contract will soon take effect.
I’m happy for all the flight attendants getting raises, and I hope this gets rid of some of the tension between management and employees. For that matter, it’ll be very interesting to see how this impacts United’s financial performance as well…
What do you make of United flight attendants ratifying a new contract?
Reason number one for higher airfares. It boggles my brain that in this day and age that airlines pay these women 90K per year for serving drinks!
I’m all for everyone getting paid a fare wage, but let’s be honest. Being a stewardess is not a skilled position.
Good for them. Long overdue.
I'm glad they received their raise. Some will say it was overdue.
What we should be talking about is expectations of an improved customer experience. More pay means increased expectations of performance. Happy customers tend spend more money.
$100 an hour to hand me a drink and tell me how to fasten a seatbelt? WTF?
Next time you fly, please do tell them exactly how you feel, ideally before the serve you…
*clears throat*
“Drink up!”
To be fair also $100 an hour to tell you they can't do a service.
Clearly you have no idea what the job involves. I do. I've done it. Not at all easy. See your comment for a major reason why.
Let's see what the airline's financials will look like now. Probably more like AAs.
Out of sheer curiosity, do FAs who left (retired, resigned, etc.) in the past five years also qualify for retro pay? 'Cuz that's a motivation to drag out negotiations if not.
"Retro Pay", "Back Pay", a "Signing Bonus"... whatever you want to name it, is paid to flight attendants who are employed typically on the date the contract is ratified (unless some other date is spelled out in the contract). So, no - anyone who left prior does not receive it.
If we don’t antagonize you about the way you travel are we okay to be antagonistic about the way you talk about unions and how it’s, ehhhhhhh, say “simplified” over the years?
@ Sel, D -- Not sure what exactly you mean, but go for it... :p Are you saying I've become more or less favorable toward them, or...?
More favorable. You used to talk about how the position was so desirable and there’s an unlimited talent pool as compared to pilots which require extensive expensive specialized training. Now it’s more just FA’s deserve more money no matter what.
I also know your take on airlines charging what they can, so these contracts don’t change pricing, but didn’t we see the opposite just now with fuel cost increases? And aside from fares, don’t you...
More favorable. You used to talk about how the position was so desirable and there’s an unlimited talent pool as compared to pilots which require extensive expensive specialized training. Now it’s more just FA’s deserve more money no matter what.
I also know your take on airlines charging what they can, so these contracts don’t change pricing, but didn’t we see the opposite just now with fuel cost increases? And aside from fares, don’t you think they try to make up for the increased expenditures with things like service cuts or devaluing their milage programs?
@ Sel, D. -- I absolutely don't think they deserve more money no matter what.
First of all, let me point out that I similarly congratulated non-union Delta employees on their recent pay increases (as I consistently have), so there's not a union element to this.
Second of all, I congratulate United flight attendants on their pay increases because they were paid really, really poorly, at least on the low end of the scale. They...
@ Sel, D. -- I absolutely don't think they deserve more money no matter what.
First of all, let me point out that I similarly congratulated non-union Delta employees on their recent pay increases (as I consistently have), so there's not a union element to this.
Second of all, I congratulate United flight attendants on their pay increases because they were paid really, really poorly, at least on the low end of the scale. They still had pre-coronavirus contracts, and think of how much the cost of everything has increased since then.
As I wrote about a while ago, Emirates flight attendants are significantly better paid at the low end of the scale, and have so many fewer expenses:
https://onemileatatime.com/insights/emirates-flight-attendant-pay/
I don't think the spread in flight attendant pay should necessarily be as big as it is, but I think on the low end, pay needed to go up significantly.
@Sel,D - I think it's time for a nap.
UA's CASM is going to the moon!
Tim, is that you? CASM/RASM/Load factor…