american airlines

Tag Archives for american airlines.

Doug Parker Shares His Version Of Viral Discussion With A Flight Attendant About Race

by Gary Leff

May 31 2020

This morning I covered a fantastic story about an interaction between American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, where they connected over issues of race and the challenges confronting our country right now. This story, initially shared by the flight attendant to Facebook, is gaining broad coverage across the internet.

Doug Parker actually shared his version of the encounter as well, first with American’s executive leadership and then with employees on their company intranet. Here’s what he wrote.

Continue Reading »

Doug Parker Flies Southwest Airlines And Gets Into A Conversation About Race

by Gary Leff

May 31 2020

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker was flying Southwest Airlines out of Dallas to end the week, an airline he’s called ‘the cattle car’. A flight attendant notices the book he brought on board, but not who he is. He’s not her CEO, after all.

Parker was reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism. During the trip the flight attendant sat down next to him, he was in an empty row, and she asked him how the book is.

Continue Reading »

American’s Full Message To Managers About 30% Layoffs

by Gary Leff

May 28 2020

Last night I broke the news exclusively that American Airlines would shed at least 30% of management and support staff, and I outlined the two voluntary packages being offered to most employees and what the involuntary package would look like.

A couple of correspondents – a throwaway account on Twitter, an anonymous email – complained to me that the airline had to move up their notice to employees because I had the scoop. They weren’t going to inform staff of the layoffs last night.

Continue Reading »

American Airlines Will Terminate At Least 30% Of Management And Support Staff

by Gary Leff

May 27 2020

American Airlines is about to inform management and support staff that they expect at least 30% to be let go, according to internal documents reviewed by View From The Wing. The airline wants some of these layoffs to be voluntary, and they’re taking both a carrot and stick approach.

One of the enticements being offered is 250,000 to 350,000 American AAdvantage miles.

Continue Reading »

New American Airlines Change Fee Waiver Suggests Leisure Travel May Return Soon

by Gary Leff

May 27 2020

American Airlines is extending its change fee waiver for tickets purchased in June – but only for itineraries to travel by end of September.

American seems to be saying that the lull in travel, while to some extent long lasting, is likely to bounce back. That’s at least true for leisure travel, since business travel wouldn’t be booking past September anyway. At a minimum there’s some chance that they won’t need to offer flexibility indefinitely into the future, so they’d rather offer this a little bit at a time. That makes sense, from a certain point of view.

Continue Reading »

Earning American Airlines Lifetime Elite Status Via Credit Card Spend

by Gary Leff

american plane
May 21 2020

Without people traveling, and with fewer immediate opportunities to spend accumulated miles, the airline has a challenge with its co-brand credit cards. They earn around $3 billion a year in revenue through their partnerships with Citibank and Barclays, but spending is going to fall both because of less travel and also because of the economy in recession.

The airline has an interesting approach to this, encouraging spend on their cards between May 1 and December 31, 2020. Spending on their Citibank and Barclays cards will earn credit towards lifetime elite status. Here are answers to questions not available in American’s original release.

Continue Reading »

Should Flight Attendants Be Allowed To Wear Face Shields? American Airlines Says No.

by Gary Leff

May 21 2020

Flight attendants and even passengers are now expected to wear face masks when flying. But what about face shields? Some airlines are outfitting their cabin crew in full personal protective equipment. That provides a consistent look for the airline.

What about a flight attendant taking it upon themselves to wear a face shield, when that’s not something the airline allows? Is it alright during the pandemic, or something the airline should be able to ban?

Continue Reading »