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?
Contract done. B6 is next.
There's still over 10k mechanics w/o a contract
Congratulations to the UA flight attendants. Very well deserved indeed!
Let's hope this pay improves UA's utterly lack of customer service. Some of the worst FAs work for this airline. Joke of an Airline, joke of a CEO as well.
I continue to be confused why we reward seniority after a few years. Flight attendant should be a job you do for a few years while you enjoy the lifestyle and see the world before handing the baton to a new generation to allow them the same opportunity. Its how they do it in so many other markets where its better!
A flight attendant in their 10th year on 31 July, 2027, will earn $71.37 per hour. Assuming they work 80 hours per month, that yields $68,515.20.
Assume $6,000/year for healthcare deductions from their annual gross pay (so this doesn't include the amount of $ spent to meet the annual deductible), $16,443 at a 24% annual federal tax rate (this doesn't include state taxes, as those vary wildly, from zero % to a lot %),...
A flight attendant in their 10th year on 31 July, 2027, will earn $71.37 per hour. Assuming they work 80 hours per month, that yields $68,515.20.
Assume $6,000/year for healthcare deductions from their annual gross pay (so this doesn't include the amount of $ spent to meet the annual deductible), $16,443 at a 24% annual federal tax rate (this doesn't include state taxes, as those vary wildly, from zero % to a lot %), and 9% per year for 401(k) (using 9% because this is roughly what UA matches; this assumption is high, because many can't afford to contribute 9% per pay period/year) is $6,166 annually (yes, they'll see this later, along with whatever pension for which they might be eligible, but we're looking at the cost of living real life right now).
The net deductions = $28,609
The net annual take home = $39,906
The net monthly take home = $3,325
They could take home a lot more money if they don't save anything and don't purchase health care, but as everyone knows, that will just cost them even more in the long run.
Everyone and anyone can change the assumptions and put in their own figures ("WhAt AbOuT oVeRtImE??¡¡???11??), but the numbers above are close to a baseline.
TravelinPenis.....too much time on your hands??
So basically you're saying that FA's under 10 years at AA and Spirit are probably homeless or live in a van down by the river.
@Alonzo -- 1/10 flight attendants for Alaska live out of their cars. Not far off.
So let’s get rid of the senior FAs and redistribute the pay to the juniors! They are generally providing better service anyway
I don’t think anyone making $68k a year is paying 24% in federal taxes. If you’re single, you only pay 10% on the first 12,400; then 12% on 12,400-50,400; then 22% from 50,400-105,700. That’s a blended rate of about 14% overall. But that doesn’t take into account deductions, so the actual rate would be even lower.
$3325 net per month is not bad, considering they do a job that can most charitably be described as "semi-skilled". They aren't operating on people's spines, FFS.
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.
Reason #1 for higher airfares is our moronic president engaging in a quixotic war in Iran with no end in sight… maybe your anger should start there instead of picking on FAs
So Stuart would rather Iran have nuclear weapons than a safer world? Ok, got it!
Israel has been saying that Iran is one or two years away since 1992 and that's only accounting for what's on record. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 20 times...
Oh no how dare a woman earn a fair wage, she should be back in the kitchen making Pete a sandwich because this is 1940. I wonder how many sexist men FAs have saved in emergencies and accidents, if only there was a way they could leave you behind.
Pete S its 2026 get with it. It's not 1954 anymore......
"Being a stewardess is not a skilled position."
Okay, go tell that to retired Pan Am flight attendants and don't be surprised at getting an earful from them at how stupid of a statement this is.
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.
You’ve never worked, have you?
Most corporations operate under what is called “pay for performance.” One starts with base expectations and needs to meet those for the time period being measured, typically one year.
At the end of that year, if one meets expectations, one will get an annual increase, typically a low single digit percentage.
If at the end of that year, one *exceeds* those expectations, one gets a higher raise. Nobody’s giving out...
You’ve never worked, have you?
Most corporations operate under what is called “pay for performance.” One starts with base expectations and needs to meet those for the time period being measured, typically one year.
At the end of that year, if one meets expectations, one will get an annual increase, typically a low single digit percentage.
If at the end of that year, one *exceeds* those expectations, one gets a higher raise. Nobody’s giving out giant raises in *hopes* that people will exceed the expectations. The larger raises are given *because* the employee exceeded expectations.
Airlines are largely outliers of this policy due to the fact that it’s very difficult to measure the performance of a flight attendant who may have had 150 different “managers” in one year on varying flight flights. Then again, airlines are one of the only industries that don’t pony up raises until years and years have elapsed.
You learned something new today.
Congratulations on discovering how the work world works, we're all so proud of you. It's genuinely fascinating that you think explaining the concept of corporate pay is a flex. You're not an educator, you're just a guy who brown nosed his boss so much that you became high from the fumes. I'll make sure your "Job Well Done" sticker is in the mail.
How about police and fire where pay is oriented around years of service.
Well given 31% is basically an inflation adjustment over the last 6 years and then boarding pay should have been paid all along, as long as your expectations are the same for performance as they were 6 years ago then sure. If you think that they should just provide better customer service because the airline decided to keep up with inflation after 6 years then I think you’re in for a surprise.
$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.
Jacob, yep! A barista at Starbucks is more skilled than these women.
along with all the other comments, keep in mind that
1) this is for fa's who have been at united for well over a decade
2) they aren't paid for a lot of downtime where they have to be at work - until this contract, they were only paid when the door on the plane was shut
Yeah Jacob.....isn't that funny......they are making more than you!!!!!
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.
Isn’t that an argument for flattening the structure though and capping seniority pay at a few years? We could have emirates levels of service for no additional costs
@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…