American Airlines has decided to incentivize its flight attendants to take on holiday shifts, in hopes that it will save them from hundreds of potential flight cancellations.
More than a thousand flights were canceled from the airline’s original flight schedule last Friday to Sunday. This all occurred after American Airlines experienced staff shortages and weather challenges that impacted initial takeoffs.
Now, employees who work on their aircraft during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas will be compensated with an hourly rate of time-and-a-half. AA will also pay its employees a salary increase if they have a clean record of attendance between the dates of Nov. 15 and Jan. 2.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants settled with American Airlines on these employee incentives to produce a healthier work environment.
Prior to the airlines’ many flight cancellations, staff were overworked and were misplaced when flights were canceled due to poor weather conditions. American Airlines’ decline is a result of the pandemic permanently impacting air travel and the way employees were scheduled over the past year.
In 2020, many flight staff took hiatuses or accepted paid leave to help airlines who were impacted by the spread of COVID-19. Now, airlines are quickly trying to adapt to more flights being booked and airports becoming more and more busy each day.
The United States is allowing vaccinated international travelers to enter the country with more accessibility, and American Airlines is preparing for this oncoming surge of expected flight passengers.
As we previously reported, the airline lost $75 million due to recent flight cancellations and even though the number of canceled flights is dwindling day by day, there still is a large population of dissatisfied potential passengers.
To eliminate the risk of more flight interruptions, American Airlines is going to cut down on future travel for the remainder of the year— which could impact your holiday travels.
Related: American Airlines Cancels Thousands Of Flights Which Could Impact Holiday Travel
