Continental Flight Attendants Approve New Contract

Continental Flight Attendants Approve New Contract

According to an announcement from Continental Airlines yesterday, the airline’s flight attendants ratified their new collective bargaining agreement with the company.

The flight attendants were represented by their union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), during negotiations. The new contract will provide work rules, pay scales and other guidance for the roughly 9,300 flight attendants employed by Continental.

“Our flight attendants provide great service to our customers as a critical part of our team, and it is to their credit that we have a new contract in place that rewards them for their hard work,” said Sam Risoli, vice president of Inflight Service for the combined company. “Our Continental flight attendants took a big step to keep us moving forward as we integrate Continental and United.”

The airline itself is close to finalizing internal aspects of its merger with United Airlines and, like United, is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. The new combined airline, together with its express carriers, operates about 5,675 flights to 372 airports throughout the world every day.

Major hubs for the airline, and it 80, 000 employees, span six continents with locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark Liberty, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.