Flight attendants hold an informational picket at the airport on Sept. 27, 2022.

Flight attendants hold an informational picket at the airport on Sept. 27, 2022, citing unacceptable working conditions made worse by understaffing.

Flight attendants hold an informational picket at the airport on Sept. 27, 2022.

Flight attendants hold an informational picket at the airport on Sept. 27, 2022, citing unacceptable working conditions made worse by understaffing.

Dozens of flight attendants at United Airlines held an informational picket Tuesday afternoon at Guam’s A.B. Won Pat International Airport over what they described as unacceptable working conditions made worse by understaffing, even as United said steps have been taken to address the concerns.

Guam airport operations and United flights remained uninterrupted as the picket was ongoing.

The picketing Guam flight attendants, most of them in their uniforms, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, AFA-CWA, kicked off the Sept. 27 “Day of Action” that the union planned throughout the United States.

A major concern is the lengthy call hold times that flight attendants and other airline crew members face when they try to contact the scheduling department.

They spend hours waiting on the phone with United’s scheduling services trying to find out where they’re supposed to stay for the night or during a layover, and the flight attendants said this is a result of the airline’s failure to properly staff crew schedulers.

United Airlines’ corporate communications, in response to media questions, said it’s hired more crew schedulers and boosted digital options for communications.

“We’ve worked hard to reduce wait times for flight attendants to talk to a crew scheduler, including more hiring and adding digital options for some items,” United Corporate Communications said in response to questions from Pacific Daily News.

The union representing the picketing flight attendants had said that “United management’s failure to properly staff crew schedulers, the flight attendant support team, catering, and more has resulted in 67,485 flight delays and 6,780 cancellations since May of this year, leaving passengers and flight attendants waiting for answers for hours at a time.”

At the Guam airport on Tuesday, dozens of United flight attendants led by AFA-CWA Guam President Rsei Isim sought to demand the airline management to address disruptions to schedules and other operational issues.

“We’re picketing today to demand United Airlines to fix some ongoing operational disruptions, with focus on labor relations, to support passengers and crew on the front lines,” Isim said at the picket site while holding signs that read, “Solutions, not excuses” and “We need support, not a heavy hand.”

“The long wait call when you try to reach the company scheduler — it goes an hour, an hour and a half, sometimes two hours,” he said.

Isim, who’s been a United flight attendant for nearly 33 years, said flight attendants want to find ways that can mitigate the issues but he said “the company is not willing to sit down and talk with us.”

Their other picket signs also said as much: “Making it work is exhausting. Fix it” and “Can you hear us now?”

“We are here as a show of solidarity and to let everyone know that we are demanding United Airlines to fix these operational issues so that we will have smooth, safe flying for the general public and flight attendants as well,” he said.

The union, which said it represents about 200 flight attendants on Guam, also planned for the picket to inform the general public about the operational issues that they said impact their working conditions and the traveling public.

United, meanwhile, noted that Tuesday’s event was not a strike or job action, but an informational picket and that no impact to the operation is expected from the picket.

Flight attendants, in their free time, will carry signs at airports, the company said.

Haidee Eugenio Gilbert can be reached at hgilbert@guampdn.com.

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