CHARLOTTE, N.C. — American Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), will hold picketing events Tuesday at 11 flight attendant bases across the country to bring attention to, what they say, is management's continued rejection of contract proposals.
One of the pickets was at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. They said they were hoping to send a clear message to airline management, they want a new contract and changes to work rules and pay.
“We’re going to have to force management to stop rolling over us. It’s not going to stop until we all stand up together,” Jeff Reisberg, a flight attendant with American Airlines said at the picket.
The APFA said it’s been three years since they’ve had a new American Airlines contract and they’re looking for several big changes.
"American management has repeatedly stated that revenue and passenger demand has never been stronger," Julie Hedrick, the national president of the APFA, said. "Flight Attendant work schedules are built to the limit with reduced rest, allowing for little leeway when weather events affect our hub cities and your flights. Operational recovery takes longer, and our crews and passengers suffer."
The APFA union says pay hasn't increased the match the rising cost of living.
Staffing shortages because of the pandemic have led to canceled and delayed flights, and flight attendants say it impacts both passengers and flight crews.
“We don’t get paid for delays; we are just as upset about them as passengers are," Uschi Woronin said. "We’re only paid for our flight time so when we’re out in the airport for a day, a day-and-a-half, sitting around we’re not getting paid. It’s hard on us as well, we want those flights to go out on time."
“We’re being worked to our very limits and a lot of that work is unpaid,” Reisberg said. “We’re only paid when the doors are shut on the airplane. So, all the time between flights where we’re boarding where we’re disembarking that’s not paid time.”
Flight attendants are hopeful an agreement is reached soon to avoid a strike.
“I would not rule that out as an impossibility in the future,” Reisberg said.
Flight attendants are governed under the Railway Labor Act, so mediation, reaching an impasse and a 30-day cooling-off period would be necessary before a strike could actually take place.
“With no warning to management at all, certain flights will be canceled, and crews will just walk off," Reisberg said. "So, most of the operation will run but you’ll never know which flights are going to be affected. We really don’t want to do that but it’s possible it will come to that."
Despite wanting these changes, the flight attendants told WCNC Charlotte it will not impact the upcoming holiday travel season.
American Airlines provided WCNC Charlotte with the following statement:
"American’s flight attendants are the best in the business, and like all our team members, deserve to be paid well and competitively. We continue to meet regularly with the Association of Professional Flight Attendants to reach an agreement that benefits both our flight attendants and operation, and we respect the right of our flight attendants to participate in informational picketing. Tomorrow’s picketing will have no impact on our operation."
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