Herbert L. White
The Charlotte Post
There are days when Victoria Copeland’s job pushes her to the point of exhaustion.
A wheelchair agent at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Copeland helps American Airlines passengers with mobility get to their flights safely. The pay and work conditions, she insists, aren’t keeping pace with job demands.
“I love helping passengers, but the job can be physically draining,” Copeland said. “We are understaffed because the wages and benefits don’t match the workload. I’ve seen passengers wait up to an hour for assistance because we don’t have enough wheelchair agents. Sometimes we even have to push two passengers at the same time so they don’t miss their flight. By the time I get home, my body just crashes.”
Copeland and her colleagues are recruiting elected officials to leverage their demands for better pay and benefits. Their latest strategy twist: demand City Council requires American, Charlotte Douglas’ largest air carrier, to agree on an enhanced compensation package as part of its new 10-year lease with the city. Workers rallied on March 12 across from the airport campus with City Council member J.D. Mazuera Arias and state Rep.-elect Rev. Rodney Sadler.
The airport’s contract with American expires in June.
“One of the busiest airports in the world should not be powered by poverty wages,” said Mazuera Arias, who represents District 5. “As the city negotiates a new lease with American Airlines, we have an opportunity to make sure the success of Charlotte Douglas benefits the entire community.”
Workers and their allies contend Dallas, Texas-based American has a near-monopoly at Charlotte Douglas with 90% of all air travel, which undercuts wages and benefits and limits choices for air travelers. According to Service Employees International Union, which represents the workers, nearly 40% of their ranks report housing insecurity while some earn as little as $12.50 an hour. Chronic understaffing, unsafe working conditions and unaffordable health care are also concerns.
American’s dominance in Charlotte also impacts passengers, who pay the highest domestic non-stop fares in the country at $119 more per ticket– despite being the cheapest major U.S. airport for airline operations. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is the sixth-busiest airport in the world, but contract workers complain they’re struggling to survive working for companies that contract with American, which reported $54.2 billion in revenue in 2024.
“American Airlines can no longer treat Charlotte as its piggy bank,” said Niecy Brown, district director of SEIU Workers United North Carolina. “The city needs to take back control of their airport and ensure passengers, workers, and the community can get a fair deal and benefit from this new lease. As the largest economic engine in the state, CLT should be producing middle class jobs that benefit our economy.”
