Big Four Airline Lobbyist Told Congress Deregulation Lifts Workers. At Newark, United Is Proving Otherwise.

By Ana Maria Hill, Vice President and New Jersey State Director, 32BJ SEIU

Last month, the airline industry’s top lobbyist appeared before Congress to paint a rosy picture of an industry that prioritizes not only passengers, but workers.

At a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on competition in the airline industry, Airlines for America (A4A) President Chris Sununu called the industry “an affordability success story” and claimed airline employees have benefited from deregulation through higher wages and better benefits.

Mr. Sununu and the members of Congress who participated in that hearing should spend a day with the airport service workers represented by 32BJ SEIU at Newark Liberty International Airport, where United Airlines is telling a very different story.

As the New Jersey Director of 32BJ SEIU, I represent many of the workers who keep Newark Airport running every day. They move baggage, secure terminals, marshal aircraft, and assist passengers through one of the busiest airports in the country. Today, many of those workers are facing reduced hours, lost healthcare, or unemployment because of United’s latest contractor transition. Their reality bears little resemblance to the one Congress heard.

This summer, as Newark prepared for one of its busiest travel seasons and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, United transferred the work of roughly 250 frontline contract workers to its wholly owned subsidiary, United Ground Express (UGE). Hundreds of workers now face losing full-time jobs, employer-paid healthcare, and workplace protections they spent years fighting to secure.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time.

Last year, during a similar contractor transition involving cabin cleaners, United assured Senator Cory Booker that workers would receive comparable hourly wages. But hourly wages alone do not tell the whole story. Many workers lost full-time status, employer-paid healthcare, and other hard-earned benefits that help families remain economically secure. 32BJ has also filed a complaint with the New Jersey Department of Labor regarding potential violations of the state’s Healthy Terminals Act.

Behind every one of these decisions is a family.

I think of workers like Sabrina Reliford, a 32BJ member who has spent five years helping passengers navigate Newark Airport. Under United’s contractor transition, she was told she would be moved from full-time to part-time, losing the employer-paid healthcare and stability her family depends on. Sabrina helps care for four grandchildren while managing her own medical needs. As she said during a recent rally, “When someone sitting in an office decides to change a contract, they are not just changing paperwork. They are changing lives.” Her story reflects the reality facing hundreds of airport workers who now wonder how they will continue supporting their families while keeping one of the nation’s busiest airports running. 

The timing could not be worse. As Spirit Airlines disappears from Newark, United’s dominance at the airport continues to grow. Greater market power should come with greater responsibility—not fewer protections for the workers whose labor keeps airport operations moving every day.

Mr. Sununu was right about one thing: airlines should invest in their people. But “their people” cannot mean only pilots, flight attendants, and direct airline employees. It must also include the airport service workers who move baggage, protect terminals, assist passengers, and keep flights operating safely and efficiently. Without them, air travel simply does not function.

In fact, Mr. Sununu himself acknowledged before a Senate committee last year that airport service workers are part of the airline industry’s broader ecosystem and deserve access to essential benefits like healthcare. Airlines cannot celebrate record profits while distancing themselves from the working conditions of the very people who help generate those profits.

Congress has begun recognizing this reality through the bipartisan Good Jobs for Good Airports Act, which seeks to improve wages and working conditions for airport service workers. Airport operators, regulators, and elected officials should do the same by ensuring that industry growth does not come at the expense of the workforce that keeps our airports operating safely.

As the leader of the union representing these workers, I hear their concerns every day. They are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the opportunity to continue supporting their families with dignity and for United to live up to the commitments its own industry representatives made before Congress and the American people.

If airlines truly believe workers are the foundation of their success, that commitment cannot stop with executives or direct employees. It must extend to every airport service worker whose labor keeps Newark moving every single day.