An American Airlines customer took to social media to blast the airline for upgrading a pilot ahead of 10 Executive Platinum members “who’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on this less than stellar airline” and concluded that “loyalty means nothing anymore.”
- Customers choose American over other airlines because they do have a better frequent flyer program. At least year’s Investor Day, AAdvantage was one of the three pillars of the carrier’s strategy to differentiate itself and restore financial performance.
- But the airline re-prioritized upgrades so that deadheading pilots trump customers for upgrades within 24 hours of departure – and the airline tends to very judicious in releasing upgrade seats more than 24 hours prior to departure, holding back the seats in case someone wants to buy them (or a coach passenger is willing to ‘buy up’ for tens of dollars).
To this passenger, and to many others, the policy is an example of management losing the plot, following the path of least resistance (giving in to employees who yell at you) rather than relentlessly focusing on customers to drive value to the business.
Why yes that is an @AmericanAir pilot being ushered up to a first class seat while 10 EP’s who’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on this less than stellar airline are left with no upgrade. He’s not even in uniform!!!! Loyalty means nothing anymore! @TheTravelG @thepointsguy pic.twitter.com/e4LOQ8b2na
— Henry Monmouth (@HMonmouthV) November 13, 2025
The loyalty of our customers is very important to us, and sorry if we weren't able to provide an upgrade. This is a contractual provision in our new pilot agreement and is limited to upgrades within 24 hours of departure. Our standard processes for clearing upgrades prior to…
— americanair (@AmericanAir) November 13, 2025
Upgrades have gotten nearly impossible on most airlines, and one small element that’s crowding out elite upgrades is that pilots now sometimes take priority over passengers. While United prompted this by adding this for pilots in 2020, American Airlines changed its policy with their 2023 pilot contract. For the first time, their deadheading pilots receive upgrades ahead of customers to available first class seats at the gate.
Officially, in American Airlines computer systems, these pilots are coded with a higher priority even than top status ConciergeKey members even. Here’s the full detail, from an internal memo when the policy went into effect, on how pilot priority for first class upgrades works now at American Airlines.
Unsold first class seats now go to employees who are not piloting an aircraft between segments on a trip they’re working. That’s different than commuting to and from their base if they live in a different city than where they’re assigned to start and end their trips.
Some readers say ‘this is business travel’ so pilots deserve it, but most companies don’t pay for first class on domestic travel, and certainly not companies like American Airlines that underperform financially. And pilots don’t need this for safety or to stave off exhaustion.
- Their safety record was phenomenal before receiving this. There was simply no safety issue to address.
- And deadheading flights are duty hours. It’s time in the cabin instead of the cockpit. It’s more restful than actually flying. There’s just no argument that this is necessary to keep a pilot fresh.
I do think it’s a bad look when customers never see an upgrade, but they see pilots clearing ahead of them. I don’t blame the pilots at all. They’d rather have first class than coach, and they negotiated it as part of their contract.
The problem lies with management, who have failed to keep up with demand for premium products by supplying enough first class seats. Upgrades have become exceedingly rare – even as they promote those upgrades as a benefit of regularly buying tickets with the airline and spending on their co-brand credit cards.
Pilots can fly in coach IMHO- thought one of the perks of status was possibly getting upgraded- yesterdays flight only had 8 first class seats- there were 22 on the list- now with the cuts in flights it will be even less likely- American needs to rethink the pilots and other staff getting first class – give some value to those of us who are loyal-
Get ready @1990, here it comes…
This is why MCE seating availability is so important! If you are not going to get an upgrade at least you want to be guaranteed a MCE seat. But so many of AA’s planes have a woeful amount of MCE seating. And the newest ones -787-9P and XLR- have even less! So it’s a double whammy.
How often are you going to beat this dead horse into the ground?…No amount of whining is going to change this for the foreseeable future no matter how unfair it may seem. If it grates on your nerves this much then just move your business to another carrier
I just came off a flight on United Chicago to Houston, and 5 pilots were sitting in First class with the slow down it appears lots of adjusting of staff, in addition we have United staff taking most of emery exits seats also. Of course I am 1K was first on upgrade list, but I knew I would be sitting in the back.
