A senior American Airlines flight attendant had plenty to say about the state of the airline labor relations management and the near future of the airline. If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com. If you havent followed us on Facebook or Instagram add us today.
Overheard
To be abundantly clear the conversation I heard was off-the-record involving a senior American Airlines flight attendant and is by its very nature hearsay. The FAs statements are their own are unverifiable and are simply their opinion. That said when people talk candidly about their experiences I find it important to listen even if their feelings or observations arent based on objective facts.
This particular FA has been with “American” for more than two decades but the first half of their tenure was with US Airways. They were used to the management in place at the carrier now for much longer than legacy American Airlines employees.
Management Concerns
This flight attendant along with many peers that allegedly concurred has serious questions about the American Airlines management team and their ability to deal with the current influx of challenges.
“No one knows where anyone is at.”
The employee described situations where management doesnt know where staff members are but in this situation specifically flight crew members. The struggle to update flight times delays and cancellations is something that plagued American Airlines before the pandemic but is now amplified. Its for this reason that my own travel agency gets a head start on replacing canceled flights because our technology knows before the American Airlines app updates their own customers or even gate staff.
“I dont know how much longer it can go on.”
The flight attendant was openly searching for how the airline can continue in this state.
“New boss same as the old boss.”
The current management with Isom at the helm appears to have the same challenges as Parker though in a magnified environment given the outside pressures on airline performance. The flight attendant expressed little to no confidence in the competency of airline management to run an airline even without the qualifiers of “efficient” “great” or “serviceable.”
Labor Relations
The flight attendant expressed outrage about the pilot shortage issue.
“Theyve known about this problem for twenty years and did nothing.”
For this its not just American Airlines. The entire industry saw this slow-moving freight train for decades and didnt do anything to materially rectify it.
Some would point to airlines that started their own flight schools to bring pilots on board with their own systems in place help with tuition and get more pilots flying. However those same detractors would have to look at the size of graduating classes that didnt even come close to offering an effective replacement for retiring flight crews let alone the expansion and growth plans airlines clearly laid out for investors. JetBlue was a pioneer in this model but prior to the pandemic had graduated less than 100 new First Officers. Thats seeing the problem and taking action on it but the problem was so big and the results so small that it left JetBlue desperately trying to buy Spirit as they are now for access to more pilots.
Airline lobbies had been busy for years prior to the pandemic asking for restrictions against foreign airlines that are subsidized by their governments creating an unfair competitive space but they ignore their own subsidies naturally. But not addressing the mandatory retirement age asking for waivers or changes to the required flight hours or even just paying those brand new First Officers a living wage especially in light of their enormous student loan debt. Some First Officers were making as little as $25000/year according to this Skift article from 2013.
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