SAG, AFTRA Give Up First-Class Travel

6:54 PM PST 11/9/2010 by Jonathan Handel

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Actors will be flying business class and sometimes coach as part of the unions' new deal with the studios.

Hollywood union deals usually don’t involve rollbacks, but the latest SAG/AFTRA deal with the studios does. However, it’s an unsurprising one: Actors will be flying business class and sometimes coach rather than first class, THR has learned.

•Labor

That brings the union contract more in line with corporate travel policies generally, including, probably, those at the studios themselves. A source told THR that this revision was a major goal of the studios in the just-concluded negotiations.

The new rules are these: On flights over 1,000 miles, actors will fly business class where available, otherwise first class. On flights under 1,000 miles, it’s coach. L.A.-Vancouver and N.Y.-Toronto are coach as well, even though those routes are slightly more than 1,000 miles.

Previously, the union agreement required first-class travel. Actors with clout are still free to negotiate this as a perk, but it will no longer be guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement.

In addition, for ground travel in Los Angeles, the 30-mile "studio zone" has been expanded to also include several outlying locations: the Pomona Fairgrounds, Agua Dulce and, it is believed, Piru train station and Ontario airport.