United Airlines Flight Attendant Contract Ratified by 82% Vote
United Airlines flight attendants ratified the united airlines flight attendant contract today, with 82% of voters approving the 2026 Tentative Agreement. Ken Diaz, the MEC president, announced the result and wrote, "In Solidarity," after the vote.
88.85% of eligible members took part in the ratification vote, giving the agreement broad participation as it moved from tentative terms to an approved contract. The deal delivers an average 31% increase in base pay and includes Boarding Pay, Sit Pay, and a $741 million payout in retro pay.
Ken Diaz and the vote
Diaz described the contract as bringing quality of life improvements and said it sets a new standard for the profession. He also called it a launching point for the next round of bargaining, tying the ratification to future negotiations rather than treating it as an endpoint.
The vote gives flight attendants a contract with specific pay changes already laid out in the agreement, including the base-pay increase and the new pay categories. It also delivers the retro pay payout, a direct cash component that follows the ratification rather than waiting for later bargaining.
2026 Tentative Agreement
The approved deal is the 2026 Tentative Agreement. For flight attendants, the immediate change is not abstract: the contract now carries the pay and work-rule terms that were placed before eligible members and accepted by 82% of those who voted.
That leaves the agreement as the starting point for the next bargaining round, with Diaz signaling that the contract is part of a longer process. For United flight attendants, the practical takeaway is that the vote has settled the 2026 terms and set the new compensation structure in motion.
