Flight attendants were stuck sleeping at the airport because the airline's transportation desk wouldn't give them rooms. They couldn't get reservations on their app and couldn't get through on the phone.

There were stories of a pilot sleeping in the lobby of their hotel without a room and the pilots union telling pilots not to fly unless they have confirmed rooms. It matters because it tells customers the airline won't be reliable and it matters because you don't want tired pilots.

The airline said that their vendor has staffed up their call center and promised several times that this wouldn't happen again. Crew are afraid of booking their own accommodations because they worry they won't be paid back. They have horror stories about being re-routed on trips but not getting re booked for ground transportation.

American's operation melted down along with other airlines. The airline didn't keep track of where their flight attendants were to reassign them to trips, and the crew had no hotels.

According to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

Crews were abandoned in hotels, trying to reach crew tracking to receive information about sequence changes.

Crewmembers were forced to sleep on the floor in the airport because they were unable to reach the hotel/limo desk.

Flight Attendant crews were forced to sleep in one hotel room.

Flight Attendants waited for hotel rooms over 6 hours after landing, after being on duty for a full day.

Crews waited upwards of 12 hours for tracking to advise them of a reschedule, and flew home on their own after being asked to vacate the hotel. Upon arrival at home, sometimes 24 hours later, crew tracking attempted to issue ‘missed trips’ to Flight Attendants that had no repaired schedule, no hotel, and no transportation to the airport.

There is a scramble for rooms and crew when large numbers of flights are canceled. When schedules go wrong, flight attendants are having to deal with customers trying to get a hold of airlines. There are limited hotel rooms in some small markets. There are horror stories about self-help and seeking reimbursement.

exp-player-logo airplane cockpit

I covered the American Airlines flight attendants who were stuck sleeping at the airport because they weren't provided a hotel room for their layover. I mentioned that the flight attendants union had filed a complaint about the accommodations at the airline.

In airlines.

The American Airlines flight attendants union has filed a grievance against the airline because they say cabin crew are being forced to stay in airports and outside of baggage claim because they can't get rooms on their layovers. They report that pilots are dealing with the same issues.

In airlines.

American Airlines updated its rules to make it clear that it has no responsibility to you when flights are delayed or canceled.

In airlines.