An employment confirmation letter from American Airlines going viral on Reddit and drawing attention because of how low starting salaries are for some newly hired flight attendants. The letter, which says a new American Airlines flight attendant will have a projected annual salary of $27,315 before benefits and taxes, has sparked conversations about fair flight attendant pay and how inflationary price increases are putting life out of reach for many Americans, even if the economy and labor market look good on paper.
The union representing American Airlines workers, called the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, confirmed the authenticity of the letter. CNN reportedwhich is issued to potential lessors or other services where flight attendants need to prove their employment and income.
Although the salary indicated in the letter is higher federal poverty line This figure, $15,060 for a one-person household, does not reflect the true cost of living nationally, which can be much higher in major metropolitan areas.
The union also calls attention to the low starting wages that qualify for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamp benefits for single-income families in several states, including Massachusetts And NY.
The union also calls attention to the growing problem of “corporate greed,” comparing flight attendant salaries to those of company CEO Robert Isom.
The starting salary for a new flight attendant is approx. $27,000 per yearwhich is only a fraction of the CEO’s income Last year it earned $31.4 million.– the amount is 1162 times the salary of the new service personnel.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to Fortune request for comment.
Of course, there are a number of issues between the union representing American Airlines flight attendants and management. According to a federal law called Railway Labor LawWorkers and union members in the aviation and railway industries are not allowed to strike without government permission. Federal mediation groups such as National Mediation Council, could give such permission by declaring an impasse in negotiations between American Airlines and the union group or allowing the union to call a potential strike.
The last contract negotiated was signed in 2014, according to the union. November update association, and employees have not had their salaries increased since 2019.
“Flight attendants are frontline workers who are bearing the brunt of inflation without the compensation needed to keep up with the industry,” the association said in a statement, adding that the quality of life for flight attendants “can be improved through a new collective bargaining agreement.” agreement.”
The union has recently been pushing for a new contract to increase hourly wages, joining flight attendants at other airlines, including United Airlines, Alaska Airlinesand Southwest, which are making similar demands.
Ensuring cabin crew are paid properly is especially important given that their work model involves long hours of unpaid work. On average, full-time flight attendants earn approx. 75 hours of hourly pay every monthand payment often officially begins only after airplane doors closingrather than compensation, which also takes into account the hours they need to be at the airport or on the plane during boarding.
“One of the most stressful parts of the flight is the boarding process,” the union wrote in a May 20 post. summaryadding: “We are not getting paid for this work yet.”
Providing housing fees, the union writes, “is an important step in addressing these historical inequalities”; other airlines have made these changes noticeably, albeit slowly. In June 2022 Delta Air Lines toll introduced for flight attendants, offering employees half their hourly rate during boarding school, after facing threats from a union campaign. However, Delta is the only major US airline whose Flight attendants are not union members.
The union is currently proposing wage increases of 33%, capped at $91 an hour, for the first year of the new contract, and 5%, 4% and 4% in the remaining years of the four-year agreement. It also calls for retroactive wage increases based on how much service workers have worked over the last five years of negotiations.
American Airlines “refused to reduce its top rate of $76 per hour plus landing pay and other improvements,” the union wrote in a summary, but the company included benefits such as landing pay, higher matching 401K contributions to Formula as pilot projects in its latest contract proposal to the union.