United Airlines flight attendants overwhelmingly approved a new five-year contract Tuesday, delivering their first base-pay increase in six years and making United the latest major carrier to compensate crew members for work performed during passenger boarding. The ratification, announced by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), covers nearly 30,000 flight attendants and includes an average 31% pay raise that takes effect this summer, plus boarding pay that the union estimates will add 7% to 8% to total compensation.
The contract also provides $741 million in retroactive pay, according to the union, along with expanded job security provisions, restrictions on the frequency of red-eye flying, pay for lengthy delays exceeding two and a half hours, higher retirement contributions, 10 weeks of paid parental leave, and the elimination of 24-hour on-call reserve schedules.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” Ken Diaz, president of the union’s United chapter, said in a statement. “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”
Boarding pay has been a central demand across the airline industry for years because flight attendants regularly assist passengers, resolve seating and carry-on issues, conduct safety checks, and prepare the cabin — all while off the clock before the boarding door closes. Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. carrier to offer boarding pay in 2022, followed by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Last August, roughly 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job over the same issue, grounding more than 3,100 flights before a breakthrough deal that included boarding pay.
Sara Nelson, the AFA’s international president, said the United agreement sets a new benchmark. “The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for Flight Attendants — and it should,” Nelson said.
United CEO Scott Kirby endorsed the deal in a LinkedIn post. “I am very happy that they now have the industry-leading contract that they deserve,” Kirby wrote, adding that the airline is “lucky to have the best flight attendants in the world to represent our airline!”
The contract was negotiated with the help of mediators from the National Mediation Board and ratified May 13. The union said the agreement’s boarding-pay provision, retroactive compensation, and quality-of-life improvements reflect growing pressure across the sector to compensate flight attendants for all time on the job, not only time in the air.