Update on Staffing Contract Situations for Major US Airlines

This busy summer travel period has been one of disruption due to ongoing pilot and staffing shortages that continue to plague airlines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contract disputes have only added to the headaches, as workers have threatened strikes and walkouts in hopes of securing a satisfying deal. With some groups having reached lucrative agreements and others still at the negotiating table, let’s catch you up on where the major carriers stand with their staffing this August.

Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines pilots voted to ratify a new three-year contract last October, with wage increases up to 23 percent depending on years of service. “Our goal was to negotiate an agreement where our pilots could make Alaska Airlines a lifelong career,” Captain Will McQuillen, Chairman of the Alaska Airlines Master Executive Council, said in a statement.

“This contract is good for our pilots and their families and also good for our airline.”

Meanwhile, Alaska and the flight attendant union are still far apart on pay, benefits, and work rule changes at the moment with their next negotiating session scheduled for mid-August.

American Airlines
American Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with its pilots after upping its offer to $9 billion over four years last month. The airline’s focus now shifts to its flight attendants, who are holding a strike vote this summer. The vote goes through August 29, with more than 26,000 flight attendants seeking pay increases.

“Flight Attendants are ready for an agreement that respects our contributions to the success of this carrier,” Association of Professional Flight Attendants President Julie Hedrick said in a statement.

“Our contract became amendable in 2019, and American’s flight attendants have not received cost-of-living increases or any other quality-of-life improvements, even as they played an essential part in keeping American in the skies both during and after the pandemic,” she added.

Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines pilots approved a new contract with raises of 34 percent back in March. That contract is worth approximately $7.2 billion over four years.

JetBlue
Pilots for JetBlue reached an agreement worth around $463 million at the start of 2023. Meanwhile, the airline and its flight attendants reached a five-year contract that was ratified in December 2021.

Southwest Airlines
Southwest remains in contract negotiations with its pilots. The airline’s CEO Bob Jordan confirmed that the carrier has been in regular negotiations with its pilots, noting that “there is no threat of an imminent strike or anything like that.”

Earlier this summer, Southwest’s flight attendants’ union leadership voted down the agreement in principle reached between TWU Local 556 and Southwest management. Negotiations began in November 2018 and have been in federal mediation for the past year.

Mediators are slated to resume discussions in January 2024.

United Airlines
This July, United Airlines and its pilots reached an agreement valued at $10 billion over four years. The contract would increase pay up to 40 percent and also provide improved job security, work rules, vacation, retirement and other benefits, in addition to higher compensation.

Nonetheless, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) and United still have just one tentative agreement after 21 months. AFA is currently waiting for United to provide initial proposals on compensation and expenses, transportation and lodging.