American Airlines flight attendants are demanding more pay for working flights to London, citing increased workload tied to an ongoing catering mess at Heathrow. I understand the frustration…but this feels like the wrong hill to die on.

American Flight Attendants Want More Pay For London Flights…

American has been dealing with a catering breakdown at London Heathrow after abruptly cutting ties with its longtime supplier (AA still has not commented why, but this photo be an answer). The result has been a messy and prolonged transition, including “double catering” flights from the United States and inconsistent onboard service.

That has created a more complicated service flow for flight attendants. The union representing American flight attendants argues this has “significantly increased workload” and is now demanding additional compensation, even escalating the dispute formally.

The current conditions have materially changed how service is executed, and the added burden, particularly from double provisioning and modified service flows, has created a significantly increased and often unpredictable workload.

There is no question that Flight Attendants working these flights are doing more work under more difficult conditions, without any corresponding adjustment to staffing or compensation, and that is not acceptable.

I don’t doubt that the job has gotten more annoying. But that doesn’t automatically mean it deserves more pay.

This Is A Real Problem…But A Temporary One

The underlying issue here is not that flight attendants suddenly have a permanently more demanding job. It’s that American has struggled with a catering transition. And yes, when operations break down, frontline employees bear the brunt of it. That’s true across the airline industry.

But this is not a structural change to the job…it is temporary.

Double catering is not going to be the new normal. At some point, American will sort out its Heathrow catering situation and service will go back to something resembling normal. That makes this a strange moment to demand what amounts to premium or understaffing pay for a situation that is temporary and arguably not even the fault of management (unlike so many of AA’s woes).

The Labor Optics Are Poor

Flight attendants absolutely deserve fair compensation. In fact, the broader push across the industry for better pay is reasonable during a period of inflation.

But context matters.

American is already struggling financially relative to Delta and United, and is facing rising fuel costs and operational challenges.

At the same time, longhaul flying, especially a transatlantic turn to London, is generally considered among the more desirable and efficient trips for flight attendants in terms of hours worked versus pay earned.

So when the union asks for:

extra compensation
understaffing pay
and even “red flag” premium pay (150%)

…over a temporary catering issue, it comes across as tone-deaf.

Not because the work hasn’t gotten harder, but because the demand is disproportionate to the problem. I don’t imagine the double catering cuts into mandatory rest time and flight attendants are already paid very well for the work they do.

As One Mile At Time quipped, “If they find the workload of a two-day London trip to be too much, I’d encourage them to instead bid on a domestic sequence lasting several days that has 12 segments, with the same number of flight hours, and they can report back on how the workload compares.”

CONCLUSION

American’s catering mess at Heathrow continues, and it has made life harder for flight attendants. But demanding premium pay for what appears to be a temporary disruption feels like a step too far.

To claim that double catering has “significantly increased workload” for flight attendants strikes me as unpersuasive. That this has required crews to “perform duties well beyond the scope of standard service expectations” strikes me as unpersuasive.

This is why so many people are not sympathetic to airline unions…

Can an AA flight attendant explain why they deserve more pay for the ongoing catering snafu in London?

hat tip: PYOK