American Airlines Flight Attendants Say Management Crackdown Is Punishing Good Service: Crew Are Scared to Go the Extra Mile

More than 8 in 10 flight attendants at American Airlines say they don’t feel empowered to go above and beyond for passengers because they fear criticism and reprisals in the form of discipline by management at the Texas-based carrier, a damning new survey of crew members has shockingly revealed.

The survey was commissioned by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), the official crew member union, which has become increasingly frustrated with its members being pulled out of work to answer for anonymous complaints made by passengers.

The union has also drawn battle lines over a new flight attendant management structure which was meant to provide crew members with more local support, as well as the introduction of a new performance tracking tool which is known as ‘Me@Work.’

APFA feared that the various management changes, alongside a focus on recorded disciplinary proceedings, were having the opposite effect of what American Airlines had intended when it said that flight attendants should feel more empowered to do a better job.

So, the union asked its members what they thought, and they did not shy away from making their feelings known:

• 96.2% of flight attendants said American Airlines’ management changes had failed in its stated aim to provide more support to flight attendants.
• 84.1% said a new cadre of local managers who are meant to be present and visible in airport terminals were nowhere to be seen.
• 61% of flight attendants who took part in the survey said their interactions with management had been unsupportive.
• But that’s not to say all remaining flight attendants had felt supported, because 28% said they had no interactions with management in the past year.
• 72.6% of flight attendants also said they had personally felt the effects of coworkers being pulled from flights to have disciplinary meetings.

And on top of all of that, 81% of flight attendants said they don’t feel empowered to go above and beyond for passengers because of the fear of criticism or discipline for doing exactly this.

“These results make it clear that American must invest in the relationship between Flight Attendants and Inflight Management,” the union slammed in an internal memo.

“Building trust and providing meaningful support are essential to creating the workplace and customer experience that American says they want to deliver.”

Last month, the union revealed that 1,128 days’ worth of flight attendant work was lost in just one month at its DFW hub because crew members were grounded to answer disciplinary complaints.

Across all of American’s flight attendant hubs, nearly 4,000 flight attendant work days were lost in June because crew members were being pulled off flights so that they could attend management meetings or were grounded due to ongoing investigations.

The union complained that American Airlines has been imposing an “increasingly rigid disciplinary process” which is hitting the carrier’s flight punctuality because there aren’t enough flight attendants to operate flights.

Now, however, American Airlines says it plans to relax this approach, saying that many complaints and issues can be dealt with over the phone or via email, rather than dragging flight attendants into the office.

The union suggests that while American Airlines postioned its new airport management teams as being on the front line, and supporting flight attendants at the gate and on board, they very quickly retreated to their back offices, where they busied themselves in making crew members attend meetings.

Noting the change to phone and email investigations, APFA noted the change “should also allow Inflight Management to spend more time where Flight Attendants need them most: providing meaningful support in the terminals and on the aircraft.”