Union and Flight Attendants Push for Better Pay as Living Costs Rise

Flight attendants serving passengers.

Some American Airlines flight attendants say they are forced to live in their cars because they can’t balance the high cost of living in some areas with their paycheck if they are required to live in major metro areas.

Not even a 17 percent offer from American Airlines management to increase pay is enough for some flight attendants who are earning only $27,000 a year. The flight attendants’ union argues that is especially true if the flight attendants are forced to live in major metro areas surrounding New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, for instance.

Flight attendants at several airlines, including American, are in negotiations for a new contract. The union estimates there are 80,000 workers currently embroiled in contract negotiations.

Several thousand of them staged a coordinated picket at 30 airports earlier this week to protest.

“Flight Attendants cannot afford to wait any longer for these agreements and neither can the airlines,” said Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, representing nearly 55,000 Flight Attendants at 20 airlines. “We’re done with hollow platitudes about how much Flight Attendants are ‘appreciated.’ Airlines need to get serious and reach agreements with us immediately. If not, we’re ready for next steps under the Railway Labor Act.”

Some American Airlines flight attendants find themselves in a catch-22. Even with the proposed increase from American Airlines, they are above the limit in some states to qualify for food stamps. The 17 percent pay increase offer was rejected by the flight attendants, some of whom, the union says, are fighting for extra shifts just to get the free meal when available.

American Airlines management even went as far as to issue some poverty verification letters to some flight attendants.

Earlier this week, 32 Senators called on the National Mediation Board to end delays and allow airline workers to strike if agreements can’t be reached.