IAM represented ExpressJet Flight Attendants yesterday once again took their fight for equal pay public by conducting nationwide picketing with their AFA-CWA sisters and brothers.
Picket lines appeared at major airports around the country, including Washington DC, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Portland, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and New York’s LaGuardia Airport. Flight Attendants informed the flying public about the unabashed greed of the mainline carriers and the consequent unequal treatment.
“Regional carrier Flight Attendants deserve equal treatment with their mainline counterparts,” said ExpressJet Flight Attendant Melissa Brennan. “All Flight Attendants perform critical functions on the ground and in the air. They protect every person who boards an aircraft, including the pilots, and should be treated equally.”
Over the past decade, mainline carriers have shifted an astonishing amount of routes to their regional affiliates–or “express carriers” as they are commonly referred to. Regional carriers, such as ExpressJet, operate approximately 40 percent of the mainline’s flight schedule, yet regional carrier Flight Attendants’ compensation falls short of mainline Flight Attendants.
The “Bridge the Gap” campaign aims to shine a light on this disparity.
