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On Tuesday, flight attendants protested at airports across the country for better pay.
“Overworked, underpaid pay us a living wage! Overworked, underpaid, pay us a living wage!”
About two dozen air employees waved signs and chanted at Tampa International Airport, demanding wage increases. Last year, pilots saw major pay raises while flight attendants say their pay remained stagnant.
Erin Dougherty is a United Airlines Flight Attendant.
“We have been living on our wages from years past, and as you know, with inflation, it’s getting hard out there. It’s hard. So we just want a livable wage, that’s all we’re asking for.”
The labor union, Association of Flight Attendants, says some flight attendants haven’t had a pay raise in five years.
“Flight attendants do not get paid from the time they get to the airport until that plane pushes back. We get paid when the plane is in the air after pushback, and once we land and park at the gate. We’re not paid in between flights, and those are things that need to be discussed because we are still working.”
Anthony Workman is with Frontier Airlines in Tampa.
“To me, the company needs to care more about us. You know, we’re people. We’re not robots. We love our jobs, absolutely, but we need to be heard. We’re tired.”
Even more flight attendants also demonstrated on a road outside the airport.
