Illegal strike: American Airlines flight attendant quits work due to contract demands

July 6, 2024

Illegal strike: American Airlines flight attendant quits work due to contract demands

from Gary Leff on July 6, 2024

American Airlines has had contentious negotiations with its flight attendants that dragged on endlessly. Their contract was able to be changed four and a half years ago. There has been no pay increase for flight attendants since January 2019, and the value of wages has fallen by around 20% since then.

The flight attendants’ union has been declaring its desire to strike for more than six months. The government has not allowed it. The company has offered immediate wage increases while negotiations continued But the union rejected this. Many flight attendants have had enough.

It’s no surprise, then, that a frequent flyer is sharing his experience with an American Airlines flight attendant who refused to provide him with service – and embarrassed his colleagues who did provide him with service anyway.

I’m on the ground right now, about to take off (from Chicago O’Hare to St. Louis). I’m sitting (in first class seat) 1B. We’re on time and will probably leave early. Two (flight attendants) are talking and one proudly declares, “I don’t do any more early flights because of the contract.” She then complained about a (flight attendant) she had worked with a few days earlier who had done one, and she apparently didn’t like it.

I’ve suspected that (flight attendants) have been doing this lately, but it’s pretty amazing to hear them just announce it in front of the passengers. Interestingly, neither of the two … standing in the galley are wearing name tags. I assume that’s intentional, too.

I know they (flight attendants) don’t care and (American) probably doesn’t either, but this really makes me angry. If I were to say in front of customers that I don’t want to do my job, I would be fired for sure.

I’ve certainly heard similar conversations among cabin crew as negotiations dragged on. Meanwhile, getting flight attendants to serve pre-flight drinks has been a constant challenge at American for years. Here was her recollection of the crew in 2015:

A key service element in American Airlines’ First Class is the pre-flight drink. Passengers are offered a drink when boarding. The airline has stressed how important this is for customer perception and has distributed fortune cookies to convince passengers of this.

Many flight attendants simply don’t bother to do this, and the airline doesn’t actually do it. do something about it. The most important thing for the airline is a timely departure, and sometimes there just isn’t time for that. If a flight is late and passengers are streaming down the aisle onto the plane, flight attendants are not allowed to slow things down. And if they are ever asked, they need only indicate that they did not want to risk delays by turning people away.

Since there are no consequences for not doing this part of their job, many crew members simply don’t do it. Others are openly opposed to the idea.

Their wages are calculated based on the flight time after the boarding doors close, so they do not want to work beforehand.
They do not receive sufficient profit sharing and therefore do not care whether customers are satisfied and the airline is profitable.

This is a comment about pre-flight drinks that an American Airlines flight attendant once left on this website.

You bought the seat in 1st. Service is optional. Flight attendants are on board to save your butt, not kiss it. …Are there no drinking fountains or restrooms in the terminal? …You’re so self-centered, you complain about everything. For a change, put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a day. Tip your flight attendant. They make less than minimum wage and work twice the hours they’re paid for. You tip the waitress who brings you food. Why is this job different?

It’s entirely appropriate for a first-class passenger to order a drink before departure, and in fact, it should be proactively offered to them. But if you fly American Airlines frequently, you know you can’t expect this.

Now, with contract negotiations for flight attendants particularly tense, some flight attendants are engaging in “self-help,” which is illegal. On flight attendant forums, I hear that they are refusing to use the airline’s credit card. It’s likely that severe operational problems in late May, triggered by weather, were exacerbated by flight attendants refusing to voluntarily pay for extra flights at a premium. And we’ve got them refusing to take standard service items.

The real opportunity in these negotiations – an opportunity American is failing to take – is to offer real wage increases, coupled with real performance accountability. The airline always said it would “take care of employees and employees would take care of customers,” and that would lead to a competitive advantage that customers would pay more for. That’s not what they say anymore.