United offered flight attendants triple pay to work on their days off to help the airline recover from weather-related chaos

• United Airlines gave flight attendants triple pay if they worked extra shifts over Independence Day.
• The airline struggled with cancellations and delays linked to thunderstorms on the East Coast.

United Airlines gave some flight attendants triple their normal pay as the carrier tried to recover from recent weather-related disruption.

The airline struggled with operational issues in late June and the Fourth of July period this week partly due to problems caused by thunderstorms on the East Coast.

United offered 30,000 air miles to passengers affected by the disruption to be used on flights, meals, and upgrade, per reports by The Washington Post and Fox News.

The Chicago-based airline's troubles also landed its CEO, Scott Kirby, in hot water after he took a private jet from New Jersey to Denver on a day when while hundreds of passengers were stranded. He told The Associated Press he'd made the wrong decision.

However, there could be longer-lasting damage on United's relationship with its staff.

In a scathing statement from the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, United was accused of losing track of crew members despite the union flagging the issue last year.

The union also said morale had been badly damaged by the delays, and that United needed to implement a full recovery plan to help stranded flight attendants.

It acknowledged that United had met its demands for 300% pay for staff who volunteered to do extra shifts over the busy Independence Day period, but said more needed to be done.

"Every minute wasted in their decision-making is a minute too late for recovery and delivering the public reliable, efficient air travel," the union said.

United didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.