United Airlines Flight Attendants Take Step Toward Strike — 99.9% Vote Yes

Skift Take

United flight attendants are the latest to vote overwhelmingly for a strike as flight attendant negotiations have become particularly contentious this past year.

Meghna Maharishi

United Airlines flight attendants voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike as tensions with management rise. 

The results of the vote were announced Wednesday afternoon as United flight attendants picketed at airports across the country. According to the Association of Flight Attendants, 99.9% voted in favor of the strike, with over 90% of members participating in the vote. 

This is the first time United flight attendants have voted for a strike authorization since the carrier came out of bankruptcy in 2005.

Despite the vote, United flight attendants can’t immediately strike. Under the Railway Labor Act, there’s a 30-day “cooling off” period before any strike can occur. And even then, the National Mediation Board would need to release United flight attendants from negotiations, which seems unlikely. 

Flight Attendant Negotiations Get Heated

Flight attendant negotiations this past year have been contentious. Unions at Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines also voted for a strike and Delta’s flight attendants are in the middle of a union organizing campaign. 

So far, only American and Southwest have reached contracts with their flight attendants. Alaska flight attendants recently rejected a new contract, with its union saying, “There is more work to do.” 

Negotiations with American’s flight attendants reached a tipping point in June, when its union began opening “strike command centers.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su eventually joined part of their talks. 

United Airlines Flight Attendants Picket Over Pay, Working Conditions

In April, United flight attendants picketed at LaGuardia Airport, along with other airports in the U.S. and U.K. At the protest, flight attendants expressed frustration over United CEO Scott Kirby’s $19 million compensation package in 2023. United flight attendants haven’t received a raise since 2020. 

United said it was eager to reach a contract with its flight attendants. 

“We continue to work toward an industry-leading agreement for our flight attendants, including negotiations this week and every month through November,” the carrier said in a statement. “Both sides have been actively engaged in these negotiations facilitated by the federal mediator requested by the union.”