This week, American Airways CEO Robert Isom introduced that he was ready to offer pilots huge raises, which can see some senior captains making $590K per 12 months. Not surprisingly, different work teams need huge raises as nicely, as first famous by Paddle Your Personal Kanoo.
What American flight attendants are demanding
American flight attendants have been negotiating a brand new contract, however haven’t but come to an settlement with administration. The Affiliation of Skilled Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents all flight attendants at American, has now unveiled a brand new proposal. The union is requesting:
- A 35% pay enhance as of the day the contract is signed, with additional 6% annual pay will increase in subsequent years, at some point of the contract (which is three years)
- A rise in reserve ensures, in order that when a flight attendant is on reserve for a month, they receives a commission for at least 82 hours, somewhat than 75 hours
- A rise in premiums paid for language audio system, for worldwide flights, and for these working galleys
- Boarding pay, whereby flight attendants are paid 50% of their common hourly pay throughout boarding
- New evening pay, whereby flight attendants are paid further when working home flights at evening
- A rise in per diems, in order that flight attendants obtain extra money for every hour they’re gone from dwelling
- A rise in revenue sharing, from the present 5%, to 10% of pre-tax earnings as much as $2.5 billion, and 20% above that
For these curious, beneath is a chart that exhibits present hourly flight attendant day, plus the proposed pay beginning the date the contract is signed.
My tackle the flight attendant union calls for
It’s not stunning to see the flight attendant union use this chance to attempt to negotiate a brand new contract, particularly given how severe administration appears about giving pilots a brand new contract. Admittedly that is only a proposal, and you’ll nearly definitely guess that there shall be some negotiating right here.
What’s my take? On the one hand, I can’t blame flight attendants for aiming excessive right here. Why wouldn’t they? It’s sort of a slap within the face to different labor teams when pilots (already the most effective paid workers on the airline) are being provided completely huge pay raises, whereas flight attendants proceed to have not-great pay.
With the brand new contracts pilots are getting, a senior captain would make about seven or eight occasions as a lot as a senior flight attendant. That’s… fairly a pay distinction.
Alternatively, on some degree this displays provide and demand. The fact is that there’s a unending record of candidates who need to turn into flight attendants. Coaching takes a number of weeks, so the potential labor pool there may be fairly massive.
In the meantime in the intervening time there’s a pilot scarcity, and so they can also’t simply get replaced. Coaching to turn into a pilot from scratch takes years, so realistically that scarcity will live on for some period of time. Merely put, proper now pilots have much more leverage than flight attendants.
Backside line
The union representing American flight attendants is demanding completely huge pay will increase. The union desires 35% pay will increase throughout the board, then 6% annual pay will increase after that, then boarding pay, then elevated revenue sharing, after which elevated pay for every kind of capabilities, starting from language audio system, to nighttime flying.
I can’t blame American flight attendants for making all these requests, given what pilots are getting. All these pay will increase appear unsustainable. As I defined in a separate put up, the incremental pay American pilots shall be getting is larger than American’s annual internet revenue throughout the “better of occasions” (pre-pandemic).
What do you make of this request from the flight attendant union?
