This week, American Airlines revised its previous plans to not seek damages against mechanics and even the caterers have staged a sit-in. American Airlines management is running out of employee groups to offend.
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First Things First, American Airlines Reverses Decision on Mechanics Damages
There was some debate in the comments and where it was shared online that I had misrepresented American’s position. Their own PR contacted me for a correction. The line in question read as follows:
American Airlines asked for damages in the millions of dollars.
They took issue with the statement and while any logical person could have concluded that damages would come from mechanics and reach the millions (I cited sources who agreed), at the time they hadn’t said so implicitly so I obliged.
The next week I posted that American Airlines had asked for damages directly from the mechanics. I was corrected that American hadn’t asked the judge for damages from the mechanics. They just asked the judge to order the unions to fine the mechanics directly – which I guess by the same logic would absolve any tyrant from actually committing a crime, as long as they forced someone else to commit their acts for them.
In what should be the most obvious reveal to any reader this week, American sought damages… from the mechanics union… who would have just collected fines (if any were issued) from their mehcanics and American Airlines behest.
“American Airlines has accused the unions representing its mechanics of a purposeful work slowdown to win leverage in contract talks, which it said caused more than 900 flight cancellations over the last two months. Now the airline wants compensation from the unions…
The unions have caused “enormous financial losses to American, and untold harm in lost customer good will,” American said in its filing Tuesday. It said the amount would be determined at a hearing.” – CNBC
Essentially, my disputed statement from a few weeks ago by which American and others was suggested as false based on elements that are now true. So does that make the original statement true? Didn’t American Airlines ask the judge to make the unions personally penalize the unions and then now wants damages from nearly 1,000 late flights with enormous finanical losses? Does that make me a visionary, or that American simply thought no one would see the very obvious course they were following?
Caterers for American Airlines Protest, 58 Arrested
The headlines for the arrests (and fines) outside of American Airlines imply caterers for the carrier were jailed. That’s partially the case. The Dallas News clarified that some mechanics were also there in a display of unity which was meant to represent the 11,000 catering workers who blame American Airlines (not their employer LSG Sky Chefs) for their low pay.
“The union and workers say much of the blame for their low pay rests with American Airlines because the carrier dictates contracts and rates to companies such as LSG Sky Chefs. The company has 926 catering workers at DFW Airport.”
It was estimated that 600 protesters showed up to American Airlines headquarters in Dallas. They blocked the entrance to the facility which gave the authorities (and certainly American Airlines who could have intervened) the ability to arrest and fine those who would not leave.
At Least The Stock Is Finally Performing…
American Airlines surprised the world by turning a profit in Q2 by flying passengers, ending a six-month drought (they were profitable the other two quarters from the sale of miles but lost money flying passengers and cargo.)
Ouch! Just AAL closed just $.40 up from the five-year low on Friday, August 16th, 2019. That’s after the best quarter they’ve reported in some time, oil prices haven’t suddenly jumped, they even won their case against the mechanics. Yet the stock price is even worse!
Maybe Wall Street has had it just like the rest of us.
Who, Doug Parker, is left for you to offend to the point that they will literally be arrested and fined to make their point? When will management start to realize that all of the labor groups are unhappy with them. I follow one simple rule in life: If everyone in the room seems crazy, you’re the crazy one.
Conclusion
First flight attendants (unresolved), then mechanics (unresolved), now caterers and rumors of pilot rumblings have to make it hard to manage anything at American Airlines. It’s not likely that all of the groups have been so demanding that a resolution can’t be found. Passenger numbers, and the stock price are also down, so it seems just about everybody besides CEO Doug Parker and his mangement team have recognized that things are not going well. Summer isn’t over yet, Mr. Parker.
What do you think? Is American Airlines management running out of employee groups to offend? Is anyone in management or administration as upset as the employees?
Since Parker came on the property there has been a “toxic culture” (starting with the retirees). The board of directors need to wake up a fire Parker!
My laugh was last week Bob Crandall was on CNBC talking about Boeing and the 737 Max fiasco and in the background AA stock for $29, Delta $58, United $80 and I think Southwest was in the $50’s! America West.. Cough Cough AA is STILL trying to run AA like Regional Carriers.. The Only people slowing down AA is Management’s!
Euragone, surely you realize that the price per share of a stock — absent any other information — really doesn’t tell you anything in comparison to the price per share of any other stock. Relative performance over a benchmark period of time does. And it certainly is true that AAL’s stock has been awful this year — probably having quite a bit to do with the disruptive (and illegal) actions by the mechanics.
But you can’t tell that by comparing their per share spot price to Delta or United.
Great article Kyle…Your first couple of paragraphs had me thinking that you did, in fact, jump the gun on those earlier articles…But then the rest of this article had me laughing my ass off…I totally agree with you…Great humor is always appreciated…
If I remember right the Unions wanted this management team.