Gary – this is “settled law”. It was an agreed upon issue in the latest contract. No amount of your whining or posting Reddit or TikTok postings (when in the name of God did those become your major source for material) will change it so PLEASE move along
This is why I no longer give AA any loyalty. As a 10-yr EXP and 4M miler, I now fly whatever airline has the best schedule/fare, whereas I used to favor AA in all cases. Doug Parker killed AA.
Do the pilots appear on the upgrade list…or is this behind the scenes? Was flying DTW-ORD and we were #1/2 for upgrades and a pilot ended up in the seat. We didn’t really care for a short hop like that but want to know if the pilot should have shown up on the upgrade list.
Boo hoo. Buy a FC seat if you want to sit in the front.
This is not news. Also, if you want to be in First, then you need to pay for First. If you don’t want to pay retail for it, then you can see if you get an upgrade after you have booked. The idea that people should get “free” upgrades because they are EP or whatever is nonsense because you don’t get “free” upgrades, certainly on AA mainline anymore. Stop complaining! Times have moved on. MCE is garbage because of adverse selection. You get big people who would pay up.
It been said many times before if you want to ride in first class buy a first class ticket. “There is no free lunch”.
NO airline is going to put in more premium seats to accommodate upgrades. That shipped has sailed for good along with all the other very lucrative aspects of FF programs. Generally, this is an issue on trunk routes where AA needs to shuffle pilots for staffing. If you’re number one or two on the upgrade list on a trunk route you should expect a good chance that a deadheading pilot gets that seat.
Just buy your F/C seat and they can’t bump you, or at least they shouldn’t. I fly BA across the pond whenever possible; I just use the AA code for miles. I’m planning an around the world trip from DFW to Auckland, to Sydney, to Singapore, to London and it will all be on Qantas and British Air. They will be coded AA but no AA flights except getting to DFW to start and CHT on the way home. A380 First Class almost the entire way.
“Some readers say ‘this is business travel’ so pilots deserve it, but most companies don’t pay for first class on domestic travel, and certainly not companies like American Airlines that underperform financially. And pilots don’t need this for safety or to stave off exhaustion.”
Well, let’s understand one thing, right from the top. That most companies don’t pay for first class travel on domestic. Yes, that is true. When the public companies hire people, they either have a contract, or not. If they don’t, then they are different than the AA pilots, who have it in their agreement/contract. And if it is in the public company’s contract with its favored employees, then it won’t be an issue of being a standby. They will have a FC ticket from the go.
Gary AA is not the company you think they are becoming. They are led by losers who rarely think of their customers. I wonder why you seemingly are telling everyone that they are on the upswing. OK, new planes and better seating on narrow bodies. Maybe, food is getting better. But, and this is the crux of the matter, when it comes to relationship with their customers, they still suck, big time!
People can buy first class seats if they want the perks, but if they didn’t pay for it, they shouldn’t expect to get it over a deadheading pilot.
@Gary:
“The problem lies with management, who have failed to keep up with demand for premium products by supplying enough first class seats. Upgrades have become exceedingly rare – even as they promote those upgrades as a benefit of regularly buying tickets with the airline and spending on their co-brand credit cards.”
Whoa, big guy!. Airlines are not supplying enough first-class seats, to accommodate freebies. Horse pucky! Airline loyalty to passengers? What world do you fly in? Follow Delta’s example. First, they decrease the value of sky pesos. Then they virtually eliminate free upgrades. They, and other airlines will sell you a very cheap upgrade.
This has been going on for some time now. Perhaps top elites are too busy with their own self-worth to realize what is going on around them.
This policy is not limited to pilots. On my flight yesterday a non-rev regional flight attendant was upgraded and seated next to me in first in a fully booked AA mainline flight.
I don’t know, I am willing to not get my upgrade in order for a well rested pilot.
Regardless of status with a airline. I am high tier with Alaska, if I want I will buy it. So if these elites want it, buy it. If I sit in coach and dont get upgraded no big deal with me. I am happy with my extra leg room seat and free meal
Yup, @Peter has convinced me, either, to follow @Gene (Want First, Buy First, as it seems @George Romey, @Todd, @Travelgirl, and @Joseph, also get), or as @Matt likes to say, to ‘please consider Delta’ (right @L737?), not that any other airline is really that much better with complimentary upgrades these days (eh, sometimes we get lucky as a DL Diamond, or UA Premier Platinum with Plus Points, or an AA EP on a regional routing, like LGA-AVL). And, @Alan Z is right, yet again, that “most companies don’t pay for first class on domestic travel” (under 8 hours), at least not anymore, unless it’s NYC-HNL, and, if you got that gig, you’re already ‘made,’ anyway.
