Claim: “United Flight Attendants are getting additional real time options and protection [in this IROP].”
Summer storms and other extreme weather events can create operational challenges that impact every airline – and union-represented carriers are no exception. AFA says that its flight attendants are better protected when things don’t go according to plan because they have a contract. But this isn’t entirely true.
AFA told Delta flight attendants that United flight attendants were getting “additional real time options and protections” from management during recent operational disruptions because they have a contract.
Meanwhile, at United, AFA has been telling their members that their experience during this most recent IROP has been “unacceptable,” including:
Backlogs, delays, and excessive call wait times to reach scheduling, with reports in excess of fifteen hours;
Flight attendants sleeping in airports and hallways without hotels;
Lack of clear instructions upon flight cancellations; and
“Blatant” contract violations.
United has fundamentally different work rules from Delta – they have reserves, and we do not. Despite this, United offered a 300% pay premium for those who pick up trips between June 27 and July 6. And even still, AFA graded this effort a “D-” because it does not address the difficulties experienced by all flight attendants.
AFA says that Delta flight attendants need a “detailed plan in a contract” to “follow during an IROP” – but AFA’s contract and reserve system didn’t make it any easier for United flight attendants to navigate these challenges, or for the airline to recover. Just like all flight attendants, Delta flight attendants are impacted during IROPs, however we generally recover more quickly; while United continued to struggle, we were able offer PPT and trip drops over the pre-July 4th holiday weekend. Meanwhile, AFA pointed out that United flight attendants went through the same experience last summer and apparently their IROP recovery has not improved.
All airlines experience IROPs from time to time, but what flight attendants faced at United proves that an AFA contract is not the answer the union makes it out to be.
Don’t buy AFA’s empty promises. Don’t risk it. Don’t sign it.
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