American Airlines has faced contentious negotiations with its flight attendants, that have dragged on interminably. Their contract became amendable four and a half years ago. Flight attendants haven’t seen their wage formula rise since January 2019, and the value of wages has eroded around 20% since then.
The flight attendants union has declared their desire to strike for more than six months. The government hasn’t let them. The company offered immediate wage increases while negotiations continued but the union refused this. Many flight attendants are fed up.
So it’s no surprise to see a frequent flyer share their experience of an American Airlines flight attendant refusing to provide service – and shaming their colleagues that do.
I’m on the ground right now about to leave on [Chicago O’Hare to St. Louis]. I’m in [first class seat] 1B. We’re on time and will likely push early. Two [flight attendants] are chatting and one proudly declares, “I don’t do pre-departures any more because of the contract.” She went on to complain about a[ flight attendant] she worked with a few days earlier who did one, and she apparently didn’t like that.
I’ve suspected that [flight attendants] have been doing this lately, but it’s pretty amazing to hear them just outright declare it in front of pax. Interestingly neither…standing in the galley are wearing name tags. I assume that’s intentional too.
I know the [flight attendants] don’t care, and [American] probably doesn’t care either, but that sure does make me mad. If I declared my unwillingness to do my job in front of customers, I’d certainly get fired.
I’ve certainly heard similar conversations amongst cabin crew as negotiations drag on. Meanwhile, getting flight attendants to serve predeparture beverages has been an ongoing challenge at American for years. Here was their reminder to crew back in 2015:
One of the key service elements of American Airlines domestic first class is the predeparture beverage. Passengers are supposed to be offered something to drink during boarding. The airline has emphasized how valuable this is for customer perception and handed out fortune cookies trying to convince them to do it.
Many flight attendants just don’t bother to do it, and the airline doesn’t actually do anything about it. The most important thing for the airline is an on-time departure, and sometimes there just isn’t time. If a flight boards late, and passengers are pouring down the aisle into the plane, flight attendants aren’t supposed to slow things down. And if ever questioned, all they ever have to do is suggest that they didn’t want to risk delaying pushback.
Since there are no consequences when they don’t do this part of the job, many crewmembers just don’t do it. Others are openly hostile to the idea.
- Their pay is calculated on flight time after the boarding door closes, so they don’t want to work before then.
- They don’t receive enough profit sharing, so don’t care if customers are happy and the airline profitable.
This is a comment about predeparture beverages an American Airlines flight attendant once left on this website,
You bought the seat in 1st. The service is optional. FAs are on board to save your ass not kiss it. …Are there no drinking fountains or restrooms in the terminal? …[Y]ou are so self absorbed , you whine about everything. Walk a day in someone else’s shoes for a change. Tip your flight attendant. They make less than minimum wage working double the hours they get paid for. You tip the waitress that brings your food why is this job any different?
It’s absolutely reasonable for a first class passenger to request a predeparture beverage. In fact it should be proactively offered. However if you’re a frequent traveler on American Airlines you know not to expect this.
Now, as flight attendant contract negotiations are especially tense, some cabin crew are engaging in ‘self-help’ which is illegal. On flight attendant forums I see talk of refusing to pitch the airline’s credit card. It’s likely that severe operational issues at the end of May, started by weather, were exacerbated by flight attendants refusing to volunteer for premium pay extra trips. And we have them refusing to do standard service elements.
The real opportunity in these negotiations – an opportunity that American isn’t taking – is to offer real wage increases paired with real accountability for delivering service. The airline used to say that they’d ‘take care of employees, and employees would take care of customers’ and that would lead to a competitive advantage that customers would pay more for. They don’t talk about this anymore.
It’s a thankless job
@ Gary — This whole situation is sad. AA’s managment is disgusting.
If the people up front (flight crew) can be paid $300K then surely the FAs should earn a respectable wage.
No, the FA are for not doing their job. They can grab any other job out there. Gene, be quiet.
AA management is not keeping them job. Use their many years of advanced degrees that they paid for to get a higher paying job. O wait…..
I am fortunate enough that my company flies me first class. I take 100 flights a year combined on the U.S. Big 3. With all due respect, who cares if you get a pre-departure beverage? They will get you one a few minutes later when you get airborne. Delta puts water at every seat in FC, so on Delta it’s totally not an issue anyway. Of all the issues at the airlines right now this isn’t one of them.
I say if flight attendants aren’t gonna do the jobs that they are required to do just because there pay hasn’t been raised due to there union refusing to acknowledge any sort of wage hike in pay, then that is on the flight attendants and the reason I say this is because these individuals are expected to do there jobs on the flights and if they choose to refuse to do this at all, then they should be fired. At the same time, American Airlines should also be aware of these situations happening and they should be taking more responsibility with fixing these problems before they end up screwing themselves
This is another reason I fly Delta. My second option is Southwest. Third option is I drive or fly Delta and rent a car and drive. I will not spend another dime on American after my last experience.
No pre-flight beverages the last two legs. I do appreciate knowing that there are contract issues, but I also simply think that FA’s forget to offer it.
For both legs, there’s only 8 1st seats, so should be easy? I do enjoy having something there when still boarding and we are reasonably on time.