I worked for AA as a mechanic for 1 year. It was the longest year of my life. I can honestly say it was the worst job I have ever had. The issues run so deep, even if the contract gets signed, they get the best pay, health insurance and vacation the moral will still be where it is now. The one positive I have taken away from my experience there is that there is a large premium for being happy at work.
Don’t forget fleet service ! We were promised the industry leading contract. Yet American wants to outsource more of our work and give us worse medical .
We stand offended . The company has never made more money, but can’t break us off a small piece of the pie .
Great Post!
So now American is responsible for Vendors payscale as well. Seriously, any company looks to contain costs on contracts. If they want American Airlines wages, apply for a job. I guess your next piece will concern shoe shines and magazines at AA airports
Those caterers should have been at their own headquarters picketing.
Gee, it really instills a lack of faith in the current and future safety of flying on the oldest fleet with the highest number of miles and flight time on all those ancient aircraft in AA stables.
So if older high mileage vehicles need more repairs and replacement of old and worn out parts as well as time spent in the shop.
So I could veracity of AA’s complaints of work slow downs and sidelined aircraft if all of AA fleet were from this millienum. (Also if they were not pushing so hard to outsource this maintenance, overhauls and PM to other nations).
Actually American has one of the newest fleets with more new coming almost monthly. All bought on the payment plan.
Clearly American has squandered all the Goodwill that was given to them by mechanics, pilots, flight attendants,and everyone involved in the merger. if not for the buy-in of all these offended groups there would have been no merger. I can only imagine what American could be, should be, had this Goodwill been reciprocated in kind. They’re plan to turn American into US air 2.0 was a failure from the start and is now imploding under the weight of mismanagement.
Has a Aircraft Technician for AA 27 years of service its very hard to pack your bags and leave it’s true if you don’t like the company you work for just leave, well my friend is not that easy to relocate your family tell your kids we are moving sell your house ect ect . And for those travelers that had a bad experience due to maintenance flight delays my apologies those who understand aircraft maintenance operation we as technician follow rules and regulations approved by the Faa we use Aircraft Maintenance Manuals to ensure that every task we do is accomplish IAW our responsibility is to make sure the aircraft is airworthy and that you and your family get to your destination on time.
Great headline.
I don’t have a dog in this hunt — other than being a traveler. But, personally, the only people I’m miffed at are the mechanics for willfully and intentionally disrupting my travel on several occasions this summer — once for a personal vacation and twice for business. In one of the latter cases, my full-day delay carried with it some very real costs.
I’m sorry the mechanics feel like they’re being mistreated. But that’s why people quit jobs and move to greener pastures. If you don’t like working for American Airlines or feel like you’re underpaid, the answer is to find a better place to work. I’ve done it myself, more than once. If enough qualified mechanics go elsewhere, American will have no choice but to up the ante one way or another. That’s how you push back.
But to intentionally disrupt the lives of countless people who have absolutely nothing to do with it? That’s your solution? Well, I can tell you in my case that it doesn’t elicit any sympathy. Quite the contrary.
While it’s unfortunate that American Airlines disappointed you and caused you harm as a result of its internal labor issues. There is more to the story or solution than just up and leaving for those employees who are represented by a labor union.
So you know, the way many airlines are structured with regard to their workgroups, it is seniority that is of significant value. In most jobs where performance moves you up the ladder and you earn more and more perks, money and benefits, that is not entirely the case in aviation.
Furthermore, in many corporate jobs, your achievements are of value and also are portable and can earn you more somewhere else, if you so choose. Again, not the case in aviation.
Those in the industry for the most part stay at the carrier they started with to enjoy the benefits that seniority brings, more money, better routes, better days off, more vacation, all of which are tied to longevity as opposed to performance.
In management jobs your resumé helps you get more. Airline jobs? It’s time invested…big difference and not so easy to walk away from.
Management comes and goes and the employees stay to deal with the aftermath of the way the previous management managed. Is it an ideal scenario? Not at all. The negatives of unions are that it’s difficult to weed out the good from the bad. The good part is that the company has a more difficult time firing people at their whim.
Unions are a necessary evil, because sometimes management doesn’t play nicely and do things they shouldn’t be doing to make more for themselves at the expense of their employees as well as the expense of their customers.
Sorry for your bad experiences of late.
I haven’t had any bad experiences with American on late, I all but stopped flying them.
Unfortunately, the only way to get a response, leverage, force management to deal with you is to disrupt the flying public.
I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do (at all!) but when a work group has been dealing with management for years with no result- it becomes an unfortunate option.
AA would rather suffer more losses to the flying public than to fairly negotiate with their work groups.
