An employment affirmation letter from American Airways is being shared on Reddit and is gaining consideration due to how low the beginning salaries are for some just lately employed flight attendants. The letter, which claims {that a} new American Airways flight attendant will make $27,315 a 12 months earlier than taxes and incentives, has sparked conversations about truthful wages for flight attendants and the way rising inflation is making life unaffordable for a lot of Individuals, even because the financial system and labor markets look good on paper.
The union that represents American Airways staff, known as the Affiliation of Skilled Flight Attendants, verified the authenticity of the letter, CNN reported, issued to potential landlords or different providers the place flight attendants must confirm their employment and revenue.
Whereas the wage reported within the letter is above the federal poverty line of $15,060 for a one-person family, the determine doesn’t mirror the true price of residing nationally, which may be a lot greater in main metropolitan areas.
The union can also be calling for a low beginning fee that, for a single-income household that meets eligibility standards for the federal Supplemental Diet Help Program (SNAP) or meals stamps in a number of states, together with Massachusetts and New York.
The union additionally attracts consideration to the rising downside of “company greed”, drawing a comparability between the wage of a flight attendant and that of the corporate’s CEO, Robert Isom.
The brand new flight attendant’s beginning wage is about $27,000 a 12 months, only a fraction of the $31.4 million the CEO made final 12 months, which is 1,162 instances the wage of a brand new flight attendant.
American Airways didn’t instantly reply Fortunes request for remark.
To make certain, there are many points between the union that represents American Airways flight attendants and administration. Beneath a federal legislation known as the Railroad Labor Act, airline and railroad staff and union members are barred from hanging with out authorities approval. Federal mediation teams, such because the Nationwide Mediation Board, can grant such permission by declaring an deadlock in negotiations between American Airways and a union group, or permitting the union to proceed with a possible strike.
The union’s final negotiated contract was signed in 2014, in line with a November replace from the affiliation, and staff haven’t obtained raises since 2019.
“Flight attendants are front-line staff who bear the brunt of inflation with out the compensation wanted to maintain tempo with the business,” the affiliation wrote in a press release, including that the standard of life for flight attendants “may be improved with a brand new collective bargaining settlement “.
The union just lately pushed for a brand new contract to extend hourly wages, becoming a member of flight attendants from different airways, together with United Airways, Alaska Airways and Southwest, in making related calls for.
Making certain that flight attendants are correctly paid is especially necessary on condition that their work mannequin entails many hours of unpaid work. On common, full-time flight attendants solely obtain about 75 hours of hourly pay every month, and sometimes pay does not formally start till after the airplane doorways shut, moderately than compensation that additionally takes into consideration the hours they need to be on the airport or on the airplane throughout boarding.
“One of the vital worrying components of flying is the boarding course of,” the union wrote in a Might 20 abstract, including, “however we’re not paid to do that work.”
Making certain boarding is paid, the union wrote, “is a vital step in addressing this historic inequality”; different airways specifically are making these adjustments, albeit slowly. In June 2022, Delta Air Strains applied a pay for flight attendants, providing staff half their hourly fee throughout boarding, within the face of threats from a union marketing campaign. Delta, nonetheless, is the one main US airline whose flight attendants usually are not unionized.
The union is now providing a 33% wage enhance capped at $91 an hour in the course of the first 12 months of the brand new contract, with wage will increase of 5%, 4% and 4% for the remaining years of the four-year settlement. It additionally desires retroactive wage will increase based mostly on how a lot work workers have performed previously 5 years of negotiations.
American Airways “refused to cut back the highest fee of $76 an hour, in addition to boarding pay and different enhancements,” the union wrote within the abstract, however the firm included advantages similar to boarding pay, greater 401k matching contributions and distribution revenue. as pilots in its newest bid for a union contract.
