United Airlines flight attendants ratify new contract with 31% raises
A United Airlines plane approaches the runway at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026.
Take Drago | Getty Images
United Airlines Flight attendants approved a new five-year contract with an average 31% increase in base salary through August and other improvements; This is the last of the major carriers with unionized flight crews to reach a post-Covid agreement.
The job deal will give United’s nearly 30,000 flight attendants their first raises in nearly six years. The company and the flight attendants union reached a preliminary agreement in March. Crews rejected a contract last year.
The contract was approved by 82 percent of flight attendants, with nearly 90 percent of them voting, the union said.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new employees hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants.
The contract also includes the boarding fee, or payment to be made while the plane’s doors are open and passengers are boarding. For years, airlines have started clocking flight attendants after the boarding gate has closed.
The contract includes a roughly 7% to 8% increase in compensation and $741 million in back pay, as well as quality-of-life improvements such as restrictions on red-eye flights and “sit pay” during blackouts of more than 2.5 hours.
