News and notes from around the interweb:
- Seat fees are one of American’s highest margin ancillaries. If they can’t even offer a penny per mile towards those costs that is really skeezy.
Uh oh: looks like I just found an @AmericanAir devaluAAtion.
Last year, AA rolled out the ability to redeem miles for seats, at a rate of ~1.1 cents/mile.
Now, the rate has gotten even worse, down to ~0.9 cents/mile.
Use your miles for award flights instead! pic.twitter.com/wrpUjSiyG7
— Zach Griff (@_ZachGriff) November 11, 2021
- 36 Democratic lawmakers urge the President to impose a vaccine-or-testing requirement for domestic air travel
- Former American Airlines Boeing 727 seized rather than being allowed to be ferried to Kansas City Airline History Museum
- Flight attendants at American Airlines are getting paid big bucks to work the holidays, and to show up even when they’re sick. Maybe not such a good idea when the airline has pushed out its vaccine mandate until after the holidays?
American’s pilots union unanimously rejected a holiday pay increase, saying they wanted to fix system contract issues instead (negotiations have dragged on). Whether this actually provides leverage (suggesting pilots will cause problems over the holidays) or is a ploy for more money for holiday pay is not yet clear.
There’s another program for union workers at the airline offering a $1000 perfect attendance bonus which covers: CWA-IBT-represented Airport, Premium Guest Services, Travel Center and Reservations; TWU-IAM-represented Fleet Service; TWU-IAM-represented Tech Ops; PAFCA-represented dispatchers; TWU-represented Flight Crew Training Instructors; TWU-represented Flight Simulator Engineers. It requires working all assigned shifts Nov. 15, 2021 through Jan. 2, 2022.
- Airports spent millions to accommodate the Airbus A380, and many will never see that plane again
- Utah lawmaker trolls Salt Lake City airport with resolution for new name due to long concourse walk to be “more reflective of the passenger experience”
Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, has introduced a resolution in the Utah State Legislature jokingly seeking to rename the newly built airport to “Pioneer Children Memorial Airport.” It’s based on the Mormon hymn “Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked.”
The song goes like this:
Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked.
Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked.
They washed at streams and worked and played.
Sundays they camped and read and prayed.
Week after week, they sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked and walked.
A couple of these stories are not about American Airlines, please take more care in selecting content in future, thanks!
Unfortunately, these AA plans also provide financial incentive to employees who are genuinely sick to show up for work anyway during the time of the year that airports are most congested, thus potentially jeopardizing the health of themselves, their coworkers, and their customers….all at exactly the time that the flu season typically starts to ramp up.
If these “genuinely sick” crew members are sick with the flu or Covid-19, why should those of us fully vaccinated for each give a damn?
@Gary – What’s your solution to the AA bonus pay issue that you raise? Pay everyone the bonus, work or no work? Rescind the offer?
This is typical of AA’s stance on sick time. Which is that they would rather step over a dollar to pick up a dime by using silly gimmicks instead of letting employees use the sick time they have earned. They company has now instituted a gestapo-like sick time policy that is designed to intimidate and create suspicion against those who call in sick.
United gave all employees $1000 bonus for past work during pandemic.
This bonus to Gate Agents etc is dependent on perfect attendance.
So yes many will come to work sick, or if at all as there is mutiny brewing at the moment as if you compare what AA gave Flight Attendants it’s insulting. Flights don’t board and dispatch themselves.
Flight attendants got up to 300% for working Nov 15bto Jan 2, all attendance points removed for the year and confirm space to commute. Gate Agents also commute, got Covid, several died.
Oh and I forgot as a thank you for working summer which was a crap show, agents got $100 in points to cash in for gift cards.
I’d be more concerned about the ground staff than missing FA at this point.
That’s ridiculous AA is expecting people to show up to work sick! I’m glad the workers turned the money, health comes first.