Tag Archives for american airlines.
American Airlines flight attendants are losing their patience in contract negotiations with the airline. They’ve already voted near-unanimously to authorize a strike. There’s a specific procedure that airline unions have to go through in order to strike, and they’re about to start the clock – on a timeline that could have them walking out over peak Christmas travel.
After a recent employee meeting following the third quarter earnings call, American Airlines revealed delays in the delivery of their ordered Airbus A321XLRs, now expecting the first in December 2024. Senior Vice President Brian Znotins outlined plans to deploy these planes for premium cross-country flights, new transatlantic markets, and potentially year-round routes, while hinting at future ultra-long haul flights using other aircraft.
Two American Eagle regional pilots were caught by a boarding passenger watching cartoons prior to flight. The captain and co-pilot of the Bombardier regional jet flying for American Airlines’ wholly-owned regional airline PSA didn’t instill passenger confidence, but the flight wound up… fine?
American Airlines, supported by other major airlines and unions, is lobbying the federal government to change regulations in an attempt to shut down Dallas-based competitor JSX, citing safety concerns. However, statements from a closed-door meeting indicate that their primary motive is commercial competition, not actual safety issues.
After the American Airlines earnings call, tensions rose during an all-employee meeting with questions centered on union contracts for flight attendants and reservations agents. The flight attendants union, demanding a 50% wage increase and hinting at potential strikes, criticized the company’s treatment, while CEO Robert Isom responded by emphasizing their intent to offer industry-leading compensation and benefits.
I almost felt guilty! I skipped both the general and PreCheck queues, and no doubt many of the people in those lines would have been eligible for the Priority line. They just hadn’t noticed it.
TSA also wasn’t checking eligibility to use that line and there was no one at the entry to the line checking for it either (TSA screeners don’t care how you get to the front of the line, they do not manage the lines). Anyone could have skipped to the front without even appearing to do so.
For several years American Airlines has said that if they could get their operation running well, everything else would fall into place. But they’ve been running well in 2023 and they aren’t making money. There’s something wrong with the American Airlines business plan.
American Airlines is asking employees to lobby against legislation from Senators Dick Durbin and Roger Marshall that would limit credit card interchange.
Interestingly, American presents the (true) argument to employees that they pushed back on me over for so long – that they lose money flying planes (cost per seat mile is greater than passenger revenue per seat mile, and even passenger revenue plus cargo, in many quarters) and only turn a profit by selling miles to banks.
They’re in a bit of a pickle because they don’t have the financial strength and performance to absorb higher labor costs, and may be tempted to squeeze elsewhere. But this constrains revenue growth potential, and makes for an even bigger problem. As a high cost airline they also need to be a high revenue airline, which means offering a better product not just a reliable domestic schedule.
The new Denver lounge is in terminal C between gate 30 and 32. It’s 6,000 square feet with seating for 114 people, and is open 4:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
