Generations of flight attendants celebrate:
The flight attendants at United began the 1990s with a proud celebration of the stewardesses' 60th anniversary. The celebration was industrywide as the flight attendant profession had become universally accepted by airlines serving the world's air travelers.
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Sara Fields, the new vice president of the more than 14,000 flight attendants at United, led the 60th celebration in Washington, D. C. United included its inaugural flight from Washington Dulles to Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the event.
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The late Margaret Arnott, one of the original eight stewardesses hired by Boeing Air Transport, a United predecessor company in 1930, and Ada Brown Greenfield, a former stewardess at United who founded the first cabin attendant union back in 1945, participated in United's launch of service to Germany. Both were also honored at a banquet hosted by the late Lane Kirkland, president of the AFL-CIO. Flight attendants from US Airways, Alaska Airlines, Aloha Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Air Wisconsin and others helped celebrate the United legacy.
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The pioneers of the stewardess profession joined with generations of men and women still working to improve air travel. They appeared publicly as champions of safety issues such as better air quality onboard airplanes and helped achieve bans on smoking on all domestic flights in 1990. They also advocated the adoption of safer infant seats.
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Computers enhance mobility:
Communication via computer grew to new levels and flight attendants could now use the company's internal communications system called Unimatic systems to conduct business from their homes, offices and layover points. At about the same time flight attendants increased use of their commuter privileges and began traveling from residences all over the world to their home bases to work their assigned flights.
The international route expansion also prompted United in 1991 to open London as its first domicile for flight attendants outside the United States.
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Desert Storm fallout:
The Persian Gulf War erupted in January 1991, and once again flight attendants signed up for Civil Reserve Air Fleet operations to transport troops to the war zones. The Desert Storm conflict was the fourth war effort that United flight attendants participated in during the 20th century.
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Meanwhile, plans neared an end for an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Financing for the employee ownership plan fell through during the midst of Desert Storm, but when the next round of ESOP talks resumed, United's flight attendants remained participants in the negotiations.
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Adapting to new approaches:
United was in negotiations with each of its three major union groups in the early 1990s. All three suspended negotiations while a United Employees Acquisition Corporation (UEAC) merger agreement was underway. When the UEAC buyout failed in October 1990, all three unions went back to traditional negotiations.
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Flight attendant participation in ESOP negotiations came to an abrupt end in September 1993 due to disputes among the parties regarding the opening of a new flight attendant international domicile. The flight attendant union officials believed the "roadmaps" for the future did not address the flight attendant union's cornerstone issues such as securing U.S. jobs.
United officials and AFA leadership continued their discussions beyond the September 1993 break on the issue of flight attendant ESOP participation. They were unsuccessful, and AFA and United turned to negotiations through usual procedures in 1996.
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The global United brought swift change to all employees. There were shifts in routing for short flights and international route expansions. The workforce of flight attendants at United was on the threshold of unprecedented growth.
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