An "overtime" program every month under Flight Attendants' control

One of the most flexible parts of our job is the ability to control our own schedules and fly as little or as much as we'd like. Many unionized carriers have incentive programs in which Flight Attendants are paid at a higher rate when they choose to fly high time despite a particular month or an average schedule value.

At Delta, management sets our average schedule value to their benefit. They boast about an "industry leading" monthly override pay program especially during the summer months of June, July, & August, but in reality they control the amount of incentive hours that can be paid out each month. This reduces the earning potential of high flyers and puts all of the control in management’s hands.

Let’s take a look at the contractual "overtime" programs in AFA contracts:

Spirit AFA Contract Section 3. G. provides Overtime Incentive Pay when a Flight Attendant exceeds 85 credited hours. For each additional credited hour Flight Attendants are compensated at the rate of 1.5 times (150%) their hourly rate.

United AFA Contract Section 4.B.1. provides that Flight Attendants will be paid an additional $5.00/hour (this overtime pay is referred to as “Incentive Pay Rates,” but it can be earned even during times where there’s little flying because the individual schedules are controlled by the Flight Attendants, not management) for all block hours flown in excess of two hundred hours (200:00) per calendar quarter, including vacation and deadhead, to a maximum of three hundred and thirty hours (330:00), except that no incentive pay will apply for block hours flown in excess of one hundred and ten (110:00) hours in a bid month.

Alaska AFA Contract Section 21, R. also provides an overtime program for flying high no matter the month

Delta management started implementing an "incentive" program in January 2020. Since April of 2021* only 8 bid months of the past 26 months have qualified for the 40% monthly override pay program. Meanwhile, Flight Attendants at United, Alaska, and Spirit have had complete control to earn extra money every single month of the year for a decade or more.

*Based on available PBS records on DeltaNet.