Flying with United Airlines: The Long-Awaited Pay Raise Battle Comes to an End!

United Airlines' New Agreement

After a long 5.5 years, United Airlines flight attendants have finally reached a pay raise agreement. This outcome follows the rejection of their previous contract last summer, and I'm optimistic this new deal will pass.

The flight attendants felt their salaries had diminished due to inflation and were unwilling to work for less than their counterparts at other airlines. Unfortunately, their union didn't effectively represent them, taking too long to negotiate the original contract while prioritizing American Airlines, which weakened their position at the National Mediation Board.

The Initial Contract's Failure

Many flight attendants protested the first contract negotiated by the union, with 71% voting against it. The union claimed they had maximized the contract's value from United, leaving only the rearrangement of expenses. This indicates that the new agreement would involve many compromises.

The new contract allows United Airlines to own a regional airline without needing to employ union members. While this doesn't necessarily mean more regional flights, it benefits United in exchange for better terms on hotel accommodations and limits on night flying duties.

The Pay Loss

United flight attendants still haven't achieved profit-sharing like non-union Delta flight attendants or what American Airlines flight attendants have, despite lower profits. In this agreement, they had to forfeit a substantial pay raise. The delay in reaching this new agreement has truly cost them.

The previously rejected contract included a pay formula of 4% for September to December 2021; 4% for 2022; 4% for 2023; 14% for 2024; and 25% for January to July 2025. In contrast, the new temporary agreement offers only: 4% for September to December 2021; 4% for 2022; 4% for 2023; 4% for 2024; 22% for 2025; and 25% for January to May 2026.

Salary Comparison

In 2024, there's a 10% pay decrease, meaning if a flight attendant earned $60,000 that year, they would have to pay back $6,000 under the new agreement. Additionally, the pay formula for 2025 is also lower.

Rejecting the original contract means flight attendants worked an additional 10 months at reduced pay. Therefore, the total payback amount in the current contract has increased—essentially, this is the savings United has accumulated during the waiting period.

The Costly Waiting Period

Due to the original contract, 2025 was set to include a 25% pay raise for January to July, plus an approximate 26.9% increase for August to December. This totals around 25.8% of 2025's income. The new agreement stipulates a total pay raise of only 22%.

Boarding fees were also lost during the waiting period and are not compensated in the new agreement. The rejected contract added about 7.3% to average salaries for boarding costs starting December 2025.

The Future for United Flight Attendants

The new agreement will officially take effect on May 31, 2026. This means flight attendants will have to wait a few more months to receive better pay.

While the working conditions in the new agreement have improved, it also means they sacrificed a year of higher wages and lost additional boarding fees. This agreement still provides United flight attendants with salaries that are on par with industry standards, but it doesn't fully reflect their hard work over the years.

In reality, the pay increase only matches inflation since the contract was signed five years ago. Real pay increases stemmed from boarding fees (which Delta added in 2022) and rest pay for long stays, but now the airline has less incentive to offer those.