One thing I’ll definitely support is the FAs refusing to hawk credit cards in flight
Don’t American flight attendants and very other employee get lifetime free airfare for themselves & immediate family even after kids grown & married? I think so, have friend who’s mom worked for TWA-American//he and his family fly free always. Add that up, then offer that predarture drink—first class is not cheap; customers should not suffer.. or quit your job—tons of people would flight attendants for any airline e including American!
Crappy leaders inspire employees to be crappy.
So FAs don’t get paid until the door closes but are expected to provide service. The complaint should be with management not individuals who are not getting paid to do something.
Anyone that flies AA deserves the horrible service.
About 25 years ago, UA had personal video players as the IFE that they handed out in F and J class on international flights. Once I was in F ORD-EZE (about an 11 hour flight!) and the flight attendant refused to pass them out. When I inquired, she told me “It’s not in our contract.” The UA flight attendants were going through labor negotiations at the time. No in flight entertainment for you!
NOT hawking credit cards would actually be a service enhancement (and one that I would fully support).
Re: the PDB, I’ve been offered it <50% of the time. Pre-merger, post-merger LUS or LAA, it’s always been completely sporadic. The exception between transcon J and int’l where you get water, Prosecco, or OJ. For what it’s worth, on DL, I’ve always gotten a PDB, even when boarding starts late or catering arrives late, they always manage to offer PDB…it’s almost as if it’s not that hard to do? Lol
My wife and I flew American last week SEA-DFW. Zero service in first class! One her connection one service and no trash pick up. Taking out contract negotiations on customers, the reason why any airline is able to remain in business, is unacceptable! I’m sure many will choose to take their business elsewhere and msy never return in the future.
@ aviation guy — Everyone deserves pay increases that a) keep up with inflation and b) that reward tenure. This is pretty basic.
The flight attendants should be paid from the moment they step foot on the plane. Are they preparing the flight for departure for FREE?
Ah, American Airlines flight attendants and their union both stink. The customer…(yeah…that’s who pays whatever salary you get) is getting fed up with both the airline and their nasty flight attendant union. The company doesn’t give a damn and the flight attendants take it out on the customer. So, both American Airlines and the nasty union flight attendants are like hemorrhoids. Both are a pain in the ass and the only way to get rid of them is surgery. Cut ’em out and let ’em go. United, Delta, Southwest (they are next to fail) and Alaska (maybe we can add Allegiant (they seem to be the better of the LCCs) can take up some of the slack.
everyone talking bout how they’re “not doing their jobs” by not serving the pre-flight drinks seems to be ignoring the fact that AA FAs arent paid til the door closes, so actually.. serving those drinks isn’t part of their PAID job description—it’s just heavily encouraged volunteer work.
The best thing you can do is leave feedback after EVERY flight so that management has the ammo to dismiss these slugs. It’s important that they have written comments to counter the inevitable claims of racism, and discrimination afainst gay, trans etc.
I’ve been doing my part for a while now and you should too.
The attitudes of these people should clearly demonstrate that when their contract is eventually settled, even if they were to get everything they want, your experience will be just as poor as it is today. These people have no pride in their work or even themselves. Service will never improve.
If it takes help from very frequent customers such as myself then so be it.
I’m tired of my experience on AA being akin to riding on a city bus.
AA should sue ALPA -just to bring back all of the good vibes from when AA sued the mechanics union for “unauthorized” self help.
My advice for all AA FAs is to pray on the choices you have made and take a turn in another direction.
@ CHRIS — Keep doing your part to make American straight and white again! I guess you want to depart all the “gays and trans”? Does that include your homophobic, closeted self?
Win Whittier,
There are other ways to get rid of hemorrhoids, other than surgery.
Yours must be pretty bad.
Just snap your fingers and sternly say stewardess drinks now!
That will get their attention 😉 🙂
I love how creative the author is when explaining that flight attendants are not paid for any work prior to the door closing. How many people on here are willing to work for free? The level of outrage because you can’t wait to start drinking at 7:00am is unreal.
@Gene clearly has no understanding of Basic Economics. Of course, that puts him on par with the bulk of society.
How are they any different then a useless government employee fire them. They want to get paid on door closing not on boarding time. That is the union fighting for the seniority not the majority. The union is for the 1%
@Gene
Not necessarily but that’s the card you all drop in order to slink away from being held accountable for your poor performance.
There’s nothing wrong with providing AA management the firepower necessary to dispel your false claims.
If you’re a conscientious and caring employee then you should be welcome at the new AA. If you are someone who has used your skin color or sexual desires as a way to make excuses your whole life then you deserve to be unemployed and destitute.
People like you are a pain in the ass to employ or to deal with in general.
Fire them all and move on. Disgusting union scum.
@ CHRIS — You know nothing about me. What a stupid comment.
@ James N — Seriously. I understand them quite well. Which part do I have wrong, exactly?
This whole I don’t get paid till the door is closed is BS. The industry contracts were priced based on Block Time. Plain and simple. Compensation in the contract was negotiated based on Block Time as the relevant denominator! Now that Delta has stepped up and changed the methodology everyone wants to change. That takes a new negotiation. These employees not doing their jobs should be terminated because they are on the clock!
