Flight Attendants Tell Airlines: Don't Even Think About Concessions

[G_j]

https://www.labornotes.org/2020/07/flight-attendants-tell-airlines-dont-even-think-about-concessions

The COVID-19 crisis hit airline workers with speed and devastation. Passenger flow through TSA checkpoints fell 97 percent in March compared to a year earlier. In the months since, travel demand has only barely recovered, to 20 percent of a year ago.

Flight attendants know from hard experience the volatility of the airline industry and the harsh impact a crisis can have on airline workers. And this is a crisis like no other in the history of commercial aviation.

We know cuts to our contracts at any one airline set up a downward spiral for our careers. Instead, we’re getting ahead of any attempts by management. Flight attendants across the industry are united against concessions.

Together, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, and the Transport Workers Union—representing 80 percent of all U.S. flight attendants—signed an open letter making clear: “Concessions cannot and will not resolve the crisis in the industry. We are putting management on notice: don’t even think about it.”

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Flight attendant unions across the industry are letting airlines know in advance that they are unwilling to open their contracts for givebacks. Photo: Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

[2naSalit]

1. They all got so scewed tha last two or three times they did that...

Good on them for holding firm.

[North Shore Chicago]

2. Laughing at self

When reading the word "concessions" I thought they were talking about not serving snacks on the airline. D'oh! And....I support the flight attendants.

[gratuitous]

3. This is the power of a union

Because you know that if they didn't have to deal with a union, the airlines would just order each individual back to work at the threat of losing their job. But when the workers stand together, the big shots know they can't possibly get to full staffing for their flights because not enough workers would kowtow to their dictates.

Keep an eye on another union as push comes to shove for next month: Teachers.

[MichMan]

4. The article has nothing to do with forcing people back to work

It is about the airlines wanting concessions because business is down so much

[customerserviceguy]

5. So, which is it going to be?

A slightly reduced income for a greater number of employees, or the same income for a lesser number of employees?

Simply put, we're not going back to pre-Covid commercial aviation usage anytime soon. Families that used to take vacations requiring a flight are either going to be reluctant to do so, or too broke to even think about it. People who jumped on planes at the last minute to attend the funeral of a loved one aren't going to bother if they can't even get into the funeral home or the church for a memorial service. Businesses have learned how to do deals without air travel, as well.

We have way too many planes and airline employees for the foreseeable future. Something's gotta give.