New American Airlines Flight Attendant Contract Creates Grueling Schedules For New Crewmembers

American Airlines and its flight attendant union have come to terms on a new contract, that current workers will vote on. It gives raises that make up for inflation over the past several years, and provides bonuses to make up for the lack of raises since January 2019. It also makes the job a lot less attractive for newly-hired flight attendants, creating grueling schedules for them so that cabin crew currently on payroll can have more comfortable work-life balance.

This is a change – amounting to “B-scale” work rules – that was demanded by the union. And it’s going to make the flight attendant career at American Airlines much less appealing to anyone considering it in the future.

New Hire Flight Attendants Will Work Straight Reserve Longer
Here’s the union’s description – any flight attendant hired after the contract is signed will have to work an extra full year waiting around at home and at the airport to find out whether they’re going to fly on any given day. They will wait two full years before they’re eligible for a specific flight schedule for the month. This way, flight attendants already working for the airline will spend less time “on reserve.”

Reserve means there are specific days and times you’re scheduled to be ‘on call’ for the month. You can get a call and have to acknowledge it right away, head straight to the airport.

You have to be available at all of your scheduled times, maybe starting at 4 a.m. You may sit at home, be out and about, and have to head into the airport to travel – or not. You may also be told ahead of time that on some of your reserve days you’ll actually travel. Ready reserve means you sit around at the airport in case you’re needed on the spot.

You may wind up traveling to different cities as a complete surprise. you don’t know where you’ll be sleeping on a given night. Or you may wake up in the middle of the night and wait, only to do nothing.

Under the current flight attendant contract, flight attendants work straight reserve for their first 12 months after training. Then flight attendants work ‘rotating reserve’.

Reserve means there are specific days and times you’re scheduled to be ‘on call’ for the month. You can get a call and have to acknowledge it right away, head straight to the airport.

You have to be available at all of your scheduled times, maybe starting at 4 a.m. You may sit at home, be out and about, and have to head into the airport to travel – or not. You may also be told ahead of time that on some of your reserve days you’ll actually travel. Ready reserve means you sit around at the airport in case you’re needed on the spot.

You may wind up traveling to different cities as a complete surprise. you don’t know where you’ll be sleeping on a given night. Or you may wake up in the middle of the night and wait, only to do nothing.

Under the current flight attendant contract, flight attendants work straight reserve for their first 12 months after training. Then flight attendants work ‘rotating reserve’.