When boarding, the flight attendant welcomes you to join. They point you to your seat and help your luggage before conducting a safety demonstration and prepare the plane to take off. There is a good chance they will do it all for free.
But the tentative agreement between air Canada Thousands of flight attendants sparked hope that more airlines will end the little-known reality of many North American cabin crew and pay for flight attendants when the plane is not moving.
“The Canadian strike helped negotiations everywhere,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Aircraft Association (AFA)-CWA Association, representing about 55,000 flight attendants from 20 different airlines. said in a statement. “It defines the ridiculous expectation of the problem of the flight attendant working without a salary.”
More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants Leave Last month’s job battled management, the company focused on payroll during boarding and unloading.
Canada’s largest airline’s three-day strike roared global summer travel, prompting the government to force arbitration and lead to Tentative Agreement This includes a ground salary of at least 60 minutes before each flight, accounting for 50% of the hourly rate of the stewardess.
Nelson added that the demonstrations of workers and the salaries of Air Canada were “additional pressure to negotiate management everywhere”.
Air Canada said it would gradually increase the pay for an hour of aircraft and then fly for 70 minutes on a narrow fuselage plane, reaching 70% of its full salary in four years, thus reaching 70% of its full salary – making the pilot’s hope of adequate compensation for the work, but shifting from the practice of paying to the flight until the paid payment of the flight.
The Canadian Labor Congress president Bea Bruske said the agreement could be the basis for a “new norm” across the continent. “The deal became the new standard,” she said, agreeing because … other flight attendants who have the ability to demand better unions in the negotiation form will consider the collective agreement, saying ‘We hope that’. ”
US airline staff cover Railway Labor Lawwhich does not authorize direct payments per hour, with Fair Labor Standards Lawcovering most other public and private sector workers.
For a generation, most North American airline flight attendants have not yet obtained jobs during the boarding of the plane. Delta Air Lines became the first major airline in the Alliance Organization Drive in 2022 to change this round.
Subsequently, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. United Airlines said it was prepared to do so despite a tentative agreement in July, but it was bargained under federal mediation, which will be re-launched in December.
Things are changing. “Air Canada and its flight attendants agreed on a formula for ground salary that went beyond the formula introduced by Delta in 2022, after which the U.S. and Alaska agreed.”
The deal could impact contract negotiations for WestJet Canada flight attendants in 2026 and add Gradk and could provide an associated press with a window to ensure better boarding salary deals.
“Most of our passengers don’t know”
“We are working more, we are working hard, and we are not getting enough salary per month to pay the bill,” said Jen Sala, a long-time flight attendant at Frontier Airlines, who served as president of the AFA Union. “Every hour we work should be paid. Airlines should not choose the time they pay their employees.”
In September last year, about 4,100 flight attendants from Frontier Airlines voted 99.6% Agree, because they have been fighting for new contracts since 2023, including boarding wages for flight attendants. The union is currently conducting federal mediation with the airlines.
Frontier Airlines did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“We can fly 15 hours a day and only pay three and a half hours. Our flight attendant doesn’t make a living,” said Becky Black, a flight attendant at PSA Airlines, which operates aircraft for American Airlines. “We have a stewardess who lives in a homeless shelter. We have stewardess who live in the crew room. We have stewardess who are 30 years old and have to go back with our parents because they can’t afford the job.
“Most of our passengers don’t know that we can only get paid when the door is closed until it is opened.”
Unlike flight attendants directly employed in the United States, flight attendants working at PSA pay until the plane door is closed and the pilot releases the parking brake.
Black is a member of the PSA union negotiation committee, 1,500 flight attendants Negotiations are currently underway in airlines that have been negotiating new union contracts for two years.
Black said PSA’s flight attendant is expected to report 45 minutes before the flight and must arrive at the airport earlier to undergo a safety check. Their pre-boarding procedures, including security checks and boarding passengers, take at least 30 minutes.
“We’ve been on duty, but we haven’t been paid yet. We’ve been paid for flight time. When we landed and the doors were open, we stopped paying at this point and we went offline,” Black said. “Our time really has value, we’re really worth paying for our work. That’s where the boarding salary is.”
The airline’s union on behalf of the flight attendant’s union authorizes the strike 99.2% Voted last September and held several times picket The demonstrations were to raise awareness and support to ensure increased boarding salary and wages, consistent with other flight attendants in other U.S. crew contracts, as PSA flight attendants paid 40 to 45% more than Americans paid directly.
“When you’re afraid to fly, talk to you or hold a funeral of a loved one, we’re there to hold your hand to save your life if you have a heart attack or put out a fire at the flight center,” Black said. “We’re there to evacuate the plane in 90 seconds to make sure you’re all safe and connected with your family. We’re not going to be too big. We’re just asking for respect, to be respected for the work we do for American Airlines and have a livable salary.”
American Airlines did not respond to multiple requests for comment. PSA Airlines has not commented on boarding wage issues. “We have reached the same goal with our flight attendants to reach an agreement,” a spokesperson said. “With the support of the National Mediation Commission, we continue to meet regularly with the AFA and make progress to reach the agreement our flight attendants deserve.”
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A wellness enthusiast and certified nutrition advisor, Meera covers everything from healthy living tips to medical breakthroughs. Her articles aim to inform and inspire readers to live better every day.
