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An American Airlines flight attendants strike could be coming during one of the busiest flying periods of the year. Federally mediated negotiations between the airline and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants failed to result in an agreement Thursday. Under federal labor law, the union could be free to conduct a work stoppage on Labor Day weekend.
“Today, contract talks between the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and American Airlines ended without an agreement, moving 28,000 Flight Attendants one step closer to a strike,” the union said in a statement.
The APFA is fighting for, among other things, its first raise in five years since the expiration of its last contract and retroactive pay for raises not received during negotiations that were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In its latest annual report, American Airlines said 87% of its 129,700 full-time workers are unionized. Of that number, 23,200 are organized under the APFA.
Unlike most union negotiations, which are governed by the National Labor Relations Act, flight attendants follow rules established by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which more closely prescribes the actions available to unions covered by it because they deemed crucial to the flow of interstate commerce. When railway workers threatened to strike during heated 2022 contract talks, the government used its powers under the RLA to impose an agreement and stop them from doing so.
What happens next depends on a number of factors. According to a flowchart from the National Mediation Board (NMB), which has been overseeing talks between American and the APFA, a strike could come as soon as 30 days from now, or not at all:
✈️ The NMB will suggest that the parties involved submit to voluntary-but-binding arbitration.
✈️ If American or the APFA decline arbitration, they will be released from mediation and a 30-day status-quo “cooling-off” period begins, during which their current contract remains in effect.
✈️ During the cooling-off period, the parties enter a “super-mediation” period of intense negotiations. The Biden administration could also call a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB). If an agreement still isn’t reached after 30 days and a PEB is not established, the APFA would be free to strike.
✈️ If a PEB is established, it would investigate the dispute for 30 days and issue a report. The parties could use the PEB report as the basis for an agreement, or negotiate their own agreement. If neither of those things happen, the APFA would be released to strike 30 days from the issuance of the report.
American Airlines said it does not expect the NMB to release the APFA from mediation.
“We made good progress in negotiations this week, adding even more to the industry leading proposal we’ve had on the table for months,” the airline said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing negotiations so our flight attendants can benefit from the contract they deserve. This agreement is within reach and we look forward to additional dates being scheduled.”
But in a sign of how far apart the parties stand, flight attendants rejected a 17% immediate pay increase earlier this month because they are seeking a 33% increase.
The NMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on whether it plans to release the parties from mediation.
It is not immediately clear whether the Biden administration will step in to break a potential strike. The APFA has requested release from mediation several times already, and in May the union demonstrated in front of the White House to demand presidential neutrality. Besides the Labor Day weekend holiday, the other side of a 30-day window would also include what could be some of the busiest-ever flying days in U.S. history. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) noted last year that July 20, 21, and 30 saw three of the 10 highest-ever passenger screening volumes. July 20 is 39 days from today, and the TSA has already said that it expects this to be the busiest summer travel season ever.
For now, the APFA says that “flight Attendants at American Airlines will continue internal preparations to strike American Airlines guided by the negotiations process for airline and rail workers under the Railway Labor Act.”