I’ve been 1st on the upgrade list for multiple Alaska flights and lost out on the seats to pilots. I have no issues with that. They have hundreds of lives in their hands.
If you want first class just buy first class. I do and no complaints at all.
However I would disagree that the airlines “sell” cheap upgrades to their customers.
I have rarely seen an upgrade to first for sale much less than $300 for ONE leg on either Delta or American.
Yes there are a few. Last week I got a segment for $91, but that’s the exception IMHO not the norm.
Again???? Yawn
the demand for 1st class for deadheading pilots comes from union demands. Not sure if FAs are included. And they go ahead of fare paying passengers. It’s wrong but the pilots and their union are very aggressive in getting what their members want.
The allocation of seat classes. ie 1st, Biz, Economy etc is based on historical demand to maximize revenues.
Gary, I am sure you realize every line in a contract has some cost/value to the parties from each side’s POV. The pilot group negotiated this into their contract at some cost/value; the pilots saw value, the company saw a cost, and they mutually agreed to the provision, feeling they both got something. Clearly, the pilot group could have said “Give us an extra X millions of dollars of salary increase over the life of the contract instead of the upgraded seats when deadheading”, but BOTH sides agreed to the upgrade instead.
It is clear to me that you are not happy with whatever contractual agreement you have when you travel with for a client, that seems to be a “you problem”, not a them problem.
My small business has business class or better when traveling more than 4 hours on the contract for clients.
No, I do not work for AA.
Upgrading pilots to FC is used as a disincentive to steer AA away from dead-heading pilots all over the system and to use pilots more efficiently.
I’m in F because I paid for F. I want nobody upgraded. Spend a million on flights every year, but don’t want to pay for F on my flight? Please leave them in coach. I’ll enjoy a F cabin with less people. If you must fill those seats, please upgrade pilots. The status folks are far too frequently entitled jerks. I so enjoy looking at my flight, seeing there are 40 people on the list to get upgraded to the two unsold F seats.
Honestly I would rather the crew get their rest especially if he is going to work that day. I flew down to Huntsville and an entire crew of pilots and flight attendants took first class. The crew and the few passengers looked at each other during boarding but since it was a near empty flight most were happy to have their own row in economy.
“Unsold First Class Seats”. So, you didn’t want to pay for them, but complain when someone else gets them…. Would you rather your pilots sit in a coach middle seat for hours on end then work your next flight? It’s also not just American. It’s also United and Delta. Welcome to the industry.
I personally want a well rested pilot…… and I witnessed this last weekend during a day of utter madness (last Sunday of the shutdown). All staff was frazzled.
the pilots are responsible for so many lives. who better to get the upgrade? they deserve it (says a former CK)
This is issue is not limited to AA. Recently I was flying from JNB to LHR on BA. I kept checking on First availability in the days leading up to the flight and was delighted to see not one, but three seats. Then, less than 24 hrs before the flight when I could request an upgrade I was confused to see that all three were still open but I couldn’t upgrade (even as a gold club member). When I arrived at the airport I was told that the three seats had been given to BA pilots. Super frustrating!
Interesting so many people are saying “you want first class, buy first class.” Yes, of course. But airlines advertise the upgrade system in such a way that you are led to believe that if you follow the procedures and seats are available, you will receive one. They don’t explain (at least not clearly) that the procedure can be completely circumvented by the airline whenever it wants to do so.
This is a dead issue. UA does it as well. Move on.
I think it’s wrong for pilots to get upgraded before customers, but this has become common in the industry (it costs the airlines nothing) and no one in their right mind expects a gate upgrade these days. This horse has been beaten to death several times. New content would be appreciated.
Almoat no one “earned” upgrades. 99% of elites fly on OPM and dont spend a penny of their own money thus “earned” nothing.
Your beef is with your employer not the airline, pilots or pax who actually pay for their tickets.