Unfortunately, you can’t believe everything you read. There is a lot more to this situation than can be explained in a forum like this. As a 33 year AMT for AA, I can honestly say, there was no concerted effort by AA’s Aircraft Mechanic’s to cause delays and cancellations. What you’re experiencing is the result of poor morale, and mismanagement. The AMTs at AA distrust their unions as much as they do their management because both continually lie to us. Legacy AA AMTs are working under the same benefits that were imposed post 911, almost 20 years with 5 holidays while the rest of the company gets 10. That is only one example, there are many more. The current negotiations have been going on since the merger 7 years ago. We haven’t had a raise in 3 years. Seniority is everything in the airline industry, so going to another airline for better pay and benefits would cause employees to forfeit their seniority. So, before you make a blanket assumption on limited, one sided information please consider their is two sides to every issue.
As a long-time advocate for the employee groups at American, but also as a business manager the statement, “We haven’t had a raise in 3 years.” is one that strikes a chord with me. I don’t give pay raises every three years and haven’t gotten them. Most of America would be in the same boat. It’s atypical to have regular raises and I personally support merit-based raises as opposed to calendar-based raises.
I hate to tell ya Kyle. In aviation merit means nothing. It doesnt matter how hard you work. As long as it’s done right your good. Nobody has any resources or ability to pay you more. You can be the hero every day. But it pays the same as the zero.
Well let us see. How many quarters was the old AA in the red before Parker and Company? How many quarters in the black after Parker and Company? Quit your whinning and you so called reporters report the facts and not some BS opion you have. Unless you are involved in the Company/Union negotiation, you do not have a clue what is going on.
First, no one here calls themselves a reporter, I am a blogger. Second, they are not “so-called” facts. Just facts.
Third, your principal question is highly flawed. It’s not whether the company performed better or worse prior to Parker and Co. It’s whether the company performed better or worse relative to the economy and other carriers at the time that is the key indicator. American reported less profit in all of 2018 than Delta did through half the same year as a smaller carrier, United too. And that was prior to any corrections attributed to mechanic action or inaction. American’s performance has trailed competitors dramatically when compared with peers in a perfect economy for flying. Those are the facts.
You sure hide behind that I’m not a reporter I’m a blogger excuse on countless articles. Not impressed.
Tough crowd. When I get accused of being biased or a reporter and state that I am not a reporter, then I am accused of hiding behind not being a reporter. I cite my sources, I don’t mince words and if you would rather read someone else’s work be my guest. We do offer a 100% money-back guarantee. Feel free to submit a claim.
Still waiting on that industry leading contract as promised by Doug Parker himself.
You’re underestimating Parker. He’ll discover new employee groups just so he can insult them.
I was promised an “industry leading contract” 5 years ago. As a 20+ year member of fleet services, I’ve been through contract negotiations before. However, this takes the cake. The management team that asked me to sign off on the merger and promised a new era of management/employee relations along with this new contract have yet to deliver. They have given us substandard operating systems, inferior equipment, overloaded scheduling, micro managing at every turn, and insufficient staffing and their solution to get the contract resolved is to drag us into court with judges who are in their back pockets with frivolous and face slapping lawsuits. Morale is in the toilet (and in some cases, even worse) and they can’t seem to figure out why we are ranked SEVENTH (and in some polls, worse) in customer satisfaction and most performance. I have heard over and over that Mr Doug Parker and his “negotiating team” would meet with us over any table at any time. I challenge them to live up to their words. Instead of a court bench, let’s meet at the kitchen table and get this done…I’ll hold my breath…
Kyle I am just curious, where does your pro-union, pro everything employee mindset come from? American already has the highest labor costs in the market maybe thats why profit isn’t as high?? The two unions IAM and TWU both want the best from their contracts to make a joint agreement. American already has the most work done in sourced. The NMB has agreed with AA that the mechanics aren’t being reasonable and wont meet. So seems like the union needs to learn how to negotiate.
Any Rand.
Parker needs to go. He has offended everyone, employees and passengers alike. Perhaps he should give up drinking … he has been arrested several times for drunk driving. By doing so, he might be able to think more clearly while he is “working”. Otherwise, American is doomed.
It’s really a shame as I can remember when American was among the best. I have nothing to do with them after I’ve used all of my AAdvantage miles. Good bye, American. Good riddance. No one needs you.
American Airlines sues Aircraft Mechanics represented by TWU . American Airlines wanting to impose a fine for financial losses against its own employees.
How about AA pay for enormous family financial losses of employees of Ground Workgroups , Who have endured 16 plus years of Concession/Bankruptcy Contract Terms ?????
American Airlines “Good Faith Negotiations “ 3 Years , 8 Months, 2 Weeks, and 5 Days with NO Schedule Negotiations since April-Unacceptable by any measure of fairness. TWU Ground Workgroups deserves BETTER, ALL Workgroups deserves better. Disappointments the New Normal at American Airlines for Ground Workgroups.
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Never mind employees, they’re customer are leaving in droves…met a customer at random engaged in conversation about ff miles and how upset she is because the reduced repeatability of her miles and the lack of value for her dollars in ticket prices..get a grip AA your customers are leaving..