Unifying Our Craft Under One Voice

AMFA National
3 min readApr 15, 2021

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Unity in Craft.

This year, our craft has the unique chance to come together. By voting to join AMFA, American Airlines mechanics and related can unite under one singular union formed to serve a single craft and class and give members the best possible representation. With an end to competing union agendas, we can move forward together stronger than ever.

Almost 60 years ago, AMFA was formed with the mission to promote and protect the interest of its members, which has always been made up entirely of mechanics and related.

Everything we do is focused on our shared craft, with every leadership position occupied by and voted in by our mechanic and related members.

The same can’t be said for industrial unions.

While industrial unions have the larger numbers, and claim they provide protection, what they care about most from their membership is their money. The bigger the group, the more money that rises to the top, leaving little to benefit the people it was actually meant to serve. Members get lost in the masses, and when it comes to the issues they want to raise, it requires an internal struggle just to get their voice heard by those in charge.

For American mechanics, it should be no surprise that a craft union offers a stronger voice in and better understanding of the matters they care about most.

American Airlines flight attendants and pilots have both thrived under craft unions. They made the switch and discovered the wisdom and power of focus in specialization. When deciding whether to make the change, American employees can look at their AA aviation brothers and sisters and see how they’ve grown much stronger with a craft-specific union.

Becoming an industry leader

This comprehensive focus on our craft does more than offer our members shared interests. It makes AMFA a force in the industry, affording us a seat at the table with the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Transportation.

We work hard to maintain our place as the leading advocate for our craft by projecting a strong and ever-present voice to federal stakeholders in Congress and the Administration. The goal of our efforts is to strengthen AMFA’s position on legislative and regulatory issues that pertain to our craft, enhancing our credibility and legitimacy with the different management organizations we go head to head with every day.

Only AMFA, of all the aviation mechanics unions, is directly shaping safety policy that affects our craft and the work that we do.

With this work in policy comes our fight to grow our represented members. At Southwest, our flagship airline, our membership grew over 64% between 2003–2020. During that same period, membership at American declined by 46%. We know how important it is for individual AMTs to have representation and the voice that comes with it, and we never stop in our pursuit to make them each heard.

At AMFA, we’re ready to take on the industry with American mechanics and related by our side. It would be our great privilege to represent the American Airlines group and look forward to the opportunity to unify our group.

For the latest about the election process, register for text updates here.

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AMFA National
AMFA National

Written by AMFA National

We are independent Aircraft Maintenance Technicians committed to the highest safety standards. Safety in the Air Begins with Quality Maintenance on the Ground.