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United & AFA reach preliminary deal on new contract
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) and United Airlines have revealed that they have come to a preliminary agreement on a new contract for 30,000 flight attendants. To provide some context, over the past few years, flight attendants from most major airlines in the U.S. have been negotiating new contracts in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Delta’s flight attendants are not unionized, which allows them to receive proactive pay increases, but they do not partake in the same contract negotiations due to the absence of collective bargaining. Presently, the only major airline where flight attendants have not secured a new contract is United.
Around mid-2025, a preliminary agreement was established for a new contract at United. Nevertheless, flight attendants ultimately rejected the contract in a vote, with 71% of the membership opposing it. This negotiation journey has been quite prolonged, leading to tension between management and the union.
The complete preliminary agreement will be submitted to union leadership on April 1, 2026, with complete details anticipated to be disclosed on April 3. If the leadership approves the contract, voting among flight attendants will occur between April 23 and May 12, with the new contract set to take effect as of May 31, 2026.
United has certainly shown financial improvement in recent years, progressively moving out of American’s space and into Delta’s domain. However, United also enjoys a significant advantage regarding labor costs due to the number of employee groups that lack new contracts.
United flight attendants are set to receive a new preliminary contract.
It will be intriguing to discover what this new contract entails.
Back in 2025 when flight attendants voted on the initial contract, the agreement included the following (or so it was portrayed):
– Industry leading pay
– Industry leading retroactive pay
– Enhancements in hotel accommodations, scheduling, reserve, and other aspects of quality of life
– In the first year alone, flight attendants would see 40% of overall economic enhancements
It was indeed a highly competitive contract, but flight attendants desired a contract that led the industry, and there were specific clauses that the membership found unsatisfactory. With the updated contract, flight attendants can anticipate the following advancements over the last contract:
– Enhanced base pay rates
– Limitations on redeye flights
– Sit pay for scheduled and rescheduled sits exceeding 2.5 hours
– Augmented retroactive pay
– Better provisions regarding hotels and electronic alerts
United’s management emphasizes that top wage rates for flight attendants will achieve $100 per hour by the conclusion of the agreement, establishing United flight attendants as the highest paid in the industry.
We do not yet have the particulars of the new contract, but for reference, below is the proposed pay scale shared during the 2025 contract discussions, and it’s indicated that rates have increased since then.
Proposed United flight attendant pay scale in 2025
In conclusion
United flight attendants and management have finalized a new preliminary agreement on a contract after the membership overwhelmingly dismissed the 2025 contract proposal. The full details of the new contract remain unknown, but it seems there are incremental enhancements compared to the previous iteration.
I hope flight attendants find satisfaction with this outcome and that it is ratified, alleviating the strain between management and employees. Additionally, it will be fascinating to observe how this affects United’s financial trajectory…
What are your thoughts on United flight attendants once more having a preliminary agreement?