More than just a labor agreement
United Airlines’ tentative contract with flight attendants, announced this week, is hailed as the final move to make the United-Continental merger complete.
CHICAGO — United Airlines and its flight attendants have tentatively agreed to a new contract that would boost top pay rates by as much as 31 percent and, for the first time, cover all of the airline’s flight attendants under a single labor agreement.
A council of elected local union leaders with the Association of Flight Attendants unanimously approved submitting the agreement to United’s 25,000 flight attendants for ratification, the council said in a letter posted on the union’s website this week.
It was just last Friday that Chicago-based United and the union announced they had agreed on the terms of a new contract that would bring all flight attendants under a single labor contract for the first time since the 2010 merger between United and Houston-based Continental Airlines.
If ratified, the contract “will set new industry standards that push our careers forward as United Airlines seeks to restore our premiere status in the industry,” the council members wrote.
Base pay rates for flight attendants at the top of the pay scale would rise by 18 to 31 percent, with doubledigit percentage-point increases throughout the pay scale, said union spokeswoman Taylor Garland.
The tentative deal also includes profit-sharing, continuation of a flight attendant-specific health care plan with new medical plan options, and maintained and improved retirement plans.
United confirmed that the Association of Flight Attendants’ leadership council approved the tentative agreement in a notice on a company website.
A timeline for when the vote will occur was not immediately available. If the contract is ratified, some changes would take effect immediately, with the rest becoming active in September, Garland said.
If approved, a joint contract would help United “finally put the last pieces of its merger together,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.
Flight attendants from United and Continental would no longer operate under different work rules.
Currently, flight attendants from each premerger airline can work only with flight attendants from the same airline on aircraft assigned to their airline.
The inability to mix flight crews and aircraft makes it tougher for United to recover when it faces delays, said Brian Karimzad, director of MileCards.com.
“Basically, they’ve been running two airlines under the hood when it comes to flight crews and assigning flights,” Karimzad said.
“This could help United be a more reliable airline.”
A single contract should also improve the workplace culture, Harteveldt said.
“When you have separate groups with separate rules, compensation structures and cultures, it’s hard to create harmony,” he said.
At the company’s annual meeting this month, United CEO Oscar Munoz said the airline’s labor issues remain a top priority.
The airline recently negotiated separate deals with its pilots and dispatchers. United employees, including airport workers and security officers, ratified a new contract in April.
United is still working on a deal with its 9,000 mechanics.
Mediated discussions between United and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are scheduled through Thursday, according to United.