The union representing flight attendants at American Airlines has put out an angry note condemning the return of a second beverage service on longer flights in economy class. Does the union make a reasonable point or is this just a perfect example of flight attendants being lazy?
American Airlines Flight Attendants Are Angry About Return Of Second Beverage Service
JonNYC shared a note from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) to the AA flight attendants it represents. The union claims the additional beverage service is unworkable for two reasons: not enough drinks are loaded, and staffing is insufficient.
This thinly veiled lie is a slap in the face to not just to every Flight Attendant but our passengers as well. With no changes to the catering currently supplied on the aircraft and no additional Flight Attendants to accomplish this service, American Airlines has set us all up for frustration and failure. Management’s reversal on service makes it abundantly clear: their arbitration argument was never about what was operationally sustainable — it was about cutting corners at the expenses of both the passengers and the Flight Attendants.
American Airlines management continues to demand more work from fewer Flight Attendants, all under the misleading tagline of “enhancing the customer experience.” Sadly, American’s onboard product has fallen behind our competitors in every cabin, and passengers have taken notice. So has Wall Street. The dismal first quarter 2025 financial results made it clear: the lack of meaningful investment in the inflight experience is hurting the brand — and American’s bottom line.
The first point, if true, is valid. If flight attendants are being asked to perform as second beverage service and there are not sufficient beverages loaded to conduct this service, then everyone loses…it’s unacceptable. Note, however, the union does not allege that there are insufficient drinks onboard to perform a second service…only that more are not being provisioned. I’m not saying that chicanery, but it could be…
The union is also angry that AA promised to make this service reduction permanent, but has now backtracked. It quotes (former) Vice President of Inflight and Premium Guest Services Brady Byrnes:
“So we’ve never gone back out and communicated anything different than this one. So this is our current service footprint that we have today.”
Memo to flight attendants: Byrnes was fired because he was such an ineffective leader. You complain about the lack of profits and now complain that AA is trying to do something to address it?
Flight Attendants Are Directing Their Anger At The Wrong Source
I recognize that flight attendants are unhappy about international widebody staffing. It’s a valid grievance, especially if AA wants to be a premium carrier. There should be a dedicated galley flight attendant and slow service does not build loyalty.
One flight attendant explained, “It’s like asking the chef to wait tables, bus dishes, and cook dinner, and then wondering why your food is cold.” A valid point indeed.
But I don’t find this argument persuasive in the context of a second beverage service on domestic flights. It’s like teachers saying that they cannot teach because they don’t like the teacher-pupil ratio. It’s like taxpayers saying they won’t pay taxes because they don’t like the way the government spends money.
Sorry, but you (flight attendants) negotiated and signed a contract last year. That was your chance to renegotitate widebody staffing in the contract. Even more importantly, we’re talking about mostly narrowbody staffing in this context and staffing on 737 or A320 jets has not changed since before the pandemic…AA has long kept it at the minimums required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
I return to my recent horrible transcon flight on American Airlines (in first class to boot). Flight attendants performed a beverage service and then hid in the galley for he remainder of the flight. What possible “work” between hours 2 and 5 of the flight was taking place beyond collecting trash before landing?
It’s absurd to say that a second beverage service is too much work on flights over 1,500 miles. Sorry, it’s pure laziness and the inadequate international widebody staffing is an unrelated problem, not an excuse to protest this small service restoration that merely matches what the competition offers.
CONCLUSION
While I’m highly sympathetic to insufficient staffing on international widebody jets, I’m not buying the griping over the restoration of a second beverage service in economy class on flights over 1,500 miles. It is valid to ask AA to ensure beverage carts are sufficiently stocked, but the idea that there is not enough time or resources to provide a beverage service on a narrobwody jet is laughably absurd.
image: American Airlines
“I’m not saying that chicanery, but it could be…” A union involved with chicanery, what a rare occurrence. And, thanks, I now have typed the word chicanery fir the first two times in my life.
“I’m shocked — shocked — to find that gambling is going on in here!”
So glad I took my losses on my AA stock holdings before the most recent losses. With employees like this there is zero chance they turn it around when it comes to just BASIC customer service expectations.
While I run into some incredible AA FA’s in both FC and Economy, they are the exception not the norm. The rest are just going through the motions. The question becomes are they naturally lazy as you suggested, or has time and a Union that encourages laziness created this culture at AA? AA management has their share of blame too but here they did something that should be a positive and the union is fighting it.
Lazy is the answer.
A neurosurgeon doing an 8 hour surgery keeps working and does not take breaks. A roofer takes breaks but is working most of the time. A cashier at a busy grocery store is continuously working.
If a flight is 2000 miles then it might be in the air for 4 hours. 4 hours of work is not even a full day’s work. Even adding 2 hours before and 1 hour afterwards is less than 8 hours.
