Our recent communication to the joint Membership regarding the effective date of the recently negotiated rates of pay is generating a number of questions. These questions have made it clear to us not everyone shares an understanding of the differences in the way Flight Attendants are paid between pre-merger subsidiaries. 

Beyond the pay issue, this situation demonstrates that as we move forward as one group of Flight Attendants, there may be, for a time, differences based on the Contract that might need to be explained. This is one such example. 

Pre-merger United Flight Attendants who have worked a full schedule receive two paychecks each month – the 1^st and 16^th (or the business day immediately preceding the 1^st or 16^th – with the exception of New Year’s Day where, for W2 reporting purposes, we receive pay on the first business day following the holiday.)  The following is a description of what is included in each of these paychecks for pre-merger United Flight Attendants:

Pre-merger Continental (CAL) Flight Attendants are also paid on the 1^st and 16^th of each month  (The amount included in that pay will vary if on jobshare.) However, what is contained in each of those pay checks differs as follows:

Because pre-merger CAL Flight Attendants are paid an advance of 25 hours of their September pay on the 16^th of September, these Flight Attendants are seeing the Contractual pay increases in this advance check. However, all Flight Attendants are being paid the increased rates of pay effective for the September schedule  month. There is a difference in the schedule of these payments for the time being. Eventually, we will all be paid under a model where we receive 70% of our base pay on the first of the month. It will take some time to implement the process by which pre-merger CAL Flight Attendants will be converted to this system.