United offers flight attendants $100,000 in voluntary buyout
United Airlines and union officials said on Monday that eligible flight attendants will be paid up to $100,000 to leave the company through a voluntary buyout. The deal is aimed at ending the furloughs at the over-staffed airline after its merger with Continental.
The agreement comes six years after United Airlines retired a large number planes, which left the company with a surplus of about 2,000-plus flight attendants.
It is estimated that 1,450 flight attendants were still on unpaid leave this month. United said Monday that it now is recalling all of its attendants so that hey may apply for the separation payment or return to work.
The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United’s flight attendants, claimed this severance buyout as “virtually unprecedented in the airline industry.”
Would you take $100,000 to leave a company early? I might if I was still young and could go return to school or change careers. Or was of age to retire.
Heck yes I would take it! That is 2x the average annual salary for flight attendants. That will provide plenty of time to find another job/career path. Who knows, maybe there will be a shortage of flight attendants in a few years and they can go back.