Association Of Professional Flight Attendants
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) is a labor union which was founded in 1977 and represents over 28,000 flight attendants at
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
. In 2003, APFA played a major role in keeping American Airlines solvent and out of bankruptcy by giving back an employee bailout of $340 million in annual salary and benefits, for a total of over $3 billion. APFA had been in negotiations with American for almost four years when the carrier filed for chapter 11-bankruptcy protection on November 29, 2011.


Strike of 1998

More than 90 percent of the 21,000 members honored the 11-day strike called on November 18, virtually shutting the airline down. On November 22 President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
intervened in the
labor dispute A labor dispute is a disagreement between an employer and employees regarding the terms of employment. This could include disputes regarding conditions of employment, fringe benefits, hours of work, tenure, and wages to be negotiated during ...
and persuaded both sides to submit to binding arbitration ending the 11-day strike on its 5th day.


American Airlines Bankruptcy

After years of losses, plunging
capital stock In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory. At the macroeconomic level, ...
prices, contract negotiations, and failed business strategies, in November 2011,
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
filed for
Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Arpey resigned as
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
and was replaced by longtime American executive Tom Horton. Shortly after the filing, in December, the US Trustee appointed the Unsecured Creditors Committee (UCC). All three of the unions on the property were awarded a seat, as were the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a United States federally chartered corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private defined ...
(PBGC),
Boeing Capital Boeing Capital is a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, providing Commercial Aircraft Sales and Leasing, aircraft leasing and lending services. Boeing Capital is made up of two divisions, Aircraft Financial Services and Space & Defense Fin ...
,
Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...
, and three major bond-holders. The UCC represented the interest of parties who were owed money by the bankrupt company and who did not have any collateral standing behind their claim. The committee became the de facto Board of Directors throughout the restructuring. Although the APA and TWU sent representatives to the UCC, Laura Glading, president of APFA, chose to sit on the committee herself. In February 2012 American released its Term Sheets detailing the concessions it would seek from labor under Section 1113 of the Bankruptcy Code. Section 1113 allows for bankrupt companies to void their labor contracts and impose new concessionary agreements with only the approval of the Judge necessary. Typically, the threat of imposed draconian contracts motivates unions to achieve mutual agreements on concessionary contracts. In March 2012, facing pressure from APFA, Allied Pilots Association (APA),
Transport Workers Union of America Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) is a United States labor union that was founded in 1934 by subway workers in New York City, then expanded to represent transit employees in other cities, primarily in the eastern U.S. This article disc ...
(TGWU), the PBGC and others, American backed off its original demand to terminate pensions and instead offered to freeze them. The pension freeze allowed employees to keep full benefits accrued before the time of the freeze. In April 2012 APFA, APA, and TWU announced that they had reached agreements with the management team of US Airways and that the three major unions at American supported a merger between the two carriers with the US Airways team in control. APFA’s bridge agreement with US Airways provided a temporary contract while the two carriers merged followed by a guaranteed network-rate contract. Additionally, the agreement included a Voluntary Early-Out Program that allows flight attendants to take a lump sum payment and retire. In August APFA approved management’s Last, Best, and Final Offer (LBFO). Although the LBFO represented substantial improvements to the term sheet, including the VEOP, it was still a very concessionary agreement. APFA, APA, and TWU remained committed to achieving a merger with US Airways inside of bankruptcy. As part of this strategy, TWU also ratified a concessionary deal. APA rejected its first tentative agreement (TA) but a “Me Too” letter, secured by APFA, guaranteed that the labor savings from the Pilots Agreement were equivalent to the savings achieved in the flight attendants’
collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
(CBA). In September
US Airways US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...
and American began to exchange confidential information regarding operations and finances. This cooperation was subject to a
Non-Disclosure Agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at le ...
(NDA) between the two parties which included a mandatory “quiet period” during which no party can speak publicly about the merger talks. Also bound by this agreement were the members of the UCC, including APFA. In February 2013 AA and US Airways announced their plans to merge.


2023-2024 strike threat

In August 2023, APFA members voted 99.47% in favor of a strike authorization, with 93% of union membership participating in the voting. However, a tentative agreement between American Airlines and the APFA was reached in July 2024. In September 2024, American Airlines flight attendants ratified a new contract, thus averting the threat of a labor strike. According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the five-year contract includes pay increases of up to 20.5% on October 1, 2024 and annual raises of 2.75%, 3%, 3%, and 3.5% after that.


References


External links

*
Representational History of the APFAAmerican Airlines Says Strike Cost $160 Million In Profits
* {{authority control Transportation trade unions in the United States Flight attendants' trade unions Euless, Texas Trade unions established in 1977 1977 establishments in the United States