In a first for major airlines, Delta Air Lines will start paying their flight attendants during the onboarding process, the company announced on Tuesday.
For airlines, it is common that flight attendants don’t get paid until after the passengers are seated and the doors of the plane close.
Kristen Manion Taylor, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service, stated the new pay “further recognizes how important your role is on board to ensuring a welcoming, safe and on-time start to each flight, AP News reports.
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The new rate will be 50% of the regularly hour wage.
This comes as the airline is attempting to unionize their flight attendants. The Association of Flight Attendants has been working for over two years, and the organization takes credit for the pay. A union rep wrote on its website:
This new policy is the direct result of our organizing,” the union said in a statement posted on its website. “As we get closer to filing for our union vote, management is getting nervous.
AP News states:
Unions represent between 82% and 86% of workers at American, United and Southwest, but only 20% of Delta’s 83,000 employees, according to a regulatory filing. Delta’s 13,000 pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. Flight attendants at Delta’s Endeavor Air regional-flying subsidiary are unionized.
The new pay structure starts June 2nd.
Roomies, what do you think of this?
