Airport Experience® News - Conference Issue 2026

Rght: The minimum wage for concession workers at LGB will increase in phases, reaching $29.50 by 2028.

The deal, reached in mid-November after more than a year of bargaining, includes a tip line for fast food and barista workers for the first time, a higher tipped benefit rate, wage increases for cooks, utility workers and engineers and access to affordable dependent health insurance, the union announced. “This agreement is a long time coming,” says Victor Arreole, a cook for HMSHost Corp. at MSP. “We fought for more than a year to win back what we lost during the pandemic and we’re finally getting the wages and benefits our families deserve. This contract is going to change lives.” Airport workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) were not successful in efforts to seek city approval for a wage increase earlier in 2025. Those workers had gone on a 24-hour strike during Thanksgiving 2024 over “poverty wages,” as well. The city council, when Mayor Vi Lyles in June cast the deciding vote, declined to study in committee ways to improve working conditions for airport contract workers who work cleaning planes. The Service Employees International Union, which reportedly is not recognized as the official union of airport contract workers by the federal government, indicates some of those workers make $14 an hour. Chris Poore, a spokesman for CLT, points out that the city council increased the minimum wage to $24 an hour for city employees, but that does not include contract workers for private companies. Also heading into Thanksgiving, the Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, affiliates of Unite Here representing workers at 10 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise operators at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas authorized a strike, claiming disrespectful negotiation tactics and saying they had gone four years without raises. The union picketed the DBE operators in early November and then authorized a strike starting November 14.

“This isn’t just about a raise,” says Laura Velez, a crew member at Nathan’s and a Culinary Union member for eight years, in a statement. “We also want to protect our health care benefits and make sure we get a fair contract for my co-workers and me. If we have to strike, we’ll be ready because we’re fighting for the respect and security, we all deserve.” As of press time, there had been no strike as negotiations continue. Significant Increases Impacting Industry Operators Few operators would comment for this article, but Andy Weddig, president and CEO of the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association, says the deal at LAX essentially means a McDonald’s or Starbucks at the airport will have to pay around $15 per hour more than one located on the street “and we are restricted to their pricing,” he says. The significant increase at LAX, he adds, will push some companies that were profitable into loss situations, which will mean fewer staff positions in the short-term. “Obviously the business can’t sustain itself,” Weddig says, echoing the thoughts of Crews, who is on the ARRA board. “My guess is there will be layoffs, so there will be fewer people working, which obviously will impact service levels.” Longer term, Weddig says, full-service offerings at LAX will likely start to disappear as operators reduce staffing and find less labor

intensive ways to operate. Additionally, he expects reduced competition with future solicitations garnering fewer respondents, especially from small businesses. “Will you start seeing fewer brands?” he says. “That’s one way to save royalties. That’s one way to save cost. Do you change your service style? People order at a counter and then take a number? They give you a number and then someone runs it out to you.” There’s some potential there for savings, but also likely reduces the chance someone orders a second drink or other add-ons. “That’s a much cheaper model, but also probably has lower sales potential,” Weddig says. While the other increases have been less publicized and not as large, they’re important in that they continue a trend of “legislatively imposing wage increases that often selectively affect only segments of the local economy – for example, airport concessions and other service workers,” Weddig says, adding that where wages go up, business terms must change to ensure businesses remain viable. “In those cases where contractual price controls reflect local market conditions, such as with street pricing policies, then these wage requirements are essentially unfunded mandates,” he adds. “ARRA members support livable wages for their valued associates. In fact, they often offer wages and benefits that exceed the local minimums. Rather, it’s balance in the business framework that is critical.”

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AX NEWS MARCH 2026