Pay is not usually something airline passengers think about when they book a ticket. Yet behind the scenes, how much and when cabin crews are paid can shape everything from staffing levels at the gate to how smoothly your next flight boards. United Airlines is at the center of that debate right now as its flight attendants push for a new pay structure that would significantly change when their “clock” starts and how valuable boarding time becomes.
What United Is Changing About Flight Attendant Pay
United’s flight attendants are working under a contract that has not delivered a base wage increase since 2020, even as inflation, housing costs and rival airlines’ pay scales have moved higher. After years of negotiations with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, a tentative agreement reached in 2025 outlined raises of up to roughly 45 percent over five years, along with a new feature passengers rarely hear about: pay for boarding time at half the normal hourly rate. That agreement, however, was ultimately rejected by union members, sending both sides back to the bargaining table.
Even after that setback, boarding pay and when the pay clock starts remain central issues. Today, United flight attendants, like many of their peers, are primarily paid only from the moment the aircraft pushes back from the gate until it arrives at the destination. Time spent assisting passengers during boarding, waiting out delays at the gate, or helping with deplaning is often compensated only partially through per diem allowances and certain protections, not as full hourly wage.
Union leaders argue that any new pay structure must recognize all of the time flight attendants are responsible for passengers, not just the minutes when the plane is in the air. United has signaled a willingness to discuss changes, and a version of boarding pay at half-rate was already on the table in the tentative agreement, mirroring moves by competitors that have begun compensating crew for the boarding portion of their day.
Why Boarding Pay Is Suddenly a Big Deal
The concept of boarding pay has quickly become one of the most closely watched compensation trends in the U.S. airline industry. Delta Air Lines was the first major carrier in the United States to introduce a form of boarding pay for its flight attendants, and other airlines have faced mounting pressure to follow. For crews, boarding is one of the most intense parts of the job: managing carry-on luggage, organizing seat changes, resolving family seating issues and fielding a constant stream of requests, all before the aircraft moves an inch.
At United, the tentative agreement that failed ratification would have introduced half-pay during boarding, a notable change in a system where that time has historically been unpaid flight time. The union highlighted boarding pay as a landmark shift that would finally acknowledge a piece of work that passengers experience directly: the bustle from the moment the gate agent calls boarding to the last bag being stuffed in an overhead bin.
Even though the deal did not pass, the idea is unlikely to disappear. Flight attendants across the industry increasingly see boarding pay as an essential component of a modern contract, and United’s crews have pointed to examples at other carriers to argue that the industry standard is already moving in that direction. For travelers, that means the airline is under pressure to rebuild its pay structure in a way that makes boarding time count financially for crews.
How United’s Pay Compares With Other Airlines
While negotiations drag on, United’s current pay scale is being overtaken in some surprising corners of the market. In early 2026, reporting on airline wages showed that flight attendants at ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air have, in many cases, higher base hourly pay than their counterparts at United, despite United’s status as a large global network airline. Allegiant crews, thanks to a 2024 contract, can earn a higher base rate across much of the seniority ladder.
United flight attendants presently earn a base hourly rate in a band that starts in the upper twenties of dollars for new hires and climbs into the upper sixties for the most experienced. Allegiant’s current contract pushed its rates into the low thirties for starting pay and the upper sixties for senior crew, with further increases already scheduled. That gap, while only a few dollars an hour, is symbolically powerful for United flight attendants who expected a premium for working at a legacy carrier with long-haul routes and a global network.
The comparison with other major airlines is even more pointed. Delta and American, which have already implemented new contracts or raises, now offer higher base pay for many flight attendants than United does, along with benefits such as boarding pay or richer profit-sharing formulas. United crews can partially close the income gap through premium pay for international flights, incentive programs and profit-sharing, but they argue that the underlying wage scale has lagged for too long.
What the Union Is Demanding Behind the Slogans
For travelers watching brief clips of picket lines and rally speeches, the demands being made by United’s flight attendants might sound simple: more pay, better schedules, more respect. Inside the detailed bargaining documents, however, the union is pushing for a more technical but critical overhaul of how time is measured and valued in a workday that spans airports and time zones.
Union negotiators have identified several specific targets. One is to lock in stronger guarantees for minimum pay per duty period, ensuring that long hours spent on short flights or disrupted schedules still result in a baseline number of paid hours. Another is to secure boarding pay that is paid in addition to, not offset against, existing pay protections, so crews do not see one benefit simply replace another on the paycheck.
