About the Association of Flight Attendants

The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 75 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO.

Simply put, the goal of Flight Attendants who become part of AFA is to negotiate better pay, benefits, working conditions and work rules at their airline, and to improve their safety on the job.

• AFA negotiates the best Flight Attendant contracts in the industry, maintaining and improving wages, benefits and working conditions for Flight Attendants.
• AFA has strength in numbers and a professional staff to assist Flight Attendants with workplace, career and interpersonal concerns.
• AFA is a democratic union representing Flight Attendants at every type of carrier. All AFA officers are Flight Attendants who solicit member input on policy and financial decisions.
• AFA is the only Flight Attendant union solely representing Flight Attendant's concerns affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the 13-million-member American labor federation.
• AFA shares information and strategies, working in solidarity with Flight Attendant unions around the world through the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).

AFA policies, budgets and dues levels are set by AFA's democratically-elected Flight Attendant leaders. All AFA officers are Flight Attendants. Copies of financial reports and the AFA Constitution and Bylaws are available to every member upon request from their local representatives.

At Each Domicile

All Flight Attendants working for the same airline and assigned to the same domicile or modified co-terminal form the Local Council.

The president, vice president and secretary of each council, elected by the members of that Local Council to a three-year term, form the Local Executive Council (LEC).

At Each Airline

All local council presidents from the same airline form a Master Executive Council (MEC). The MEC elects a president, vice president and secretary-treasurer for three-year terms, and handles negotiations and other business affecting members at that airline.

At the National Level

The Board of Directors (BOD), the union's highest governing body, consists of all AFA local council presidents. The BOD amends AFA's Constitution and Bylaws, elects national officers, determines the annual budget and oversees all union activities.

All MEC presidents make up the Executive Board, which interprets policy and carries out decisions of the Board of Directors.

The BOD elects and advises the International Officers - the International President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer - who serve full-time for four-year terms and administer union operations.