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Home » American Airlines » Labor War Reignites At American Airlines
American Airlines

Labor War Reignites At American Airlines

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 20, 2020November 14, 2023 15 Comments

a man and woman in uniform

Flight attendants are “highly offended” at American Airlines over disparities in treatment between themselves and pilots as well as about their working conditions and options for leave.

In an open letter written by Lori L. Bassani, National President of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), Bassani tears into American Airlines, arguing that the airline has put flight attendants at risk and treated them poorly.

“We are highly offended that the company offered the pilot group financial benefits for two of the pilot options and would not consider the same for our group. This is a slap in the face for our members who are keeping this airline in the air—- and it severely underestimates our relevance during this or any crisis.”

Let me start with a plea. Let’s remember that flight attendants are human beings, often with families to support, and facing a dire situation. I know (well) there are bad apples; those who provide poor service and have no business serving in customer-facing role. But One Mile at Time covered this story as well and one comment after another seemed to delight in the calamity and suggested flight attendants are getting what they deserve. Let’s remember that this situation is far beyond the control of front-line workers but impacts them hardest.

As to the offense expressed by Bassani above, there are two elements to consider. First, it is true that flight attendants are keeping American Airlines in the air during this time. If FAs refused to come to work, citing reasonable safety concerns and social distancing recommendations, flights would be grounded. Second, however, is that flight attendants and pilots are very different roles.

Rather than saying flight attendants are expendable and pilots are not (because we are all expendable to some degree), I’d simply point out that pilots are trained and certified for one (or sometimes two) aircraft types. This is extensive training and more senior pilots tend to fly larger aircraft. Now imagine if AA determined it needed to furlough pilots and had to do so based upon seniority. You’d have a bunch of 777, A330, and 787 captains sitting idle (since those aircraft are largely grounded) and have to retrain them to fly the 737s and A319s that are sill in the air. That’s just not at all practical. Meanwhile, flight attendants can fly all mainline aircraft.

American Airlines Endangering Flight Attendants?

Bassani continues:

“During this global pandemic, our members’ jobs are inherently at higher risk. The nature of our jobs is to work in closed environments with hundreds of people, all in close proximity of each other. To exacerbate that situation, our company designed the interiors of our aircraft by stuffing in as many seats as possible, with passenger seats encroaching on our jump seat areas, airplane aisles more narrow than ever, and severely reducing space in galley areas, bathrooms, and spaces for passengers to wait in line for restrooms.”

American Airlines, in particular among legacy carriers, has crammed more seats into airplanes and reduced the size of lavatories, galleys, and aisles. However with low load factors this becomes less of an issue. Instead, the issue is still that flight attendants are exposed to passengers, and therefore also potentially COVID-19, much more so than pilots are.

“Many of our flight attendants are in the high-risk age category, flying at an older age than ever before because their pensions were stripped or frozen during the last crisis and they cannot afford to retire. It is time that we are recognized for our full worth.”

I agree, in the sense that flight attendants did sacrifice so much during the last round of bankruptcies and many cannot afford to retire. I’m not sure what an airline is to do, though, when its planes are flying empty and new travel restrictions are being levied each day.

What American Airlines Flight Attendants Want

Bassani outlines four flight attendant demands:

  • Reduced services on our flights to minimize close interaction with passengers
  • Hazard pay for those who cannot take leaves and must fly to pay their bills
  • Sufficient precautionary supplies for flight attendants
  • Expanded protection for members who test positive for COVID-19 or are quarantined

I’d say reduced service, sufficient supplies, and expanded protection are all reasonable. But hazard pay? Won’t that simply reward the few (who are not coincidentally in the highest risk age category) at the top of the pyramid who will retain their jobs if most are furloughed?

That’s the tension, isn’t it? Any furlough would leave the most highly-paid and most at-risk flight attendants still on the job. That alone should probably prompt American to offer something more generous to convince more senior FAs to step aside, hopefully just on a temporary basis.

CONCLUSION

I feel so bad for flight attendants right now, even as workers across the economy face dire prospects. But FAs are being asked to come to work each day, put themselves at risk, and live in fear that their jobs may soon evaporate. Talk about a toxic combination…

Rather than celebrate that the bad apples may finally be plucked, we should mourn that the many wonderful flight attendants who fly for American (and other airlines) may soon find themselves out of a job with families still depending upon them for support.

image: Brandon Wade / American Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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15 Comments

  1. Ryan Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 9:46 am

    Flight Attendants : You are valuable but you cannot compare what you went through to get your job to what a pilot went through to get theirs. Pilots are highly qualified and go through many years of training and gainaing experience. Flight attendants = 6 weeks, 0$ of personal investment.

