APFA issued this statement:

APFA is preparing for the possibility of a strike against American Airlines if management does not make significant and meaningful moves to reach an agreement.

The APFA Board of Directors will convene Friday, November 17th to approve a request from the APFA Negotiating Committee. This would have APFA requesting the National Mediation Board (NMB) for the Union to be released from the mediation process, an important step toward a strike. A release by the NMB would trigger a 30-day cooling-off period, after which American Airlines Flight Attendants could strike in support of contract demands.

“Time’s up. At last week’s negotiations session, negotiators for American Airlines showed up with no response to our comprehensive economic and non-economic packages,” said Julie Hedrick, National President of APFA and Los Angeles-based Flight Attendant. “Our Flight Attendants have overwhelmingly authorized a strike, and we will move the process forward and prepare for a strike if necessary.” 

On the heels of a 99.47% strike authorization ‘yes’ vote with 93% Member participation, American’s Flight Attendants have made it clear that settling for anything other than an industry-leading agreement is not an option. Flight Attendants will be on the picket lines system-wide on Thursday, November 16th, to remind management of our contributions and sacrifices to help American weather the pandemic.

“The ball is firmly in management’s court,” said National President Hedrick. “If American Airlines management has no change in position, simply put that in writing so we can move the process forward. If they don’t have a proposal, we have a deadline, and failure to meet that deadline will result in a request to the NMB to be released.”