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airline industry
United Flight Attendants Vote 99.99% to Authorize Strike
"We have flight attendants who are struggling to make ends meet while our CEOs are on private jets," said one union leader. "We want some respect shown in the contract."
Aug 28, 2024
Hoping to leverage the looming Labor Day travel rush to secure better pay and working conditions, unionized United Airlines flight attendants on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike if management fails to meet their demands.
The United flight attendants—who are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA)—voted 99.99%, with 90.21% of members participating, to greenlight a work stoppage unless they win concessions including a double-digit raise, more schedule flexibility, improved work rules, job security, and retirement benefits.
"We deserve an industry-leading contract. Our strike vote shows we're ready to do whatever it takes to reach the contract we deserve," said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of AFA."We are the face of United Airlines and planes don't take off without us. As Labor Day travel begins, United management is reminded what's at stake if we don't get this done."
"The United management team gives themselves massive compensation increases while flight attendants struggle to pay basic bills," Diaz added."The 99.99% 'yes' vote is a clear reminder that we are unified in the fight against corporate greed and ready to fight for our fair share of the profits we create."
Kim Montgomery, who has been a flight attendant for 38 years and is president of the Council 6 chapter at AFA-CWA that represents workers based out of Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, toldThe Bergen Record that United "continues to make money hand over fist."
"Our leaders get pay raises regularly while some of us have not gotten a raise in years," she added. "We have flight attendants who are struggling to make ends meet while our CEOs are on private jets. We want some respect shown in the contract."
AFA said it can now seek to enter the 30-day "cooling-off" period required by the National Mediation Board (NMB) before the federal agency decides whether to allow a strike. Unlike unionized U.S. workers governed by the National Labor Relations Board, airline and rail workers fall under the jurisdiction of the NMB, which rarely grants permission to strike.
United AFA members staged picket marches at 20 U.S. airports on Tuesday after the union vote result was announced. Flight attendants chanted slogans including, "United Airlines, you're no good, pay your workers like you should," and, "Delay, delay, delay is not okay."
United Flight attendants—who have been working under an amendable contract for nearly three years—applied for federal mediation over eight months ago. AFA flight attendants from United and other airlines staged protest rallies at U.S. airports earlier this year to draw attention to their demands and to pressure management to act. Unionized United pilots also picketed for a better contract last year.
"We have not had a new contract since 2019, which means that we haven't had any raises since 2019," said one American Airlines AFA member in a More Perfect Unionvideo published last year. "We kept this airline running during a pandemic, and all we're asking for is fair wages. All we're asking for is quality of life improvements."
Last month, American Airlines flight attendants and company management agreed to a tentative contract that contains $4.2 billion in pay and benefits, including an immediate 18% raise and boarding pay, with some veteran workers in line for much higher increases.
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Crash Victims' Families Ask Judge to Toss 'Morally Reprehensible' Boeing Deal
"This sweetheart deal deceptively presents a version of Boeing's crime that conceals the fact that Boeing's lies to the FAA directly and proximately killed 346 people," said one attorney representing families.
Aug 01, 2024
Lawyers for families of the hundreds of victims killed in a pair of Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane crashes filed motions this week urging U.S. Judge Reed O'Connor to reject a "morally reprehensible" plea agreement and instead force the company to go to trial.
The Texas-based judge is considering a proposed deal, finalized by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) last week, in which Boeing would plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the safety of the aircraft involved in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash the next year.
Under the deal—which comes after the DOJ determined that Boeing breached its obligations under a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and federal prosecutors recommended criminal charges—the company would also pay a $243.6 million fine, invest $455 million in compliance and safety, and be subject to oversight by an independent monitor for three years.
"We urge Judge O'Connor to use his recognized authority to reject this inappropriate plea and set the matter for a public trial."
"This sweetheart deal deceptively presents a version of Boeing's crime that conceals the fact that Boeing's lies to the FAA directly and proximately killed 346 people," said Paul Cassell, an attorney for families and University of Utah law professor, in a Wednesday statement. "This plea deal is not in the public interest."
"It is deceptive and unfair," he added, "and we urge Judge O'Connor to use his recognized authority to reject this inappropriate plea and set the matter for a public trial, so that all the facts surrounding the case will be aired in a fair and open forum before a jury."
The filing from Cassell's team argues that the court should reject the "rotten deal" because:
- It destroys the court's ability to craft a fair and just sentence—and one that is perceived as fair and just by the public;
- The parties have "swallowed the gun" by hiding relevant facts about Boeing's culpability;
- It allows Boeing to escape accountability for directly and proximately causing 346 deaths;
- It surreptitiously exonerates Boeing's then-senior leadership;
- The $243 million fine is inadequate under the principles of sentencing;
- The compliance monitor provision is inadequate;
- The provision requiring Boeing to make new investments in compliance, quality, and safety programs is unenforceable and inadequate; and
- The restitution provision is misleading and unfairly allows Boeing to tie up restitution through extensive litigation and appeals.
