- Reaction score
- 1,748
New flight attendants—faced with low starting wages, long days with relatively fewer payable hours, and no opportunity to renegotiate wages on their contacts since 2019, even while inflation has been steadily rising—need to weather a lot of turbulence en route to a financially stable career path.
An employment verification letter from American Airlines is circulating on Reddit and collecting attention because of how low starting wages are for some newly hired flight attendants. The letter, which states that a new American Airlines flight attendant will have a projected annual salary of $27,315 before incentives and taxes are collected, has sparked conversations about fair wages for flight attendants and how inflationary price hikes are making life unaffordable for many Americans—even if the economy and labor markets look good on paper.
The union that represents American Airlines workers, called the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, verified the authenticity of the letter, CNN reported, which is issued for potential landlords or other services where flight attendants need to verify their employment and income.
While the salary listed in the letter is above the federal poverty line of $15,060 for a single-person household, that figure doesn’t reflect the true cost of living on a national level, which can be much higher in major metropolitan areas.
The union has also been calling out the low starting pay, which for a single-income household meets the qualification criteria for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food-stamp benefits, in several states including Massachusetts and New York.
The union is also calling attention to a growing issue of “corporate greed” by drawing comparisons between the wages an flight attendant can earn as opposed to what the company’s CEO, Robert Isom, earns.
fortune.com
An employment verification letter from American Airlines is circulating on Reddit and collecting attention because of how low starting wages are for some newly hired flight attendants. The letter, which states that a new American Airlines flight attendant will have a projected annual salary of $27,315 before incentives and taxes are collected, has sparked conversations about fair wages for flight attendants and how inflationary price hikes are making life unaffordable for many Americans—even if the economy and labor markets look good on paper.
The union that represents American Airlines workers, called the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, verified the authenticity of the letter, CNN reported, which is issued for potential landlords or other services where flight attendants need to verify their employment and income.
While the salary listed in the letter is above the federal poverty line of $15,060 for a single-person household, that figure doesn’t reflect the true cost of living on a national level, which can be much higher in major metropolitan areas.
The union has also been calling out the low starting pay, which for a single-income household meets the qualification criteria for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food-stamp benefits, in several states including Massachusetts and New York.
The union is also calling attention to a growing issue of “corporate greed” by drawing comparisons between the wages an flight attendant can earn as opposed to what the company’s CEO, Robert Isom, earns.
The starting salary for a new American Airlines flight attendant is low enough to qualify for food stamps in some states
Legislation prevents workers from striking without permission from the government.
