It's no secret that major U.S. airline flight attendants have recently raised a number of concerns about work environments and their jobs.
But now, American Airlines (AAL) is reportedly accusing some of their employees of attempting to profit from rolling delays.
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American Airlines flight attendants have voiced several concerns. Among them are lack of rest during layovers, retaliation for complaints and matters over compensation and benefits.
A new development has added layers of complications to the problems.
Ben Schlappig, writing for One Mile At a Time, explains the issue.
"American Airlines is accusing some of its flight attendants of trying to profit off of rolling delays, and is calling it theft," he wrote. "I'm sure this will ruffle some feathers among flight attendants, especially given the tense contract negotiations going on."
A travel expert says he has a statement from American Airlines
On X (formerly Twitter), travel expert JonNYC reported this statement he claimed he gathered from American Airlines:
We are seeing an increased occurrence of FAs picking up trips (UBL/ETB) when they are in the midst of a potential creeping (rolling) delay in their current sequence thus resulting in "Illegal Through No Fault" (JCBA 10.K) pay protection. Examples the company has provided are; a next individual sequence where you have to have FAA minimum home base rest of 10 hours in between, or a double-up where you are required to have the prescribed time of 1:30 between arrival and departure of second sequence. (among other examples)
Crew Schedule Seniors are examining each and every one of these last-minute pick-ups that result in pay protection to determine whether there was intent to manufacture an illegality resulting in pay. The Company has noticed APFA they consider this theft. They will take a deep-dive into when you picked up the trip, when the delay began, what did the crew know and when (even including Flight) and potentially bringing you in to investigate. The company's position is just because the times haven't been modified/sequence has yet to be repaired, doesn't mean the crew is unaware it is inevitable.
In the event the company determines (by review of data) you had no intent to fly the trip they will take the pay away and potentially bring you in for investigation. Please ensure you only bid/pick up trips you have an honest intent of flying and are confident you will be legal to fly to avoid the Company's scrutiny, and be able to back-up your decision with factual data.
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Flight attendants have a complex system about bidding on trips
Schlappig explains a way flight attendants can approach their upcoming flights.
"Flight attendants have a complex system through which they can bid on trips, based on a variety of factors, and that determines their schedules," he wrote. "In addition to their standard monthly bidding, flight attendants can pick up trips at the last minute for extra pay, assuming it doesn’t interfere with any trips they already have on their schedule. They always need a minimum amount of rest between sequences, typically at least 10 hours."
Schlappig suggested that American Airlines flight attendants are "intentionally picking up trips that they have no intention of flying, in order to get more pay, and the company is calling it theft."
He gave a hypothetical example.
Just to give an example (I’m totally making this up), let’s say that a flight attendant is scheduled to work a trip starting at 6AM tomorrow, from Miami to Los Angeles. Flight attendants need at least 10 hours of rest between flights. So let’s say a flight attendant picks up a quick Miami to Tampa to Miami turn at the last minute for this evening, but it’s clear that the flight will be delayed (since the inbound aircraft is hours late, or there’s a maintenance issue, or there’s a thunderstorm).
If they picked up that trip and flew it but returned after 8PM (10 hours before 6AM), they wouldn’t be able to fly the trip the following day, but they’d still get paid for both trips.
The One Mile At a Time writer gave another thought on the subject.
"I suspect this is primarily about trying to make flight attendants scared about this behavior going forward, but I guess we'll see," he wrote. "If the company does take disciplinary action against flight attendants, I imagine the union will have a lot to say."
At the time of publication, American Airlines has not responded to a request for comment.
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