United’s 30,000 flight attendants have voted to ratify a new five-year contract, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA announced Tuesday.
The agreement provides a 31% average wage increase for flight attendants, plus boarding pay and $741 million in retroactive pay. The AFA said boarding pay represents an additional 7-8% of total compensation on average.
Eighty-two percent of the union’s United chapter voted in favor of the contract. A mediator from the National Mediation Board assisted, union officials said.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United flight attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” AFA United President Ken Diaz said in a news release. “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”
According to the AFA, the new contract will improve job security by limiting Express flying, codesharing, and revenue sharing.
Other benefits include sit pay for scheduled and rescheduled sits of over 2.5 hours; per diem and 401(k) contribution increases; 10 weeks of paid maternity leave and two weeks of paid parental and adoption leave; and restrictions on red-eye flying.
United and the AFA announced the new contract in March, about eight months after flight attendants rejected a previous offer that would have raised wages by at least 26%.
United’s flight attendants have not had a contractual pay increase in almost six years.
