CWA-AFA · Eastern Airlines

Agreement Metadata

This page analyzes the Tentative Agreement reached between Eastern Airlines and Flight Attendants represented by CWA-AFA. The agreement constitutes a first collective bargaining agreement following National Mediation Board certification on June 28, 2022. The analysis reflects the architecture of the Tentative Agreement as presented for ratification and does not assume final adoption.

Contract Architecture Overview

The Eastern Tentative Agreement reflects a compact, first-contract architecture designed for a small-to-mid-size carrier operating in charter and supplemental markets. The agreement is conventionally structured, with clear section demarcation, low cross-reference density, and limited layering of exceptions.

Management rights are broadly reserved, with substantive protections appearing primarily as enumerated carve-outs rather than as tightly constrained defaults. This structure is typical of first contracts, particularly where bargaining power asymmetries remain pronounced.

Scheduling & Assignment Framework

Scheduling provisions establish bid lines, reserve availability periods, duty limits, rest requirements, and notification standards. The Company retains discretion over line construction and assignment, subject to defined procedural requirements and minimum guarantees.

Reserve architecture relies on defined Reserve Availability Periods (RAPs) with explicit contact and report windows. While this provides baseline predictability, protections are primarily procedural rather than prohibitive, and enforcement depends on accurate classification and timely notification.

Economic Structure

The Tentative Agreement establishes a seventy (70) hour minimum monthly guarantee, hourly pay progression over the agreement term, premium pay for working on days off, and defined deadhead credit. Pay construction is straightforward, with limited stacking or valuation complexity.

Payroll timing, correction mechanisms, and underpayment remedies are explicitly stated, contributing to administrative clarity. The economic framework emphasizes predictability over upside, consistent with a first-contract posture.

Enforcement & Dispute Resolution Architecture

The agreement provides for a formal grievance procedure culminating in a System Board of Adjustment with a neutral arbitrator. Just-cause standards apply to discipline and discharge for non-probationary Flight Attendants.

Certain scope-related disputes are eligible for expedited arbitration, a notable feature for a first contract. However, remedies are predominantly retrospective, and interim relief mechanisms are limited.

Structural Strengths, Weaknesses & Comparative Flags

As a first Tentative Agreement, Eastern’s contract establishes baseline economic and procedural protections while leaving significant discretion with management. Its strengths lie in clarity, enforceability pathways, and the formal recognition of Flight Attendant rights under the Railway Labor Act.

The agreement’s principal limitations are structural: broad management rights, limited automatic remedies, and reliance on post-violation enforcement. These features are consistent with early-stage collective bargaining outcomes.

Standardized Contract Scorecard

This agreement is a Tentative Agreement pending ratification. Comparative scoring will be published following ratification and confirmation of the final, effective collective bargaining agreement.

Context Notes

Eastern represents a first-contract benchmark within the CWA-AFA portfolio. Its architecture will be most analytically useful when compared against other first agreements and against legacy carriers operating under long-amendable contracts.