Remember when AA announced their new union contracts? This was part of it.
You don’t notice it, but quite a large number of airline execs have the same or better upgrade status as pilots on the big 3 US airlines. Same for the BOD’s who don’t even work directly for the airline. As far as the comments that most companies don’t pay for domestic FC, I know many who do travel FC on every flight (VP and above). Plus many of these upgrades come from previous business travel that the travelers never paid for in the first place.
We buy FC if we want to sit there. Simple and no stress.
Will this horse ever die? 🙂
@DA Pilit – American VPs receive Executive Platinum status, though of course they don’t necessarily have a high number of loyalty points.
Anyone else read a headline and know it’s going to be something written by Gary Leff? 99% of Gary’s writing comes across as biased and gripe laden. While the frustration is palpable (and possibly even relatable) I’d be inclined to take his articles seriously if he were to present his stories in a more objective way. It’s gotten to the point that I say, “I bet this is Gary,” before I even open an article, and when I am correct, I take whatever is presented with a huge grain of salt.
The pilots aren’t booked in first. They’re always booked in economy. Only after checking in are they placed on top of the upgrade list, also this is only for positive space company business travel.
Also, if you’ve never served as a crewmember, I don’t think you’re qualified to say what’s restful and what’s fatiguing.
We get an empty seat if it’s available. Get over it. If you pay for the seat it’s not available. Buy the seat and this problem isn’t any longer. If you really want the pilot that’s dead heading for 3 or 4 hours or more to fly you back to wherever in a center seat in row 29 then push harder to get their contractual right to an empty and unpaid for seat in business class rescinded.
“holding back the seats in case someone wants to buy them (or a coach passenger is willing to ‘buy up’ for tens of dollars)”
So the EPs who’ve spent tens of thousands don’t want to ‘buy up’ for a few sheckles (‘tens of dollars’) and expect the free upgrade? Such big time high rollers really pinching those pennies. If you want the seat pay for it. If you want premium travel fly private. You’re on a public airline and expect to be treated like the top 1% of society, give me a break.
Another stale commentary by Gary “Left out of business class” Leff.
For those of you wondering if Flight Attendants are included in this policy, they are not. It was negotiated in the Pilot contract only. If a uniformed FA is in f/c they either paid for it or were lucky enough to still get an available seat AFTER all of the revenue upgrades.
waa waa waa……..”The Customers Who Earned Upgrades” ONLY WHEN AVAILABLE. Those boarding priority rules changed 2 years ago. You have no idea what kind of duty day the pilots have had, or will deadhead, to complete their current duty day. I might add…there ARE limitations to the number of hours that your pilots can be on duty. Due to unforeseen circumstances, they can possibly extend up to 2 hours. I submit (as a recently retired pilot of 34 years) that IF I’m deadheading in coach, especially in a middle seat for 2-4 hours, my willingness to “extend” (when hubs get massive wx delays) at the end of a long day would NOT be very likely…. and we’re talking about the last flight of the night to spoke cities. Extending is always a pilot option…. fatigue is NOT a requirement to say ‘No’. You want your pilots on their A-game, ALWAYS- and getting first dibs on a business class seat definitely helps.
I completely agree with your point Gary, AA does not value the way they should the $$$$ dollars Ex Plat give the airline.
My simple solution after nearly 10 years of Ex Plat – STOP CHASING STATUS. I now use points to fly J or buy premium tickets on whatever airline provides the best value.
At the end of my AA Ex Plat status I discovered I was giving too much money for unnecessary flights just to keep my status.
Yes, AA pilots while deadheading for work, not leisure, get bumped to the top of the upgrade list so only if there’s a seat available. The pilots at some of their competitors, do some research, actually get first class seats assigned, not upgraded, so why is AA being singled out?
AA should upgrade paying customers at T-24. Then this will be less of an issue.
So, Delta and United pilots also have guaranteed upgraded seating or prioritized upgrades in their contracts. Why aren’t you flaming them as well, Gary?
Thanks for your loyalty to your carrier of choice, but if you don’t pay for an upgraded seat in the first place, don’t cry when someone else gets it.
Gary,
As usual, your View is a wee bit short sighted. As a Retired Airlines Pilot, I can tell you that everything the flight crewget is earned and fought for in each contract, for some reason I think you should know this.