"Whereas the DPA, was a 'sweetheart deal,' the plea bargain is a 'do-over,'" declared Chris Moore, a Canadian whose 24-year-old daughter Danielle was killed in the 2019 crash in Ethiopia. "The average citizen during criminal prosecutions doesn't get a 'do-over.' More to the point, my daughter didn't get a 'do-over,' which is why the DOJ should take justice seriously instead of bowing to the pressures of commerce."
Javier de Luis, who lost his sister Graziella in the same crash, said that "the ultimate aim of this agreement should be to ensure that the two 737 MAX crashes are never repeated. This agreement does nothing to achieve that objective."
Both de Luis and Catherine Berthet, whose daughter Camille also died in the 2019 crash, highlighted a January incident: A door plug flew off the Boeing 737 MAX 9 used for Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, causing minor injuries and forcing an emergency landing.
"Basically, this appalling door plug incident in January happened because, despite the constraints imposed by the DPA, nothing has changed at Boeing," Berthet said. "What will the plea deal change? Nothing."
"The only way to change Boeing is simply to apply justice," she added, arguing that Boeing, outgoing chief executive officer Dave Calhoun, and ex-CEO Dennis Muilenburg must be held "accountable for their actions and decisions by facing a jury at a trial."
"My daughter didn't get a 'do-over,' which is why the DOJ should take justice seriously instead of bowing to the pressures of commerce."
After announcing in March that Calhoun would voluntarily leave his post by the end of this year, Boeing revealed Wednesday that he will be replaced by Robert "Kelly" Ortberg of Rockwell Collins, who is set to start his new role on August 8.
"The arrival of a new CEO at Boeing could not have happened at a more crucial and necessary time for the safety of the traveling public around the world," said Robert A. Clifford, lead counsel for victims' families in pending civil litigation, in a Wednesday statement. "As a company, Boeing has been nosediving in self-destructive flight under the past leadership of Muilenburg, Calhoun, and the do-nothing board of directors."
"This move may give the company the ability to pull out of its impending total and fatal crash, unlike what occurred to the 346 innocent victims of the two Boeing 737 MAX 8 preventable disasters," he continued. "While this man is an industry insider, he does come from outside of Boeing and on the face of it has a well-regarded reputation in the industry. Maybe he can bring the company back to the stature it once held before it criminally and preventively killed 346 people."
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Outrage as Reports Suggest DOJ to Offer Boeing 'Sweetheart Deal' Over Fatal Crashes
"There is no accountability, no admission that Boeing's admitted crime caused the 346 deaths, and the families will most certainly object," said one lawyer for victims' relatives.
Jul 01, 2024
The families of 346 people who were killed on two Boeing 737 MAX airplanes in 2018 and 2019 were expected to "strenuously object" to a plea deal reportedly proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice a week after federal prosecutors recommended criminal charges for the company.
The penalties proposed by the DOJ "are totally inadequate," said Javier de Luis, whose sister was killed when the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX plane she was on crashed in 2019.
Family members take issue with the proposal "both from the perspective of accountability for the crimes committed, and from the perspective of acting in the public interest by ensuring a change in Boeing's behavior," said de Luis, who served on a panel assembled by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to review Boeing's safety culture.
The agreement, which has been denounced as a "sweetheart deal" by family members and their attorneys, reportedly includes a requirement that Boeing plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the FAA in connection with the crashes, as well as a $487.2 million financial penalty. The company board would be required to meet with the victims' families and appoint an independent monitor to oversee Boeing's safety practices.
Boeing would be required to pay only half of the fine because prosecutors would give the company credit for a settlement payment officials already made in relation to the crashes.
Boeing paid $2.5 billion as part of another deal that granted it immunity from criminal prosecution over its planes' safety flaws, with the agreement mandating that it abide by the terms for a three-year period that ended in January. Two days before that period ended, the company came under new scrutiny after a door plug that was missing several bolts blew off a Boeing 737 MAX 9 flown by Alaska Airlines while the plane was at an elevation of 16,000 feet.
Erin Applebaum, a lawyer representing victims' relatives, said Sunday as the new plea deal proposal was reported that "when there is inevitably another Boeing crash and DOJ seeks to assign blame, they will have nowhere else to look but in the mirror."
Boeing has until the end of the week to accept or reject the agreement; if it agrees, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor will decide whether the deal is in the public interest.
Attorneys for the families said the relatives plan to call on the judge to reject the deal.
"The families are very unhappy and angered with DOJ's decisions and proposal," said Robert Clifford, lead counsel for the families who have filed civil litigation. "There is no accountability, no admission that Boeing's admitted crime caused the 346 deaths, and the families will most certainly object before Judge Reed O'Connor and ask that he reject the plea if Boeing accepts."
The memory of victims of the crashes in 2018 and 2019, said Paul Cassell, who represents the families of 15 people who were killed on the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Airlines planes, "demands more justice than this."
David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, noted that some reporting on the deal suggests the DOJ will make a criminal charge, but said, "That's probably just trying to get Boeing to admit wrongdoing."
The reported deal comes a week after an employee of a contractor for one of Boeing's partner companies, Spirit Aerosystems, became the latest of more than a dozen whistleblowers to come forward about safety issues with the company's aircrafts. The worker notified Boeing of problems with 787 Dreamliner planes that posed "catastrophic" danger to people on board.
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