A United Airlines plane approaches the runway at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026.
Al Drago | Getty Images
united airlines Flight attendants approved a new five-year labor contract with an average 31% increase in base pay and other improvements by August, making them the last major airlines whose crew members unionized after the pandemic to reach an agreement.
The collective bargaining agreement will give United Airlines’ approximately 30,000 flight attendants their first raise in six years. The airline and the cabin crew union reached a tentative agreement in March. Crews rejected the contract last year.
The union said the contract received 82% approval from flight attendants, with nearly 90% of them voting.
“This deal will immediately change the lives of United’s flight attendants, especially the thousands of new employees hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United Chapter of the Flight Attendants Association.
The contract also includes boarding allowances, or payments when the aircraft door is open and a traveler is on board. For years, airlines began calculating flight attendant salaries once the boarding door closed.
The deal includes pay increases of about 7% to 8% and $741 million in back pay, as well as quality-of-life improvements such as limits on red-eye flights and “seat allowances” for disruptions lasting more than 2.5 hours.
