A flight attendant strike could disrupt Aeroméxico operations starting Sunday unless a new salary agreement is reached in the coming days, according to the Mexican Aviation Flight Attendants Union (ASSA).
ASSA reported that meetings were held with the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration on Monday and Tuesday to address the salary issue, but no agreement has yet been reached.
Flight attendants at Aeroméxico, Mexico’s second-largest airline, said salaries for both senior and junior staff have not kept up with inflation in recent years.
Flight attendants present at the May 21 Extraordinary General Assembly rejected Aeroméxico’s proposed salary increase of 2.9% for senior workers and 3.25% for junior employees.
If an agreement is not reached by Sunday, staff are expected to strike starting on the first minute of June 1. This coincides with the voting date for Mexico’s judicial elections.
Flight attendants previously planned a strike during the presidential elections on June 2, 2024. However, no strike action was taken as Aeroméxico agreed upon a 4.6% salary increase.
The company’s flight staff are requesting a salary increase of at least 4.13%, based on annual inflation from May 2024 to 2025.
The aim is to “recover the accumulated purchasing power deficit from 2020 to 2024, equivalent to 12.12% compared to a cumulative inflation of 29.89%,” according to the ASSA.
“The flight attendants’ struggle goes beyond achieving a raise; the goal is to recover the wage gap in relation to the increase in the cost of living, as well as the outdated increase in the minimum wage,” the union said.
The ASSA reported that 60% of workers (1,860 employees) are classified as junior staff and earn just 1.8 times the minimum wage.
This “prevents them from accessing housing, obtaining credit, or having enough payroll to pay for life insurance … among other essential needs,” according to the union.
In a last-ditch attempt to resolve the dispute, another Extraordinary General Assembly is planned for 3 p.m. on Friday.
Pay cuts and bankruptcy rebound
Like many airlines, Aeroméxico suffered from severe revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led the airline to file for bankruptcy protection in 2020 and to delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
During the pandemic, Aeroméxico announced widespread pay cuts. A salary reduction agreement was signed with pilots and other staff during this time as the firm attempted to weather the storm.
Aeromexico came out of the bankruptcy process in 2022 and announced plans in March 2023 to relist on the U.S. exchange. However, in February, Aeroméxico’s CEO Andrés Conesa said market conditions were not ideal for the company to list in New York.
The carrier will list “as soon as market conditions allow,” Conesa told journalists. “We aren’t in a rush,” Conesa said, adding the initial public offering (IPO) would come “whenever shareholders decide to sell.”
With reports from El Financiero, El Economista, El País and Reuters
