American Airlines pilots’ union wants the carrier to replace the airlines’ middle managers. Leaders of the American Airlines pilots’ union voted to have a new operations management team. According to the pilot’s union, middle managers are responsible for the hundreds of flight disruptions that affected passengers this year.
The 20-member board of directors of the union approved a resolution this week calling for a change in management. They voted 17-2 with one board member abstained to vote. The union said that “it is in the best interest” of the company and customers to replace the management team.
The resolution said that “Throughout the summer of 2021, middle management chose to advance cancel hundreds of flights, disrupting thousands of travel plans while at the same time damaging the American Airlines brands”. However, the union doesn’t want the airline to fire the managers.
Higher Percentage of Reserve Pilots
American Airlines didn’t comment on the resolution submitted by the pilots’ union. Instead, the company sent a memo to the pilots before Labor Day stating that pilot staffing improved during summer. The memo said that “We feel good about where we are today and have worked hard to be able to ensure we are set up for success the rest of this year and beyond”.
The board of directors also wants the APA president to be transparent when hiring new pilots. According to the board, new pilots should know that the “current scheduling uncertainties and reassignments affect their quality of life if they decide to accept a flying position at American Airlines”
The pilots’ union wants the airline to have a “higher percentage of reserve pilots” to avoid a repeat of flight disruptions.
Flight cancellations and Staffing Shortage
According to the resolution, 60,000 passengers suffered because of the cancellations during the Father’s Day weekend last June.
By early July, American decided to trim their scheduled flights by 1% because of staffing problems. However, American isn’t the only airline that reduced their scheduled flights. Southwest also trimmed their scheduled flights after dealing with a variety of problems from staffing shortages to weather issues.