American Airlines Flight Attendants Move Closer To Strike – Live and Let’s Fly

A week of negotiations in Washington, DC between American Airlines and the union representing flight attendants ended in an impasse. Now the union is warning its members that a strike is closer than ever, with only two hurdles left.

Without A Deal, Strike Looms On The Horizon For American Airlines Flight Attendants In July

Both sides met with federal mediators in the District of Columbia this week in an effort to avert a strike and hash out a deal. Flight attendants have not seen a raise since 2019, a period that has seen persistent inflation erode the value of those wages.

The union now expects the National Mediation Board to insist upon one more “last ditch” effort to resolve differences and ink a deal. If that fails, flight attendants will be authorized to strike after a 30-day cooling off period.

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— 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 (@xJonNYC) June 1, 2024

The current timeline suggests we could see a strike as soon as the second week in July.

As View From The Wing points out, demanding a higher profit share seems to miss the point when American Airlines loses money flying and just downwardly revised its 2024 earning estimates.

American Airlines flight attendants demand a “fair share of the profits” but I don’t think this is helpful framing.

They haven’t gotten a raise since 1/1/19 and have seen wages eroded by inflation. Southwest and Delta crew earn more than they do.

But American spends orders of… pic.twitter.com/YYblR8ZURS

— gary leff (@garyleff) May 31, 2024

The Politics Of This In An Election Year

All of this puts the Biden Administration in a very difficult position. It’s an election year and a strike over the summer that ruins the travel plans of thousands of Americans and goes viral in the media will not help the President’s message that the economy is on the right track. Biden counts organized labor as a critical ally and is not going to come out publicly against any union action, even if that includes a disastrous strike.

But you can bet his Administration will be doing everything it can behind the scenes to prevent this and from a consumer perspective that should be lauded if it diminishes the possibility of a strike.

A strike will benefit no one…not flight attendants, not other AA workers, not the airline, and certainly not consumers. I’m of the opinion that if AA CEO Robert Isom made $31 million last year despite the poor performance of AA, his front-line workers deserve a raise to keep up with inflation and avoid having to seek out public assistance. I’d still like to see a deal that gives greater raises and higher starting pay to junior flight attendants, some of whom are really scraping by right now (and yes, I am quite aware that they chose their profession but I am adamant that anyone who works full time should not need any public assistance or else something is very wrong with the system).

CONCLUSION

I’ve had Award Expert clients asking me already if they should reschedule their trips on American Airlines this summer. At this point, it is absolutely premature and I still predict that after more hand-wringing and faux outrage, a deal will be reached later this month. But it is undeniable the two sides are still far apart and flight attendants find themselves one step closer to a strike as we enter June.

image: APFA