The airline doesn’t enforce their own rules because they can’t really afford to fire any of them. They currently have the least paid FAs in the business so why change anything.
Unfortunately their planes are full so they won’t notice that I have moved on. I even have a southwest flight on the books. I am actually afraid.
I am not entirely confident that the new contract will change anything. Much like after covid, many employees don’t want to go back to normal. I suspect the FAs will be thinking they won’t have to go back to being civil, doing their job, or simply giving a damn. If I end up with any status on delta or united, I will agree with them and not go back to normal. Ex plat, million miler, and a million miles in the bank and it still isn’t worth staying with them.
Yes, the FAs are worthless, and they work for a terrible company, and they are represented by a joke of a union that is definitely only working to help the 1%. If AA basically uses management or shuts down for the 6 month strike, I predict that they will not survive, but of course the us government will keep them afloat. So, we the passengers are screwed.
@Gene, here’s one obvious example.
“Everyone deserves pay increases that a) keep up with inflation and b) that reward tenure.”
That is not how wages are determined. And no, people don’t “deserve” wages for the reasons you mentioned. Your method leads to lazy, unmotivated employees. Like a number of those working for AA and other companies. Why strive to do a better job if my pay increases simply by showing up for work?
You get free space available travel as employee and retiree but with full flights and there is a pecking order for listing for a flight so it’s not really a benefit. I always buy a full fare ticket and it beats sitting at the airport all day to save a few bucks for a seat. I may not get a seat next to my wife. Free travel is not the big deal it was years ago.
American does not hire customer centric flight attendants.
The airline business is cyclical. Covid revenge travel has made things weird for the time being, but in the end it will pendulum like it has always done. And AA is probably at the highest risk for bankruptcy and insolvency when it finally happens. Pan Am, Eastern, TWA… no one is invincible or immune. These AA FA’s can go ahead and play their games while they can. And best of luck to them.
@ James N — Yes, and paying them less in devalued dollars motivates them.
“Great” response, Gene. Unfortunately, it’s completely irrelevant and devoid of any connection to the issue of wage rates.
If American does not care about service and only cares about on time departures I wonder how they would feel about on time departures with no one seated in First Class? Great way to treat your most important passengers.
How do Delta, United and Alaska provide pre departure beverages snd still depart on time and American can’t?
Interesting comments from people who do not do the job and therefore do not really know what they are talking about. The one point I have not seen anyone really address is that little no pay until the boarding door closes. May I ask who among you people commenting that they should be fired for not doing their job pre-flight, are you assigned duties you must perform prior to the start of your day? The FA’s most certainly be paid for all the time they are expected to be at work performing boarding or serving drinks in First Class.
None of the FAs at AA seem to remember the mechanics at Eastern. Or the controllers who challenged Reagan.
It all started to change when the Passenger became a Customer, down hill ever since . What I don’t get is why all the Union Bashing? The only reason we have 40 hour work week is because of Unions the only reason we have Weekends is because of Unions . Unions are for the people by the people This Country was built from the hard working class and Unions have helped make it a little bit easier. The only union busters should be the Big Wig fat white greedy CEO men. I stand in solidarity with my flying brothers and sisters at AA buckle up your in for one hell bumpy of a ride.
American will end up filing Ch 11 before long and the uneducated and ill informed fa’s will be hawking pencils on a sidewalk where they belong. They’re terrible
@ Donald Mamula That was in the 1980s Eastern Airlines had maybe 80 aircraft in their fleet at the time of folding, the company also used SCAB pilots to replace furloughed and striking pilots , AA is Gigantic approx 1000 planes and 30,000 flight attendants
You get what you pay for. If AA is going to pay shitty wages they should expect shitty work. If they’re paying for FAs from door close to door open then don’t expect them to do things until the door has shut.
Flight attendants are low skilled labor that contribute nothing to society. As they fidget on their phones for 70% of the flight in the galley they have the audacity to question how unfair life is and that CEOs shouldn’t make so much money.
Gene is a simple guy. And Probably as grown up as he can ever hope to be
I fly American often in 1st Class Often, a PDB rate I’d at best 20 percent. Most of the time it’s water or/juice and rarely a beverage of choice. That being said. Pay the crew the minute they board. They are performing catering and equipment checks.
Outside of not getting my PDB, why does American have soooo many boarding zones?
I worked for nearly 30 years. I would hear people complain that they weren’t going to work if they didn’t get what they wanted. Well, they agreed to the terms when they were hired. I have no doubt that the FA’s were singing how they would do whatever it took to get their job. If the airline cuts back to agree to demands, then someone becomes unemployed. In fact, they offered an immediate raise and they turned it down. That was dumb. Something is better than nothing. I remember one time on a flight with severe turbulence. The flight attendants were stuck in the aisle with the beverage cart and had to sit down to hold it in place. The real news is how the passengers held onto the flight attendants to keep them from getting injured. These are same people they now choose to ignore. Good service will get you the support you need, not treating paying passengers like dirt. After all, if you don’t like your job, get another one.