Fight attendants at American Airlines have won a pay rise of nearly 33% over the course of a new five-year tentative agreement that was unanimously approved by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) on Thursday.
The tentative agreement, which has been years in the making, has now been sent to flight attendants at the Fort Worth-based carrier ahead of a vote to find out whether frontline workers also support the proposal.
American Airlines has offered an immediate pay raise of between 18% and 20.5% if the tentative agreement is approved, followed by a 2.75% raise after year one, a 3% pay raise after years two and three, and a final 3.5% pay raise in the fifth and final year of the agreement.
In addition, flight attendants will receive boarding pay for the first time in the form of a top-up payment of up to $100, depending on how many years they have worked for the carrier.
New hire flight attendants will see hourly wages increase from $30.35 today to $35.82 if the tentative agreement. Senior flight attendants with at least 13 years of service will see their hourly wage increase from $68.25 to $82.24 and top out at more than $92 per hour at the end of the five-year contract.
The agreement favors veteran crew members, with only the most senior flight attendants earning an immediate 20.5% pay raise. Flight attendants with up to six years of service will receive an 18% pay raise, while crew members with between seven and 12 years of service will earn an immediate 19% raise.
The union says it has managed to negotiate “industry leading rates of pay” which, together with the boarding pay premium, represents a total pay raise of 36.6% over the duration of the agreement.
In addition, the agreement also includes retro pay to cover the time since 2020 when the flight attendant contract became amendable.
American Airlines had until recently refused to improve upon its offer of an 11% pay raise over the course of a four year contract which didn’t include retro pay,.
However, in recent weeks, and under increasing pressure from federal mediators, American Airlines added “billions of dollars” of value to their proposal. The change of heart came during make-or-break bargaining sessions, which could have ended in the National Mediation Board approving a crippling flight attendant strike.
In the end, the two sides managed to thrash out a deal earlier this month during secretive bargaining sessions in Phoenix.
“Our goal throughout these negotiations has been clear. We vowed to take on American Airlines management, to fight for the best contract we could achieve and to squeeze every penny out of this management team,” the union told its members on Friday.
“We secured objectives such as boarding pay, increased per diem, a sit rig, improvements in sick leave payout upon retirement, and many improvements in scheduling and reserve,” the message continued.
In total, the union claims the agreement adds $4.2 billion in pay and benefits for flight attendants, along with a new and improved profit-sharing scheme.