Virgin America cabin crew form union

Flight attendants at Virgin America have voted to form a union, becoming the first workers to organise at the seven-year-old US affiliate of the Virgin Atlantic airline.

The vote, with about 58 per cent voting in favour on Wednesday, brought organised labour to the last US airline without a union.

The 830 flight attendants will be represented by the Transport Workers Union, which has about 200,000 members in total around the country.

Flight attendants had complained of scheduling inflexibility and overwork, and argued that a union would allow them to strike a better deal with the management.

"We're excited about what this election means for inflight team members," said Los Angeles-based cabin crew member Adam Croteau. "We ran a very positive campaign and we believe that we can make positive changes at the airline by giving flight attendants a voice."

Flying between major US cities and to Mexican resorts, Virgin America is US-controlled but 22 per cent owned by British tycoon Richard Branson's Virgin group, and it partners with Branson's Virgin Atlantic carrier.