American Airlines frontline and line maintenance employees work off of Apple iPhone and iPad devices. These are costly – so they’ve notified flight attendants just what happens if they lose their phone either by accident or if their phone is stolen.
The bottom-line is that cabin crew face discipline up to termination for misplacing or damaging their iPhones. And the airline will presume any claim of theft is untrue unless the flight attendance can, in effect, solve the crime. Flight attendants used to be there primarily for your safety. Now they’re adding roles on CSI: Inflight to their duty profile.
A flight attendant isn’t considered responsible if their device is stolen, but American Airlines will only excuse a device as stolen if the flight attendant can identify the suspect for a police report:
I take this to me that in general,
- American doesn’t believe their flight attendants who say their devices have been stolen. Any flight attendant who loses their device (or worse) would just say it’s stolen.
- A police report of the theft alone isn’t enough because (1) American is still out the device for the money, and (2) American seems to believe their employees would lie to the police too to get out of trouble for losing their iPhone.
- The loss of a phone is viewed as worse to the airline as the loss (termination) of a flight attendant, or at least the deterrent value of threat of loss of job is worthwhile to American to hold down its device costs.
For years the airline has said that their front line is key to differentiating the airline and earning a revenue premium but the policies they pursue do not seem to be reflective of that. They may even be right in their approach! But it’s the policies rather than rhetoric that you look to if you want to understand management.
You’re kidding right? Most corporations in america will discipline you if you lose your company-issued work devices. What the freak does this have to do with a revenue premium? lmao. Do you think Delta goes “oh you lost your $1000 phone we gave you? no biggie, come here for a hug” get real
This is a big turd of an article and makes me wonder if you just hate AA and are still bitter since leaving. You cherry picked the “Stolen” section and ignored the “Lost” section. The difference is a Lost device means the FA will have to pay for a replacement, but a stolen one will not. AA mgmt is closing a loophole that gets exploited in order to avoid paying for a lost device, but you ignore that piece. You probably should’ve wrote your AA contacts and asked for context on how many lost and/or stolen every year and the replacement cost.
I truly wish you would start reporting an unbiased view of AA instead of just taking swipes at them every chance you get.
Bank of America is notorious for this. If you lose a company device, you’re basically fired, or will inevitably be forced out.
Somehow, this will be the libs’ fault, probably, according to some clearly intelligent guy trolling Gary’s blog.
I can solve this in two seconds. Issue them all blackberries. Done. No more “lost/stolen” phones.
Erik says:
March 15, 2022 at 8:59 am
I can solve this in two seconds. Issue them all blackberries. Done. No more “lost/stolen” phones.
Thank you this made me laugh out loud. Just imagine all of their devices going through an American RIM server. we think they have operational issues now….
Your beef/bias against AA is clearly showing here with how you spin the situation.
It is a very biased interpretation of the rules. Theft by employees do occur, as well legitimate losses from misplacing phones, and theft by unscrupulous people. They are requiring a police report to be filed, which is standard practice when reporting stolen equipment for many companies. Lost phones are not reimbursed, which is also standard at many organizations. None of what you wrote is actually different from countless other organizations.
I’ve read through the policies of my current and prior employer pertaining to corporate issued devices. The verbiage does not require a suspect for a police report of theft.
Though depending on nature of theft, disciplinary action against the employee is warranted if policy about securing equipment wasn’t followed. So this actually seems like an out – if there’s video of the theft, even if an iPad was left in plain view unattended, there’s no occurrence in the performance record.
If I left my corporate laptop unattended, I’d be reprimanded regardless of video evidence of theft. The way I read the AA verbiage, I’d be absolved.
Sadly though, this seems entirely about capital expenditure protection and not information / cybersecurity which is the greater risk than a $1000 loss.
You guys work for brutal companies. If I lose a company laptop they’ll disable it remotely and issue me a new one without trouble. As for the phone I’m responsible for either having a warranty on it or replacing it with my own cost but that’s about it.
I don’t see how they could possibly lose their phone when they spend the entire flight staring at it from their secret hideaways.
FindMyPhone? AirTag? It’s not that hard to find these things. Not sure how much of a market there is for stolen phones, can’t they be bricked?
Unlike other jobs, there is no locked or secure place to keep crew belongings. So, if you leave your phone in a tote bag under the last row of seats, anybody can walk by and steal it. I would highly doubt another BofA employee would steal a company phone off someone’s desk. Passengers are notorious for “just looking” through crew bags.
A lot to do about nothing. Each individual is responsible for the equipment the company issues them. If they lose and/or misplace it, issue them a new one and payroll deduct the cost.
Dang ! @Mark Johnson beat me to my joke.
Can’t iPhones be tracked if you have the right app? I don’t know because I am still boycotting Steve Jobs due to his pushy behavior.
There is a market for stolen iPhones: “Repair Parts”!!!!
…and one must wonder why American’s people are so surly. I got into a discussion with an AA flight attendant at a layover hotel in London. I commented that when your CEO gets a DUI because he got hammered after losing a hostile takeover of another airline and also in front of cameras and employees tells them that they have nothing to do with the airline’s profits…”you do what we tell you to do and we’ll make money.” So, how’s that workin’ out for your folks, Dougie? Our company tells us to stay within the box but if one has to go outside the box, “…do what’s right and we’ll back you up.” Our employees use Apple devices that are easily “bricked” by our IT team if a device is lost or stolen. It’s all but worthless to the finder. Ours are also somewhat difficult to use as personal devices. I have my own iPad and a company iPad. The company device can only be used for company business with limited personal usage. AA’s union mentality has a lot to do with their issues. “NOT MY JOB!” Management doesn’t have their backs and one must wonder why the workers are so surly! DUH!
CSI: Inflight! LOL!
Good one!
@derek – You can stop now. Steve Jobs is dead.
While this policy seems a bit draconian, I’m guessing that AA is unlikely to actually fire someone for a first offense. Even so I’d suggest instead that if someone loses or damages a piece of valuable equipment, they get to pay for a replacement.
Make them buy insurance on their phones!
can’t believe something as idiotic as this, makes the news on this blog. Get a real story that matters to everyone.
Wow that company must be going bankrupt soon.