United Airlines and flight attendants reached a tentative deal with $740 million in bonuses

United Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA reached a tentative five-year labor agreement on March 26 that would provide the carrier's 30,000 flight attendants their first pay increases since 2020, including a $740 million signing bonus pool and top wages of $100 per hour by the contract's end.

Beyond base pay, the contract also covers compensation during the boarding process, additional pay when lengthy gaps occur between flights, and limits on how overnight flying can be scheduled, according to CNBC. United said the agreement would make its flight attendants the highest-paid in the industry.

The tentative agreement must first clear a vote by the AFA's Master Executive Council — made up of 14 local union presidents — at a special meeting scheduled for April 1-2. If the council approves it, full details will be released to members on April 3, the union said. A membership ratification vote would open April 23 and close May 12. If ratified, the improved pay scales and boarding pay would take effect May 31.

Ratification would close out the wave of post-pandemic contract negotiations at major U.S. carriers, leaving no outstanding cabin crew deals among the big airlines, CNBC reported.

The agreement comes after a lengthy negotiating process. United flight attendants have been in contract talks since 2021, with their last pay raise dating to 2020. Members had already voted down an earlier contract offer in July 2025 — 71% cast ballots against it — which had proposed an immediate average pay scale increase of 26.9% and cumulative raises of as much as 45.6% across five years. Following that rejection, the union surveyed members to identify outstanding priorities to address in subsequent negotiations.

The AFA said the new agreement was reached during a mediated session in Washington, D.C., with the National Mediation Board involved in the process.