Chicago (June 29, 2023) — Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, representing more than 25,000 United Airlines Flight Attendants, released the following statement on United's continuing operational issues:
"Weather last weekend affected everyone, but United is the only airline still struggling to recover and we know why. United management’s failure to properly staff crew schedulers, the flight attendant support team and more has exacerbated these operational issues and left passengers and Flight Attendants waiting for answers for hours at a time. The airline actually “lost” crews in the system for days on end because there was such a significant breakdown in running the operation.
"This isn’t a new issue. Our union identified the problem last summer but United management failed to address these problems. Instead, management charged ahead scheduling our summer to the max even as the FAA warned of the reality of ATC capacity constraints, especially in the northeast, and the weather forecast that should have led to rapid response by the carrier on planned flights.
"We know how to fix the issue. We have a set of demands. United management has partially implemented our demands, including 300% pay for picking up trips through July 6, along with a few scheduling items. But in order to account for all of the crew stranded in the operation, return these crews to status that allows them to also work their assignments or pick ups, and repair badly damaged morale - they need to implement our full plan for recovery. Every minute wasted in their decision-making is a minute too late for recovery and delivering the public reliable, efficient air travel."
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The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 75 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.
