People are waking up to the fact that American Airlines denies new flight attendants the chance to earn during the six-week training period and mostly, Twitter isn’t happy.
As part of the 6-week training process, new flight attendants are not paid a wage because they must first pass the training. The conditional terms of the contract have sparked much controversy on social media as fliers question the ethics of the airline.
During the six weeks, trainees hoping to pass and start with the airline are entitled to a meal card with the value of $27 to pay for food and drink, as well as transportation to and from the training center.
American Airlines is certainly not the only airline that leads an unpaid training course for incoming flight attendants.
Some took to Twitter to voice their disappointment. It is clear that for some, the airline has put a huge amount of strain on newcomers freshly starting in a profession and an industry already experiencing setbacks due to the pandemic.
On Twitter, one user expressed disbelief in the unpaid proposition: “6 weeks UNPAID labor? In this economy @AmericanAir ???” read the tweet.
Many others equally commented on the “embarrassing” nature of the unpaid training course. Users also mentioned that this is in fact an industry standard, highlighting that once employed flight attendants are also not paid for boarding, deplaning or delays.
One user defended the process commenting that it is simply a “small price to pay” for what the user considers a “lifetime of happiness”.
Providing they successfully complete the training course and are, according to the guidelines, ‘selected’, budding flight attendants are able to start their career in the city that they are assigned.
Currently, American Airlines is resuming the recruitment process for new flight attendants who are fully vaccinated, as of January 10, 2022.