For some reason, you failed to define the term “deadhead“ pilot. A deadhead pilot is a working pilot and generally is getting paid for the time they spend in the seat. That pilot or pilots may be dead heading to pick up a flight to fly internationally on an all nighter, or for that matter domestically.
A pilot traveling TO work, is traveling space available and is subject to incredible nuances and at most times gets bumped, never gets a seat, because the flights are full. You didn’t quite mention that.
If a passenger wants a first class seat, then pay for the seat. Deadheading flight crews, on their way to work a flight should be upgraded or just basically assigned first class or business class accommodation. That’s why you see on the manifest, That would be the NS, the appropriate code for the flight crew.
This time you disappointed me, generally, you’re pretty much on point but this time you’ve pretty much blew it. Why don’t you do some more research.
If you had done more research, you would’ve known the check airman have had the privilege of being in first class for as long as my career can remember. They are nothing more than deadheading fly crew, so why can’t the rest of the pilots avail themselves at the same privilege. In general, we did and you could put off your flight until you could be accommodated accordingly as long as it didn’t affect operational readiness.
Everyone has been whining about this for what feels like years at this point.
Why continue to cover it as though it’s something new?
@Paul — It’s called ‘rage-bait’ and its jet-fuel in this ‘attention’ economy; here, the ‘cheap’ passengers who won’t pay to sit up-front get to express their frustrations; meanwhile, workers can defend their roles, even though this is probably more a management, policy decision than anything.
For all of you who are whining that Gary should not be publicizing this, remember, he is informing the rest of us that this is happening at AA and UA. I didn’t know it, and glad to know that this is happening when I choose which carrier to book. Thanks for alerting us.
This is exactly the reason I’m off the top tier status hamster wheel after more than 15 years. It’s better to get low level status and then just upgrade if the offer is reasonable. I recently upgraded my $89 Delta flight for $59 when first class was going for $300+ one-way. Much cheaper than spending tens of thousands with DL.
@1990 — Right indeed! Since I’ve been complimentary upgrading to Economy Plus on UA I’ve been seeing the value and I am firmly in @Peter’s camp. More MCE (or equivalent)!
Totally on point. Upgrading pilots wouldn’t be an issue if AA were able to provide customers with status a reasonable chance at an upgrade. Now I see the “upgrade automatically requested” as merely a tease. AA is mocking its customers. We’re Charlie Brown to their Lucy.
Stop thinking that Lucy will let you kick that ball. Stop chasing status.
And my only problem with it is that the flight attendant union didn’t negotiate the same agreement.
I can’t imagine being immature enough to whine that the pilot gets a better seat than you. Actually I can, my children whine all the time and I tell them the same thing, when they’re old enough to drive and they have to chauffeur me around, they can have a say in who sits where.
I can’t believe what I am reading. So, what I see is that some passengers are denied an upgrade because someone on the upgrade list had a higher priority, and that someone happened to be a pilot. I guess what is upsetting to you is that a “pilot,” (a member of the staff, not a regular passenger) has a higher upgrade priority than you. So, apparently, the pilots have a better compensation package than you do. Their employer has a provision that gives them priority upgrades. It seems like your complaint should be directed to your employer, or perhaps, your inability to negotiate a better compensation package.
Another solution. Since you are so envious of the pilot’s upgrade status, perhaps you should submit an application and schedule an interview with the airline.
@ Ben rood
Give us a break. This is deadheading – it counts as flight time (thanks to their ridiculous contract). They are more rested sitting in coach than actually flying a plane so this is NOT a safety issue.
And for all those making the ridiculous comment that if one wants first class they should pay for first, well the same goes for pilots. Let them buy a first class ticket if it is sooooo important to them (and their egos!) This policy makes me sick and I hope it is removed in the next contract.
“And pilots don’t need this for safety or to stave off exhaustion”
What a ridiculously naive, uniformed thing to say. You are obviously not a professional pilot. Try sitting in the back of the airplane in a middle seat for 3 hours (compared to a comfortable first class, roomy seat) and then work for another 8 hours – don’t think it will make a difference? If you don’t, you’re a fool.
@JoePilot – this is duty time. A coach seat not flying isn’t more exhausting than a cockpit seat flying.