American Airlines regional flight attendants to hold strike authorization vote

DALLAS — Flight attendants at American Airlines’ regional air carrier PSA Airlines will vote to authorize a strike after its latest contract negotiations.

PSA Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines and operates 500 daily flights to almost 100 destinations.

PSA’s more than 1,300 flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, across five crew bases, including DFW International Airport, and three local councils, according to the union’s website. Strike vote ballots will be sent to union members and voting will begin Aug. 21 and end Sept. 17.

“Life at PSA is unsustainable for flight attendants without significant improvements,” said Lee Wilkes, president of the PSA chapter of AFA-CWA. “The cost of living has skyrocketed while our pay remains delayed. We can’t afford to wait any longer.”

According to the union, management returned an economic proposal that did not keep with the cost of living and increases at the mainline carriers. The union filed for mediation in January and is asking for double-digit pay increases, increased pay for time at work, sick leave, work rule improvements, among other asks.

American Airlines and PSA Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For a strike to actually happen at an airline, the National Mediation Board would need to declare both parties at a deadlock in negotiations and release into a 30-day cooling off period with a strike deadline.

The union has coined a strike strategy called CHAOS — create havoc around our system, which could impact the regional carrier’s entire system or just a single flight, when the union decides.