  2. Lisa Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 9:48 am

    I just read the new safety/service alert regarding service… I propose – ALL SERVICE is suspended on every flight. Flight Attendants are required to wear protective gear. One lavatory is locked off for crew. Meal credit expenses paid for EVERY layover. FLIGHT ATTENDANTS ARE ONBOARD FOR SAFETY AND SECURITY ONLY! WATER BOTTLES PROVIDED. TRASH BAGS AVAILABLE FOR SELF DISPOSAL. BRING YOUR OWN FOOD ( yes, even long haul) If restaurants are closed and social distancing is mandated- Flight Attendants are being placed in the most vulnerable position to contract and spread this virus. It is IRRESPONSIBLE to continue service onboard. Let us be an industry leader by taking drastic measures and SUSPEND ALL SERVICE. Protect your flight crews and the traveling public. Thank you, Lisa

  3. ryan Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 10:11 am

    I do agree with protective measures for Flight Attendants.

  4. mark Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 10:17 am

    “Rolls”?

  5. debit Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Why do people have families they can’t support without getting raises all the time?

    Time to give your kid up for adoption because you couldn’t afford to have them in the first place.

    • emercycrite Reply
      March 20, 2020 at 8:20 pm

      +1

    • KC Reply
      March 21, 2020 at 11:47 am

      To debit….get real and go back to your womb!

  6. Dug Parker Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 11:31 am

    Waaa waaa waaa. Glorified waitresses are whining that it is too difficult to be nice to passengers and to also open a can of coke. So now these cat ranchers want to be paid to sit for the whole flight as to not be bothered by paying passengers and interrupting their games of candy crush. Let me clue you not in the industry on one thing. FAs often think that they are in charge of the cabin. Per FAA guidelines, they are not. The Captain is in charge of the Aircraft and crew. No amount of whining by this useless lot can belie the fact that their job can be replaced with a 2 week training course.

    • Jesse Reply
      March 21, 2020 at 2:56 am

      I’m not sure who you think you are, but I wish you’d have a little more respect.

      I understand the captain is in charge. We all know that. No one should be getting too high and mighty.
      However, there is more to the job than just opening a can of coke, and I can say this because my training just was cancelled yesterday and there’s more than I realized to the FA job.
      I wouldn’t place it higher than a pilot’s training and I hope no one would.
      But it doesn’t mean it’s only opening a can of coke and playing candy crush.
      There are some bad employees in every job. There are also great ones. Please don’t group everyone into one category.

  7. Kevin Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    “We are highly offended that the company offered the pilot group financial benefits for two of the pilot options and would not consider the same for our group…” because everyone knows that flight attendants have to suffer though the same type of grueling training as the sky waitresses, so said waitresses DEMAND equal benefits during this national crisis – heck, the country would absolutely cease to function without them probably!!! /S

  8. ADP Reply
    March 20, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    US airlines can survive without bridge loans for a very long time – it just requires them to lay off virtually every single employee except for a skeleton upkeep crew, and in effect reset the entire industry.

    Labor is their main expense. Fuel costs are irrelevant if no one is flying – they will just convert from airlines to asset firms and play survival of the fittest, without taking a dime of public money. The one and only issue here is labor and the shock to it.

    There is merit to designating companies like airlines in a matter similar to banks’ “SIFI,” but no company can last indefinitely with zero revenue yet nonzero expense.

  9. YoniPDX Reply
    March 21, 2020 at 11:21 am

    So I guess as it turns out that flying jets really is “Rocket science”.

    • KC Reply
      March 21, 2020 at 12:10 pm

      “Dug Parker” stop trolling and spewing your vitriol! If you are as beligerant and whiney in person as you are online, no wonder Flight Attendants
      can’t be bothered with you and your likes. In truth we all get back what we give and if you can’t seem to have compassion for the humanity that surrounds you or find connection with the so called “glorified waitresses” or laborers out there who take it on the chin daily by dealing with spoiled rotten, entitled , rude and objectifying jerks like you then you deserve ALL the bad service and lack of attention that you get!
      On that note….let’s all try to remember what we all learned when we were children, does the “golden rule” ring a bell people?

  10. Danielle Reply
    March 21, 2020 at 1:25 pm

    I use the Doctor/Nurse comparison. Doctors are more highly trained, but hospital cannot run without Nurses.

  11. Bails from Oz Reply
    March 21, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    This is one of the main reasons that where people have a choice to fly AA or pretty much any other airline in the world, they will not select AA. Self-entitled unionised workforces in American airlines are killing that industry, and if it wasn’t for the fact they are pretty much all working to the same awful service standards they would have been competed out of business already.

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