The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) is an independent labor union that solely represents flight attendants employed by American Airlines. The union has over 25,000 members employed by American Airlines and is headquartered in Euless, Texas, near the American Airlines headquarters and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The union is independent and not directly affiliated with the large left-leaning labor federation the AFL-CIO, but the organization works with allied unions such as the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the AFL-CIO, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as part of coalitions supporting left-leaning pro-labor union policies and FAA regulations. ^{1 2}

Background

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants was founded in 1977. The union is the only independent union representing flight attendants in the United States and is not an affiliate union of the AFL-CIO. The union is the second-largest union of flight attendants behind the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, an AFL-CIO affiliate that is a part of the Communication Workers of America and more politically active than the APFA. APFA has chapters at each hub airport for American Airlines and is led by an executive leadership team based near American’s headquarters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. ³

The union led the largest strike in its history in 1993 when the union led the vast majority of American Airlines’ then-21,000 flight attendants to walk off the job. The strike lasted five days and cost American an estimated $160 million in lost revenue. It was only ended when President Bill Clinton intervened to ensure the strike would not continue into Thanksgiving. ⁴

Early lobbying efforts of the APFA included supporting the ban on inflight smoking, OSHA regulations on airplane cabins, and supporting the tightening of a variety of FAA regulations. ⁵

Activity

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants currently has over 25,000 U.S.-based flight attendant members, all of whom work for American Airlines. The union actively lobbies on a variety of pro-union legislation and frequently lobbies alongside other unions including Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Airline Division (IBT), Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), and the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD). ⁶

The union lobbied for COVID relief funds for airlines to provide support to flight attendants, argues for COVID vaccine priority for flight attendants, opposed carrying knives or the use of cell phones in air cabins, and makes regular recommendations to the FAA around air carrier training. ^{7 8}

The union was involved with litigation with American Airlines during the airline’s 2011 bankruptcy proceeding when the airline was seeking to eliminate several billion dollars in employee pensions. The airline ultimately froze the pension plan for existing employees rather than eliminate the plans. ⁹

Leadership

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants is led by Julie Hedrick, who has been the president of the union since April 2020 and previously was the union’s lead negotiator. She has been an American Airlines flight attendant since 1982. ¹⁰

1. “NPRM Joint Comments.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. January 5, 2022. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://www.apfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/NPRM-joint-comments-010322-final.pdf
2. “About.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://apfanow.org/index.php/about/
3. “About.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://apfanow.org/index.php/about/
4. Ziemba, Stanley. “American Airlines Says Strike Cost $160 million in profits.” Chicago Tribune. December 8, 1993. Accessed January 23, 2022.  https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-12-08-9312080025-story.html
5. “Legislative History.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://www.apfa.org/departments/government-affairs/legislative-history/
6. “NPRM Joint Comments.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. January 5, 2022. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://www.apfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/NPRM-joint-comments-010322-final.pdf
7. “Current Legislation.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Accessed January 23, 2022.  https://www.apfa.org/departments/government-affairs/current-legislation/
8. “CALL TO ACTION – Government Aid to Airlines MUST Support Aviation Workers and Jobs.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=8269
9. Geisel, Jerry. “American Airlines Freezes Its Pension Plans.” Association of Professional Flight Attendants. November 2, 2012. Accessed January 23, 2022. https://www.apfa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/02NOV12-AA-Freezes-Pension.pdf
10. Julie Hedrick. “LinkedIn Profile.” Accessed January 23, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-hedrick-a45a8945/