Flight Attendants At American Get Their Raise After All

I’ll admit, I was a little surprised when I saw that management at American Airlines had agreed to give flight attendants the $81 million a year they lost in arbitration just a week ago.

This struck me almost immediately as a really solid decision by management.  Given that American Airlines generated almost $1 billion in profit in the most recent fiscal quarter, giving $81 million a year that the flight attendants collectively talked themselves out of certainly should help smooth the relationship further.  There were reports that some flight attendants were told that by voting no on the contract offer they could get a better deal in arbitration.  That was a virtual uncertainty.

The head of the APFA, Laura Glading, has been accused of being too cozy with management by some of her peers, but that relationship likely played at least a small part in making this happen.

The announcement came out a few days ago, but there was one item in the article I read that I was curious about:

To head off future disputes, the APFA board also adopted a resolution that limited any contract adjustment that would be triggered if United Airlines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. get pay raises in a new contract. That resolution said the board had the power to adopt such language without having to send it out to members for a vote.

It’s an interesting note that could be interpreted either way, but likely seems to be a concession (maybe minor) for management.  Maybe not a quid pro quo but it may be that everyone got a little something at the end of the day.

Up next? A pilot contract, hopefully.

The post Flight Attendants At American Get Their Raise After All  was published first on Pizza In Motion.

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