They are also focused on what they describe as “ground time,” the hours spent waiting between flights, managing delays or sitting on a staffed aircraft that is not yet cleared to push back. While boarding pay addresses part of this unpaid window, union leaders say the broader principle is that flight attendants are on the job from check-in to release, regardless of whether the aircraft is moving. That framing underlies their push for a pay structure that better matches the reality of the work.
How These Pay Battles Could Affect Your Flight Experience
Labor disputes and contract talks can sound distant from the day-to-day concerns of people heading to the airport, but the outcome of United’s pay negotiations could have tangible effects on your experience as a passenger. One immediate risk when negotiations sour is operational disruption. Large-scale strikes by flight attendants in the United States are rare, in part because of legal hurdles in the airline industry, but informational picketing and coordinated “days of action” have already become a familiar sight at major airports.
Even short of a strike, a workforce that feels undervalued can have consequences. Flight attendants may be less willing to pick up extra trips or volunteer for schedule changes, leaving the airline with less flexibility to recover from storms or aircraft maintenance issues. If pay during boarding and ground time remains a contentious issue, crews may focus more strictly on contract-defined responsibilities, limiting unpaid tasks that have become informal expectations, such as assisting with complex seating swaps or helping with large quantities of oversize carry-on bags during busy periods.
Conversely, a resolution that flight attendants see as fair could help United stabilize staffing and morale at a moment when airlines are still adapting to post-pandemic travel patterns. Improved pay during boarding could make early morning and late-night turns more attractive, potentially easing staffing squeezes on high-demand routes. That could translate into fewer last-minute crew-related delays and a smoother boarding experience as better-compensated crews manage the cabin.
Could Changes in Pay Show Up in Ticket Prices?
Whenever airlines change how they pay staff, passengers eventually ask the same question: Will this make my ticket more expensive. The answer in United’s case is complicated and depends on how the final pay package compares with current costs and with rising revenue from robust travel demand. Airlines operate in a highly competitive environment, particularly on domestic routes where United, Delta, American, Southwest and ultra-low-cost carriers frequently overlap.
In the short term, substantial increases in flight attendant pay, including new boarding pay, would raise United’s labor costs per available seat mile. The company could opt to absorb some of that increase through productivity gains, such as more efficient scheduling, or seek to offset it with higher fares where demand is strong. However, the airline also has to consider the risk that raising prices too sharply on popular routes would send price-sensitive travelers to rivals.
Industry analysts note that labor contracts are only one part of the cost picture, which also includes fuel prices, aircraft financing, airport fees and technology investments. Many of these expenses have risen in recent years. Given that United’s competitors have already implemented similar or larger raises for their own flight attendants, the airline faces pressure to keep pay within a band that allows it to compete for staff without becoming uncompetitive on fares. Travelers may not see a clear, immediate price spike tied solely to flight attendant pay, but over time, higher labor costs do tend to feed into the complex fare structures airlines use to balance supply and demand.
What Travelers Should Watch in the Months Ahead
For now, United passengers are unlikely to see explicit references to flight attendant pay in their booking paths or preflight emails. However, there are several signs that can indicate whether the dispute is heating up or moving toward resolution. Intensified picketing at hubs such as Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty, Denver, Houston and San Francisco would signal that negotiations have stalled or that union members are trying to increase public pressure.
Travelers might also notice an escalation in communication campaigns. The union has already used social media and airport leafleting to highlight the length of time since the last raise and to explain concepts such as boarding pay in plain language. United, for its part, can respond with its own messaging that emphasizes overall compensation, profit-sharing checks, or comparisons to other carriers. The narrative that reaches passengers could influence public sympathy and shape how much disruption people are willing to tolerate in support of the crews.
The most concrete development to watch is whether United and the Association of Flight Attendants reach a new tentative agreement that flight attendants are willing to bring to a ratification vote. If that happens, details about boarding pay, base wage increases and retroactive compensation will likely become public quickly, allowing both employees and analysts to assess where United’s pay structure now stands in the industry. Until then, the question of when a flight attendant’s pay clock really starts remains unsettled, and with it, the full picture of how your next United flight is staffed and serviced.