AA canceled flights

wheelsup

Well-Known Member
American also said it is cutting flights by one to two percent for the rest of September and October.
The cuts are partly due to an increase in pilot sick days and greater maintenance reports by flight crews led to flight cancellations and delays, Hicks said. American operates about 1,700 flights a day.

According to flight tracking service FlightAware.com, over the past two weeks American Airlines has canceled more flights than any other major U.S. airline.


http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/...rlines-sends-thousands-of-layoff-notices?lite

Interesting development, although it may backfire. The company will lose more money therefore ask for higher cuts to your contract.
 
I can't find it right now but I saw a day by day graph of D:0 and A:14 numbers. It's not looking good. Makes sense to me though. Also, apparently the APA is telling pilots to call management to ask for interpretations on EVERYTHING because there isn't a contract any more so they have no idea what the rules are now. Things as basic as a reserve call out time are being bumped up to the CP level. Fun times.
 
I can't find it right now but I saw a day by day graph of D:0 and A:14 numbers. It's not looking good. Makes sense to me though. Also, apparently the APA is telling pilots to call management to ask for interpretations on EVERYTHING because there isn't a contract any more so they have no idea what the rules are now. Things as basic as a reserve call out time are being bumped up to the CP level. Fun times.
"Hi this is Bob employee #xxxxx, I would like to speak to a manager."

"It's 11 pm sunday night."

"Hi this is Bob employee #xxxxx, I would like to speak to a manager."
 
I'm rethinking booking a trip in December on AA, and considering taking the craptastic points.com offer of a $100 Lowes gift card for my 25k AAdvantage miles.
 
Signs Of A Sick-Out At American Airlines

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Posted Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012, at 10:47 AM ET


American Airlines is canceling flights in droves this week in what looks to be a sub rosa labor conflict with the Allied Pilots Association, the union representing the airline's pilots.


The context is that American filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy some months ago with securing givebacks from its various unions as a key goal. The pilots are the one group of workers American hasn't yet reached an agreement with. And mysteriously enough, pilots seem to be calling in sick at an abnormally high rate leading to a surge in cancellations and late flights. The Pilots Association maintains that this really is a coincidence with spokesman Tom Hogan saying "no one at APA has either sanctioned or supported any kind of ‘job action’ or sickout. It is illegal to do so."


That second sentence is the giveaway, though. If there were a sickout it would be illegal, so naturally there is no sickout.


Inability to manage any sort of workable relationship with organized labor is a perennial problem for the non-Southwest segment of the U.S. aviation industry. Labor and management have different incentives in these dynamics, but also considerable overlap of interest. If you work at American Airlines you have a real interest in seeing the company survive and grow, and seniority rules only strengthen that. But for those overlapping elements of common interest to avoid destructive negative-sum interactions there needs to be an atmosphere of trust and the executives at American very much haven't created one.
 
I song think its a sick out. Just a case of someone coming to work sick and passing it around. Just like kids in school. Maybe they thought they might get a free car?
 
Instead of coming in to work sick... maybe the pilots are actually 'sick' and using, rather than banking their sick time. (In anticipation of losing it in the future)

Plus, if you apply the 'IMSAFE' checklist... Illness, Stress, and Fatigue can ALWAYS be a factor. Especially stress in these troubled times. I commend the pilots of American Airlines for striving above the pinnacle of professionalism - much more so than normal in these troubling times and ensuring a 100% safe operation by not allowing even the smallest factor to distract them from running the safest possible flight.

As we all know, safety is #1, and we can't run the risk of distracted pilots that are worried about outside emotional factors - like losing their pension, not being able to afford their house payment, their kids educations not being funded, and watching all of the small gains that they contractually made over the years being ripped away with one judge's pen stroke... No, sir... we cannot let that affect the safe and efficient operation of each and every flight that is operated under the banner of American Airlines.

As a professional pilot, I would never condone an illegal action. This just sounds like a very logical coincidence - that will play itself out over and over again until some stability returns to these fine folks lives.
 
