American Airlines reduced the number of flight attendants working on their aircraft during the Pandemic.
They wanted to cut costs as much as possible.
They didn't need the crew on board because they weren't offering much service.
They had legal minimum crew or above.
The airline is keeping their staffing levels low now that travel demand is back. The airline is restoring inflight service. The flight attendants union complains that it is difficult to deliver the kind of service passengers expect when first class flight attendants split their duties in other cabins on Boeing 777-300ER planes and there is no separate crewmember for first class on the A321T.
A flight attendant asked at a Crew News question and answer session this week when staffing levels would return to normal, since service levels are coming back. They were told that the change had nothing to do with Covid or service levels, an executive said that they reduced staffing to be competitive.
The CEO pointed out to him that they had more flight attendants for those aircraft types than other airlines, and they tend to fly to FAA minimums. He continued.
We are going to try to keep doing this with the same standards other airlnes did. It wasn't because of Covid, but because we had to save every dollar we could, so it highlighted things we might not have done in other times. We are going to try to do it with this.
>
We will make sure we deliver what our customers expect if the service can't be delivered. We should be able to get by with that complement level as well.
The product suffered when a flight attendant was removed from business class. The airline provided pre-plated meals so there would be less work to do. United added a flight attendant to their Boeing . Premium passengers expected a flight attendant to deliver the product they were expecting.
The same thing happened with single agent boarding, they simply did what other airlines did rather than what they needed to do in order to deliver a quality product.
American Airlines is dropping a flight attendant from their Boeing 757s in March because they think the ratio of flight attendants to economy passengers will be the same as before the retrofit product. American has more widebody aircraft than any other.
February 27,
"Airlines"
The minimum number of flight attendants on an aircraft is set by the U.S. federal government. While many flight attendants announce that they are there for your safety, they are also the people in most direct contact with customers.
November 17, 2021.
"Airlines"
This is a plan to offer less. Flight attendants are unhappy because it means they will be working more during each trip, without being paid more.
September 14, 2020.
"Airlines"
