Delta to begin paying flight attendants during boarding

Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will start paying flight attendants during the time that passengers are boarding, a first for a major U.S. airline. Delta said Tuesday, April 26, 2022, that the change will take effect in June, and it comes on top of pay raises for flight attendants. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)


Delta Air Lines will start paying flight attendants during the time that passengers are boarding. That’s a first for a major U.S. airline. Flight attendants in the U.S. generally don’t begin getting paid until the doors close after boarding. Delta said Tuesday that the change will take effect in June, and it comes on top of pay raises for flight attendants. The pay increase comes as Delta faces another attempt by unions to organize its non-union flight attendants. Delta said the new boarding pay would be on top of 4% raises that it granted to flight attendants last month

Delta Air Lines, which has narrowly fought off several attempts to unionize its flights attendants, will begin paying cabin crews during boarding, a first for a major U.S. airline and a change that is expected to increase their wages by several thousand dollars a year.

It is a notable change for U.S. airlines, where pay for flight attendants starts when all the passengers are seated and the plane’s doors close.