American Airlines told its flight attendants union that it was imposing a new points policy for absences in early August, with just a few days notice. The union flipped its lid, and around July 29th American agreed to hold off immediate implementation of the changes pending further discussion.
Back in late 2018, American imposed a new points sytem that can lead to discipline or dismissal for not working scheduled flights.
- Flight attendants get points even for taking sick time, even though sick time is a benefit
- The more points, the more progressive discipline.
According to a source with knowledge of the matter, under the planned new system:
- sick absences continue to accrue additional points as the time off continues.
- Medical leave, even, starts earning points on day 1 instead of after day 6.
- No shows (including ‘unable to contact’ while on reserve) goes up from 2 points to 3 points.
- Late to board becomes a new points-earning category that earns points, as does ‘sick at reschedule’.
- “Patterned absences” without medical documentation begins to earn points.
- And frequent late reports double in penalty, and so does frequent late notification of being sick.
What’s striking to me here is:
- That the airline was imposing this unilaterally, and didn’t have discussions with the union first
- That attendance points have been a hot issue for flight attendants for years and the union didn’t bargain over it as part of last year’s new contract – leaving American with the ability to penalize cabin crew at will
My understanding is that union leadership, or at least union President Julie Hedrick, actually supported bringing back attendance points coming out of the pandemic. That comes out of testimony in the Mass Sick case. Penalizing flight attendants who use their bargained-for sick time discourages calling out sick, which reduces the need for flight attendants to work reserve. Senior flight attendants hated being scheduled for reserve.
But since the new contract effectively creates B-scales, putting new hires on ‘straight reserve’ rather than holding a line, the need for senior crew to work reserve lessens. So it seems like even if they wanted to sacrifice members getting sick for the benefit of senior crew that this change would have lessened that desire and the union would have insisted on limits to the airline’s ability to unilaterally impose a punishment regime.
American Airlines has threatened to fire flight attendants who leave their base while on reserve and pulled the trigger on 50 dismissals. They’ve just terminated flight attendants who offered incentives to colleagues to pick up their trips.
But the airline’s data seems to show that threatening to fire sick flight attendants doesn’t actually boost attendance. What it does do, though, is potentially move out flight attendants – often more senior ones who cost more – allowing the company to replace them with less expensive, junior hires.
And if flight attendants work sick out of fear of accumulating these disipline points, that means they’re getting each other sick (not good for attendance and the operation) and get passengers sick, too. It’s an approach United has taken as well.
American Airlines did not respond when asked for comment.
A repost with little update. Cool. Let the union-bashing commence! /s *sigh*
We, consumers, should be supporting workers (and their unions) for better compensation, benefits, and treatment in the workplace, in-general, and specifically within aviation.
Yes, there will be occasional incidents as with any industry or workplace, but, as a whole, these are hard-working, decent people, trying their best, and they enable us to fly in safety and comfort, each time.
@1990
Agree 100%!
What is the sick attendance policy for AA pilots. Copy paste. Or vice versa.
I’m actually kinda surprised that Gary is yet to post about the ongoing Air Canada strike; that’s actual news, and kinda a ‘big deal’ in the industry. By comparison, this AA incident is a nothing-burger.
@1990 — Eager to hear everyone’s thoughts as well. Maybe he has another interview with an insider and is waiting for that.
@1990 — My UA flight to Canada this week was half empty and then as soon as the strike hit it filled up faster than you can say “View From the Wing”
The AC situation is pretty fast changing but resolution is not anywhere on the horizon. US carriers are benefitting esp. SEA and DTW which are right over the border from major Canadian cities plus every non-hub US city near the border.
as for the AA FAs, there are likely some legal issues here. A valid medical leave under the FMLA has to be allowed. Not getting paid is a big enough sacrifice. You can’t keep punishing someone that has a legitimate medical issue.
Whether FAs have a legitimate medical issue needs to be clearly spelled out but there is a big difference in calling in sick w/o any medical documentation and having a legitimate excuse.
No, I don’t want flight attendants hacking all over my food and beverage. You get “x” number of sick days per year. There is no way your employer knows whether you’re sick or faking it. I get the airline business is a bit different. When you get sick your Teams calls get put off for another day. When a flight attendant gets sick then the airline is scrambling for a reserve replacement which may or my not be available, particularly if it happens at an outstation. Still, no one wants someone to bringing their sickness into the metal tube they share.
@George Romey — Wait, so now you *don’t* want spit in your food? Wild, because I recall you regularly disparaging flight attendants on here. Check the tape! Maybe don’t continue promoting the ‘unskilled’ trope… You can and others likely will continue to speak poorly of workers on here, which saddens me. But, just saying, bud, in the real world, please do be kind to the folks that handle your food; like, keep it to yourself if you really do feel they are inferior or whatever. And no need to bring Wawa into this either…
@1990 You can’t seem to mentally walk and chew gum at the same time. I think “some” flight attendants think themselves far more “valuable and important” than they really are. But that doesn’t mean they should not be able to take the sick leave that is given to them in a contract. I think there are many occupations that have it’s share of self important people. But that doesn’t mean I want them coming to work and hacking their germs onto others instead of taking a sick day.
@George Romey — Nom nom nom. Chewing away over here.
Still, I’d refrain from referring to flight crews as mere ‘waitresses’ like some on here do regularly. And there’s nothing wrong with servers at restaurants either.
Rarely do I see these so-called ‘power-tripping’ people at gates or on-board in real life, and I still travel frequently (at least once every couple weeks). Sure, when an incident is recorded, uploaded, and becomes viral, those bad examples are indeed upsetting, but it’s not the norm.
For the most part, barring significant delays or cancellations (and oh how quickly the blame-game starts… ‘Weather! Staffing! FAA!’), most travel experiences today are just ‘fine,’ point A-to-B within a reasonable time, safely, and sometimes pleasantly surprising. Is it always a delight? No, but most folks are still getting by, thanks in part to all the people in the industry who make it possible.