Have they even tried before complaining? As to the provisions, I think the more used, more will be loaded. Not all passengers will want a second drink but it’s nice to be asked when possible.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are already issues with FA’s about understocking drinks and snacks when there is only one service rotation. While unused drinks can always be used on another flight, every additional can of soda that doesn’t get consumed on a flight has a marginal fuel cost (that is minuscule on its own but adds up quickly at scale). Especially given that any drinks or snacks loaded for the second service run will be adding to fuel costs longer, it wouldn’t surprise be if the bean counters and consultants err even more on the side of understocking for that service round than overstocking. Even if that’s not the case, if running out of certain items is already a problem with one service round, why would FA’s have any confidence in AA to properly stock flights when there are 2?
When you are in a customer service facing position, it’s always better to underpromise and overdeliver. It must be incredibly frustrating to be forced into a situation where you have to be the face of underdelivering, when you aren’t responsible for overpromising to the customer in the first place. I’m sure there are plenty of FA’s who just knee jerk oppose anything that adds more things to their job description, but I’m there there are just as many more who are frustrated with AA announcing all of these service enhancements when the airline isn’t even providing the necessary support to FA’s to maintain AA’s existing service standards, which are consistently slightly lower than their Big 3 competitors.
@maryland yes we’ve told them we don’t have enough stuff, especially on international flights they tell us to write it up. We write it up. Nobody listens to the flight, attendants and American Airlines.
I think that I could manage on any 2h+ flight, as a young person who has no experience.
Many airline pundits love to blame management for everything wrong with an airline. More often than not, it’s not quite that simple.
But how will they be able to finish their 6-hour “sit in the galleys on our phones and gossip” breaks?
Don’t forget that flight attendants don’t get paid for every hour that they are on duty, their last contract got them boarding pay, which is a partial pay – used to be no pay til plane left the gate. Once the plane parks the pay stops. So if a flight attendant hops around all over the county doing three legs a day, they may be on duty for 12 hours and only receive less than 6 hours pay depending how much in between time there is. Most jobs you get paid for every hour you are required to be at work
But it’s the union that negotiated this in order to protect senior FAs (get them a higher hourly rate since they are far less likely to due shorthauls).
Isn’t the hourly pay much higher than other jobs hourly pay for this reason? It’s the same for pilots. Their hourly pay is very high to adjust for this.
Correct.
A second drink service in economy? Too much work! Answering a call-bell? Too much work! Putting down your phone and leaving the galley after making a half-assed effort to throw third-rate food at first class? Too much work!
There’s an endless queue of youngsters who’d love to have your job, grandma & grandpa, so get off your ever-expanding heines and do the goddamn work they pay you for.
“World Class” airline
AA F/A ON A 9 HOUR FLIGHT GET ABOUT 3 HRS REST TIME AND THE GO UP THE ISLES 2OR 3 TIMES FOR THE ENTIRE FLIGHT AND GET PAID GOOD MONEY AND PERKS THEY ARE THE WORST F/A EVER I WILL NEVER FLY AA FOR THERE HORRIBLE RUDE F/A
@John Morgan. I don’t know where you fly out of internationally but out of Chicago the only flights that maybe get over two hours of sleep is going to Athens. All the other flights are under two hours of sleep and considering you’re constantly working messed up hours I think a little two hour nap isn’t gonna hurt anybody. Most all the flight attendants are good. They answer the call buttons, etc. sometimes the call buttons we don’t hear them doesn’t mean that we’re not gonna answer them. But most flights in general on international out of Chicago the flight attendant do their job.
Not so premium service equals not so premium profits. Less profit sharing.
There is a reason why American makes much less money than United and Delta. One drink on a 5 hour transcon is poor service. That is just one comparison point. Delta and United are simply better in economy.
“It’s like asking the chef to wait tables, bus dishes, and cook dinner”
So… Turkish Airlines?
Boom!
American Airlines “temporarily” cut thier staffing during COVID – not many were flying and the service requirements went down. When the full flight and full service came back, it was too bad so sad the staffing is not coming back. They even won their case in arbitration by testifying that the service requirements had not changed although the flight attendant manual had shown that it had. Because they won on this principal the extra beverage service was omitted after arbitration. Now they want it to return but still no return on the staffing
While I totally understand that concern on longhaul flights on widebody jets, isn’t it true that staffing levels did not change during the pandemic on narrobowdy jets? (they were already at a minimum before).
Wow, yet another negative tale about AA. I suppose it’s all relative because UA are no better.
The flight attendants aren’t being lazy. Also asking is that management should bring back one flight attendant, especially on the international flights that they took away. They took away the staffing levels during Covid and now they increase this without even giving us more supplies, etc., but want the flight attendants go the extra mile. Yes I think on a five hour flight. There should be two beverage services however bring back the extra flight attendant supply the supplies. American just wants to keep and everything, but make us work harder without giving us the proper equipment to do our services. It’s the principal behind it.
Also both United and Delta did not reduce their staffing levels
These flight attendants should be taught about the days when the flight attendants on a 2-hour flight served a hot meal Plus two rounds of beverages. And they all did it with a smile
All they needed to do was to take a trip to Asia or the Middle East, a 45 minute hop across the gulf warrant a light meal service, post takeoff drink service and in meal drink service. They also could do it without sounding like the passenger is their liability.
Of course the glorified waiters say it’s too much work. Everything is too much work for them.