When I covered cuts in inflight service at the behest of its flight attendants union which said it was concerned with Covid risk, I pointed out all of the elements of hypocrisy and how this makes the American Airlines product worse. Indeed it needs a better product because it needs to generate a revenue premium to competitors given its relatively high costs and high debt burden.
As we transition from the Pandemic to the endemic phase of dealing with Covid-19, American had no choice but to deal with broader cultural issues. For American, though.
- It’s odd timing to be cutting service now, as the Omicron wave of the virus has already peaked in much of the country.
- Removing a second drink service from coach on cross country flights may not even reduce the amount of contact between passengers and flight attendants, with passengers having to individually push their call buttons or travel to the galley.
- There remain plenty of inflight service ‘touch points’ like credit card applications, meals in first class where passengers take off their masks and can even sing while they eat if they wish. And crewmember mask compliance is often as much of a problem as passenger compliance.
- Note that neither the airline nor flight attendants union is encouraging flight attendants to wear better, more effective masks or distributing better masks.
- Crew aren’t being told not to go out to restaurants during layovers. The union isn’t asking the airline to end shared bus transportation to crew hotels. They aren’t trying to keep flight attendants away from crowded spaces they are asking for less work while they’re in relatively more protective environments. In other words what an odd focal point for concerns about safety, while maintaining the passenger cabin is one of the safest indoor congregant settings thanks to HEPA air filtration and downward air flow.
American Airlines was being called out on safety and called upon to demonstrate concern for their employees. The airline was being asked to do something. They are no different than other large institutions and businesses. If they don't look like they are taking things seriously, there will be an image risk. The policy's effectiveness and coherence is not the point.
As someone who celebrates vaccines very seriously and advocated for flight attendants to be able to wear masks before the airline even allowed it, we are engaging in a certain kind of Covid theater. How much choice did they have?
The federal government has started sending out tests because it is nearly impossible for people to avoid one of the most transmissible diseases humans have experienced in Omicron. The risk of Covid-19 has never been lower, even though the number of infections has strained hospitals in parts of the country.
- More immunity from prior infection and vaccination
- Less virulent strain, having difficulty entering the lungs
- Better treatment protocols than early in the pandemic, though effective monoclonal antibodies remain scarce and Paxlovid production is still ramping up
Even though the virus has changed, we are still lucky to have booster effectiveness.
Highlighting the data above are for all ages
Graphs for vaccination vs deaths by age groups (w/o booster partitioned): https://t.co/4k0jK6u34i
— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 24, 2022
On the other hand, there is a risk of returning to caution in areas where hospitals may be overwhelmed and as a bridge to a time where we may not need to worry so much because everyone has been exposed, and because highly.
There was a vaccine mandate for airline employees. The risk of doing the first drink service is not the risk of doing the second.
These are the kinds of strange outcomes we are going to have to deal with as a society. For a long time, I've focused on the 2020 elections as a time when government policies would need to become less restrictive, since Democrats are fighting to retain control of both houses of Congress. The issue is more than that.
When, culturally, will it no longer be possible to bully an airline like American into reducing in-cabin work under the rubric of safety? When will the requirement that riders and drivers wear masks be lifted by the company? It is clear that red states have no restrictions while restrictions continue apace in places like California, so we see restrictions lifted locally by businesses that follow local custom. California is a bellwether for more nationwide brands.
American Airlines reduced the number of flight attendants working on their aircraft during the Pandemic. The airline is keeping lower staffing levels because of the return of travel demand. The airline is restoring inflight service.
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Customers don't like it. It is not something that should be done before 8 a.m. or in the morning prior to the end of a redeye. The people who are already flying the airline are the ones who are most likely to use an airline's credit card.
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After the American Airlines earnings call on Thursday, a flight attendant asked about the return of inflight service for premium customers. She said the service would come back slowly.
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