• American Airlines and the airline’s flight attendants agreed to a new five-year contract.
• The Association of Professional Flight Attendants said that in a vote of 95% of eligible flight attendants, 87% were in favor of the new deal.
• The new contract includes industry-leading pay rates, pay increases for subsequent years, compensation for long wait times between flights, and addresses many of the quality of life aspects that flight attendants have fought for.

American Airlines flight attendants have signed a new five-year contract with the airline, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) announced on Thursday.

The union said 95 percent of eligible flight attendants cast their votes, with 87 percent of them in favor of the new deal.

Over the past two years, unions in the aerospace, construction, aviation and rail sectors have campaigned for higher wages and better benefits in the face of tight labour markets.

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Flight attendants also called for an end to the industry practice of not compensating crew for time spent boarding and waiting at the airport before and between flights.

An American Airlines airliner flies over Washington, DC, on approach to Dulles International Airport on August 5. (Reuters/Umit Bektas/File Photo / Reuters)

“Among the many improvements, we’ve made are a new seat to compensate for long periods of sitting between flights, and American Airlines flight attendants are the first unionized labor group to secure boarding pay,” said Julie Hedrick, APFA national president.

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The agreement reached in July provides for immediate wage increases of up to 20.5 percent and retroactive payment to compensate for the time spent on negotiations.

In addition to industry-leading wages, the new collective agreement also provides for wage increases for subsequent years and addresses many aspects of the quality of life that flight attendants have long wanted, the union said.

Contract negotiations began in January 2020, but were paused at the height of the pandemic and resumed in June 2021.