"Hicks said there has also been an increase in flight crews filing maintenance reports on their aircraft, which is causing flights to be canceled. "

Of course... all of those healthy, professional pilots, that made it into work are hyperviligant when it comes to their walk-arounds and pre-flight preperation. These are the Les Abend's of the aviation world - professional to a T. Making sure that their aircraft are both safe and legal to fly. Again, commendable behavior - I applaud their dedication to safety.
 
Playing devils advocate here but.....

Them who....The company or the pilots? While I can understand the 'action' of the pilots what about the collateral damage (paying pax) on American? There was a recent article in Flying from Les Abend how while the pilots are upset they would go on being professional. This doesn't seem to be along those lines.

Pilots.

If management is not concerned with their employees treatment why should the employees be concerned with the pax treatment?

I understand the idea of being "professional", I would never condone anything that put even one person at risk. However, management is using every tool in its bag to screw pilots, I see no problem with the pilots doing the same.

I feel bad for the pax, I hope they can find a ride on a competing carrier, but I have no sympathy for American as a corporation.
 
also saw an article that alonf with the increased sick calls, there has been an increase in the amount of maintenance write-ups that is causing some delays/cancelations as well....

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/19/new...ots-flight-cancellations/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

"Hicks said there has also been an increase in flight crews filing maintenance reports on their aircraft, which is causing flights to be canceled. "
Must be the pilots, couldn't be a bankrupt company scrimping on MX and mechs who don't care because they know they'll be out of a job soon...
 
With an increase of canceled flights, won't other carriers start to see more bookings? Fuller flights? bumped pax?
 
Real professional. And the only ones affected are the passengers who bought tickets in good faith.

This cancellation and sick-out crap only causes collateral damage, which the union has no problem doing. Their target should be management.....or really, themselves, since they got themselves in this mess. But taking it out on the pax, is akin to me disagreeing with US foreign policy while deployed overseas, and thinking I can just go randomly kill civilians in protest of it.
 
Real professional. And the only ones affected are the passengers who bought tickets in good faith.

This cancellation and sick-out crap only causes collateral damage, which the union has no problem doing. Their target should be management.....or really, themselves, since they got themselves in this mess. But taking it out on the pax, is akin to me disagreeing with US foreign policy while deployed overseas, and thinking I can just go randomly kill civilians in protest of it.


I hardly think that's fair. As a non-interested third-party who flies AA for business now and again, I fully support any and all actions by the pilots that are consistent with safety. The RLA is crap, and while I'm no huge fan of unions (I feel that the need for unions still exists, but between labor law and union longevity the unions have generally become corrupt and/or vastly overcomplicated the system), I feel that pilots withholding the "favors" they grant the airline on a daily basis (such as working slightly sick, et al) is absolutely within the dictates of professionalism.

Frankly, airline management across the board seems hell-bent on screwing their pilots on every front. (I could shorten that by saying that "management across the board seems hell-bent on screwing labor") Passengers who are buying tickets on an airline aren't innocent third parties -- they make their choice on a competitive market and pick what benefits them. A friend of mine was talking to me earlier today about buying tickets on AA, even though he knows about the ongoing labor issues. Why? They were $200 cheaper than the alternative.

As far as the airline goes, management broke it, and they alone are responsible. If their employees ARE engaging in a sick-out, it's management's fault for not doing the right thing to keep them happy, and the responsibility falls squarely on their shoulders. (Legal complications aside)

A job is not a gift from a company to an employee -- it is simply a mutually beneficial business arrangement between one entity and another. The company needs the services of the employees, and the employees offer their services for a price to the company. And before people chime in about how the company IS the employees (And therefore by damaging the company, you damage the employees), let me remind the reader that the company doesn't see it that way at all. The company sees itself as a board of directors and a management team, and everyone else is a peon. Loyalty, professionalism, and "doing whatever it takes" for the company are only putting money into the pockets of the executives and slightly increasing shareholder value; the company has no loyalty to you, will lay you off in a heartbeat, will generally not return your professionalism in kind.

-Fox
 
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