Labor disputes are never easy to solve, but for a few reasons they are particularly tricky to handle in the airline industry.
For one, news about the possibility of strikes makes potential passengers scheduling travel understandably skittish.
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In addition, the federal Railway Labor Act requires airlines and unions at loggerheads to enter a mediation process. Unions can opt to request a release from mediation, but even if that is granted a 30-day cooling off period is required.
In the current spotlight are negotiations between airlines and flight attendants.
In a positive development for Southwest Airlines LUV, its flight attendants reached a tentative agreement on a new contract Oct. 25.
At American Airlines AAL, flight attendants are currently negotiating with federal mediators to find some common ground.
Talks between the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and American began in 2019 before they were put on hold by the pandemic. They resumed in August 2021.
“Flight attendants are calling for an immediate 33% hike in wages to cover the cost of living increases since their pay was last adjusted in 2019, and then annual bumps to increase their pay by a total of 50% over the next four years,” reported Business Traveler on Oct. 31. “The initial increase would take the starting wage for an American Airlines flight attendant from $30.35 per hour to $40.37.”
An American Airlines plane on an airport tarmac.
Image source: Shutterstock
The next steps could get serious
The AFPA suggested it is targeting Nov. 17 as the day it may request a release from those talks, which could begin the 30-day cooling off period.
And that puts possible strike action for the flight attendants at American Airlines right near the holiday peak travel season in December.
“Time’s up. At last week’s negotiations session, negotiators for American Airlines showed up with no response to our comprehensive economic and non-economic packages,” said Julie Hedrick, National President of APFA, according to Business Traveler. “Our flight attendants have overwhelmingly authorized a strike, and we will move the process forward and prepare for a strike if necessary.”
“The ball is firmly in management’s court,” she continued. “If American Airlines management has no change in position, simply put that in writing so we can move the process forward. If they don’t have a proposal, we have a deadline, and failure to meet that deadline will result in a request to the NMB to be released.”
Some of American’s flight attendants may be frustrated
In this environment, one American Airlines passenger noticed something that could be a sign of some flight attendants’ growing dissatisfaction.
Lori Soler posted the following photo on X (formerly Twitter) on Oct. 30 of seatbelts positioned to apparently block passengers from the galley area.
Hey @AmericanAir. Do @FAANews, @FAASafetyBrief, @USDOT, and @Transport_gc allow your crews to block off access to rear exits DURING flight so your FA’s can sit and chat ? Seatbelt harnesses connected together. AA2804 DFW-YYZ, 29 Oct 2023. #safetyfail, #clueless, #infuriating pic.twitter.com/iGJ1KUVJaj
— Lori Soler (@lorikaycan) October 31, 2023
American appeared to take this seriously enough that it replied on X.
“Thanks for allowing us to take a closer look,” it wrote, under its @AmericanAir handle. “We’ll share your photos with our inflight leadership team for an internal review.”
One airline expert, Gary Leff of View From the Wing, offered his own explanation of the spectacle.
Being happy at work requires being well (or at least fairly) compensated. But it also includes feeling like you’re on a mission that’s bigger than yourself, doing something important. And it requires respecting your colleagues, feeling that you’re in this together trying to build something.
Right now American Airlines flight attendants are in confrontation mode over contract negotiations. But threats of a Christmas strike are just about pay.
The airline has been lacking a clear purpose to rally around other than not spending a dollar they don’t need to. And there’s no mechanism to remove the bottom 1% of performers who make life more difficult for all other employees, making them pick up the slack and demoralizing them.
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