American Airlines is reportedly trying to find cheaper hotels for its tens of thousands of flight attendants to stay at during work trips as part of a concerted cost-cutting effort to close the disappointing earnings gap with Delta and United Airlines, the official crew union has warned.
The latest cost-cutting measure, aimed directly at the Texas-based carrier’s flight attendant workforce, comes just weeks after the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in chief executive Robert Isom.
“As we entered 2026, it became clear that management plans to review nearly every layover city and replace many long-standing, well-liked, contractually compliant hotels,” the union warned in an internal memo reviewed by PYOK.
“These changes put management’s priorities ahead of the rest you need to safely perform your duties,” the memo slammed.
American Airlines has reportedly told the union that it wants to conduct at least eight hotel site visits per month, which would be a major step in relocating flight attendants to new accommodations.
Hotel site visits can be organized for a slew of different reasons, including when contracts are up for renewal or when safety or quality concerns have been raised.
In this case, however, the union says the more than 100% increase in site visits demanded by American Airlines includes many hotels where no issues are present. In some cases, the airline has been accused of ignoring the union’s recommendations, despite contract provisions that it meant to give APFA a big say in where its members stay during layovers.
“Crew accommodations and the hotel selection process are contractual,” the memo explained. “They are not negotiable and must never be compromised.”
“APFA has fought for years to secure hotels that include the safety and security of the transportation vehicles, rooms and hotel locations; the cleanliness and quietness of the accommodations; and the adequacy of the eating facilities,” the memo added.
“We will not stand by while our hotel standards are lowered. Top leadership’s ongoing financial failures do not give them the right to ignore our contract language.”
In some cases, hotels could be switched to lower-quality accommodations or out of downtown locations where room rates are lower.
While the union paints the current situation as American’s attempt to close the earnings gaps against its two biggest rivals, its latest tactic isn’t any different than what United Airlines has been doing for several years.
Exploiting a wording loophole in its own flight attendant contract, United Airlines has been moving crew members out of central locations in some international premium destinations through the use of a ‘downtown-like’ clause.
United’s flight attendants no longer stay close to the center of Amsterdam, Netherlands, London, England, or Rome, Italy.
In London, for example, United flight attendants now stay in Woking, a sleepy little town 24 miles southwest of Central London. A train ride into London to see the lights of Picadilly Circus and other popular tourist hotspots takes around 45 minutes.
The choice of flight attendant hotels and contractual loopholes in what accommodations the airline is allowed to pick has become a big flaspoint in ongoing negotiations between United and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA).
In a recent internal memo, the AFA suggested it was close to locking down improved contractual language in a yet-to-be-agreed tentative contract that would require United to improve layover hotels in the future.
Last month, American’s APFA union said it had taken the “necessary step of issuing a unanimous vote of no confidence in CEO Robert Isom,” after the carrier reported a profit plunge of 84% in 2025.
Isom has refused to step down and appears to have strong backing from American’s board of directors. He has made a reputation for himself at the airline for his cost-cutting strategy, which included ripping out seatback TV screens from narrowbody airplanes.
The move has been widely criticized as a strategic blunder that came at the same time that United went on a premium push by equipping its narrowbody fleet with seatback screens and upgraded tech.
Isom, meanwhile, says that the airline will continue to implement its existing strategy, with no signs of a major reversal in direction.
The race to the bottom continues, at least at US airlines ….
…and BA with their ongoing catering cuts, delays to fleet replacement and still absent working IT or ground customer services