The American Airlines pilot union is telling its members to delay flights if their crew meal isn’t properly loaded for them.
- Without “adequate sustenance” the union reminds pilots that they might consider themselves “fit..for duty.”
- And the airline has been saying that if their meal isn’t loaded and they want to be reimbursed, they should cap their purchase at $30 and make the purchase “within 90 minutes of the segment on which the crew meal was not boarded” even though this is not in their contract.
In order to smooth reimbursement, the union says “pilots will be forced to focus on securing a timely meal rather than preparing for the performance of their duties.” In other words, delay the flight and head into the terminal to pick up food – it “may also be advisable to secure a replacement meal before departure to avoid any issues with the Company-imposed time limit.”
American Airlines is positioning managers in airports to help address missing meals and dirty planes. This is framed as being part of the carrier’s premium pivot. However it’s just as likely so that pilots don’t mess with D0 exact on-time departures.
When the airline fails to board a meal for a pilot, the pilot is entitled not just to reimbursement but cash compensation in their paycheck.
Traditionally pilots have received the same meal as first class and in fact the contractual requirement for pilot meals helped speed their return for first class passengers as well during the pandemic.
Flights get delayed by weather and by mechanical issues all the time. But as Paddle Your Own Kanoo puts it, thanks to American’s frequent failures to properly cater their aircraft, “there’s another reason why your next flight on American Airlines could be delayed and it’s down to the fact that pilots might have to join the long lines at food concessions in the airport concourse if their contractually agreed crew meal hasn’t been loaded.”
I urge whip lash to watch ‘Air Disasters’ on the Smithsonian channel. These are real stories, and in every crisis with an airplane that keep any passengers alive it is more than obvious that airplane pilots are much, much more than an “Entitled group of overpaid computer drivers.”
It’s always been like this. I stopped eating crew meals and lost 70 lbs. No shyt. I just plan around not seeing a crew meal.
I flew in the Air Force for the better part of a decade and I always carried some food in my flight kit. A can of tuna or smoked oysters, some cheese snacks, some crackers and/or peanuts, a juice box, beef jerky, whatever. What I’m reading here is that professional pilots, charged with operating very complex aircraft, aren’t able to cope with trivial and expectable snafu’s without delaying the plane. And need the intervention of mommy (the union) to do for them what they should be able to do for themselves. I hope I sound unsympathetic.
This is why I suggest that you bring your own snacks or lunch or dinner from home. I see flight crews with lunch bags (we work at the airport). No one can buy the food that the airport sells.
It is ridiculous that American Airlines can’t provide the same food that they give to passengers. Time to fire their incompetent managers. Don’t take much heed from military pilots who think they can handle anything but they can’t and they crash.
As an American Airlines stock holder, attitudes like this have helped drive AAL stock to $10 from $50. Those pilots surely have some vested interest in stock performance. As the largest airline in the world, it becomes more and more ghetto each time I use them. I see full planes yet AAL continues to fall in value. The quarterly report shows the highest load capacity and revenue passenger miles and the stock still drops. Much of the problem comes from top management, showing greed and indifference. They find ways to pay themselves tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, the Board of Directors too. They should all be replaced and hire those with a culture of concern for the health of the airline, not the amount they can squeeze out of it for themselves. Their stock proxies are just aimed at maintaining their ridiculous compensation plans, not the good of the airlines. Robert Isom was paid over $31 million in 2023 and even more in 2024. Plus free first class flights for his friends and family. $3.1 million might be reasonable. It’s outright theft from the airline. If he can’t even keep the meals in the plane, make him pay for these blunders, he clearly is not paying attention.
It’s a hell of a business model at American Airlines, isn’t it?
Union employees come first (the same ones who treat frequent flyers like crap). Passengers be damned. The only problem with this equation is that the passengers pay the bills. So AA has chosen to punish the very people who create the revenue necessary for the airline to survive.
You know who loves this bad math? 1990 and Bernie Sanders and their unholy embrace of crony capitalism in cahoots with big, fat union bosses.
What could possibly go wrong?
American Airlines. I worked them for a very short time and quit. CEO makes millions but they pay staff peanuts and actually give new FAs a “poverty verification” letter with their salary info so they can get food stamps! .
I flew them once and only once. Plane was disgusting, we were left on tarmac for over 3 hours with no AC and with no explanation. Pilot explained to us that we may have to go back to gate to
deplane because his legal hours were almost up.
I have never and will never fly them again.
In a way, American Airlines is too big to fail. By that I mean that there simply isn’t enough capacity on other airlines for a meaningful number of disgruntled American customers to stop flying on them.
As much as Delta and United would love to pick up these unhappy American customers, the aircraft manufacturers are still building passenger planes at rates that are far too low (especially at Boeing) to give them the capacity they need to do this. Now that Southwest is reducing capacity, that makes the situation even worse.
This is why American continues to treat customers and employees poorly, and that won’t change until the situation changes.
A once storied and Noble industry is now reduced and it’s a shame
Why is AA incapable of giving their pilots a passenger meal like every other airline?
one has to appreciate the comments when the writer really doesn’t give two about anyone but themselves. #1 it’s a contract issue. you are supposed to get something for doing your job.
let’s see these same folks say I work a 12 hour shift , but didn’t get paid for 5 hours! I guess I’m just entitled.
#2 this is also just baiting the negative comments against the pilots. history shows Leff in no friend to the working crews.
So they can delay over a meal, and get compensated? Meanwhile, this causes travelers to miss their connections – and the only thing provided to them is a hotel if it is needed and a couple of $12.00 meal vouchers. The vouchers are a joke, and your customers would prefer to make their destination not a hotel stay and the hassle of going through TSA again. Not to mention 9 times out of ten, their luggage is loaded on their original connecting and they are left clothesless. In my situation in particular these delays have cost me up to $1000.00 a day in income, multiple times. Do Better.