American Airlines flight attendants ratify new contract with immediate raises topping 20%

American Airlines flight attendants approved a five-year labor deal, ending one of the industry’s most contentious contract negotiations and giving cabin crews raises of up to 20.5% at the start of October.

Eighty-seven percent of the American Airlines flight attendants who voted approved the contract, the union said Thursday, shortly after polls closed.

“This contract marks a significant milestone for our Flight Attendants, providing immediate wage increases of up to 20.5%, along with significant retroactive pay to address time spent negotiating,” said Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents the carrier’s roughly 28,000 cabin crew members.

Flight attendants are the biggest unionized work group at the Fort Worth-based airline.

The contract deal is a relief for American’s leaders, which had faced a strike threat from flight attendants if the two sides couldn’t get to a deal. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Julie Su had attended negotiations in June, overseen by the National Mediation Board. More than 160 lawmakers have also pushed the NMB to get to deals across the airline industry.

“Reaching an agreement for our flight attendants has been a top priority, and today, we celebrate achieving this important milestone,” American CEO Robert Isom said in a statement.

Flight attendants, like other airline workers, have pushed for higher pay and other work-rule improvements after the Covid-19 pandemic derailed negotiations and the cost of living has skyrocketed in recent years.

United Airlines and its flight attendants’ union are still negotiating for a new contract, while Alaska Airlines cabin crew members recently rejected a tentative labor deal.

Other industries have also won higher pay in new contracts, some of them after strikes, such as in the auto industry and in Hollywood.

Some 33,000 Boeing workers are voting on Thursday on a new contract with 25% raises, which some workers have said they will reject. Boeing faces a potential strike if the deal is rejected.