Q: The commitment from management on industry leading pay is great news! However, pay rates are only part of the picture – are we sacrificing work rules and benefits for leading pay rates?
Although we have not yet begun negotiating economic components of the contract, management committed to top of the industry rates (announced here). In addition to pay scale increases, our Opening Proposal included proposed improvements to benefits and work rules, including boarding pay, delay pay, over-duty premiums, trip trading rules, retirement match, per diem, and more. We oppose increasing the duty day or 4K distance, and hope to eliminate the 480 requirement (addressed here).
We have no intent of focusing solely on pay scale increases. We recognize pay rates are important, but without proper benefits or work rules, industry leading pay rates would still leave our workgroup behind other airline Flight Attendants. We will continue pushing for these improvements in future negotiation sessions, alongside increases to our pay scale.