Labor Caucus Calls on American Airlines to Reach Fair Agreement with Flight Attendants

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chairs andLabor Caucus member Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) urged American Airlines executives to negotiate in good faith to ensure a timely and fair resolution in the company’s ongoing contract negotiations with its flight attendants.

American Airlines flight attendants have been engaged in contract negotiations for over five years, leaving them in limbo without an up-to-date contract or a pay raise in that time. Recent reports have indicated that the two parties are engaged in intensive mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB).

“Given the wide-reaching impact of a potential work stoppage at American Airlines—including for the constituents that we represent—it is important that American Airlines commits to reaching an agreement in these negotiations,” the members wrote in a letter to American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. “We have also heard concerns that management is intentionally dragging out negotiations, particularly given the prolonged length of these negotiations. Of course, we also note that flight attendants have not received a raise during this time, dating back to January 2019.”

According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), the union that represents American Airlines’ 27,000 flight attendants, pay for new-hire flight attendants at the airline starts at just $27,000 a year. Meanwhile, American Airlines operated nearly two million flights in 2023, generating a record revenue of nearly $53 billion.

The last time the NMB released airline workers under the Railway Labor Act was in 2010. Last month, Rep. Stansbury and the Labor Caucus led over 160 Members of Congress in calling on the NMB to use all of the tools at its disposal to encourage the resolution of prolonged contract negations before the Board.

A full copy of the letter can be found here.