Dramatic Showdown: American Airlines CEO Grilled by Flight Attendants After Earnings Call
American Airlines flight attendants have asked the federal government’s National Mediation Board for permission to strike. This is the second time they asked. The first, which if granted would have allowed them to potentially strike over the Christmas holiday, was rejected.
Now the union is telling its members that there will be negotiations on February 5th, and a status conference with the National Mediation Board on March 13th where they’ll “be able to further make our case for a release” to strike.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) January 25, 2024
The union is asking to strike, and saying they will make a case that there’s an impasse in negotiations, several weeks before upcoming negotiations. This is posturing on the part of the union, which is in the midst of officer elections.
After the airline’s fourth quarter earnings call Thursday morning, CEO Robert Isom and top executives held a ‘State of the Airline’ session with staff, a recording of which is generally shared with me by several people. I haven’t reviewed the session yet. However, the flight attendants union posted their confrontation with Isom online – all wearing their red “W.A.R.” shirts, notably showing only the question asked and not his answer.
A third year flight attendant shares how she struggled with pay as a new hire based out of Boston (she’d have been eligible for food stamps). She “had to live with 12 other flight attendants just to afford housing and” food.
She offered,
Imagine dedicating your time, skills, and ENERGY to a full time job, only to find that the compensation falls short of providing a basic standard of living.
I’m not sure if she was surprised by the pay she was making at the job she applied for and accepted? What is challenging is that the contract became amendable in 2019. Flight attendants haven’t seen their incomes rise since then, but they’ve faced significant inflation in the economy.
American offered higher (Delta-level) wages at least four months ago. The union is pushing for more. Their officers can’t really compromise until they’re re-elected. And junior crew suffer most without a contract, because unlike pilots they won’t receive significant retro pay for the time since their last contract.
Under the deal currently offered, they’d receive wages equal to the top of the industry as well as new boarding pay and increased profit-sharing.
However, American Airlines makes less money than Delta so their profit sharing would be lower than Delta’s. For 2023 it’s equal just to 1.1% of wages whereas at Delta it’s more than an additional month’s pay.
Hopefully the sides can settle their differences. Under the current schedule we cannot see a strike before April, and it likely will not be a full strike. Flight attendants can’t afford to go very long without pay. So the union would instead target specific flights each day for no shows.
