6.24.22 – Action Item: Tell AA Management to Protect Our Flight Attendants Who Test Positive for COVID-19!

Friday, June 24, 2022

Action Item: Tell AA Management to Protect Our Flight Attendants Who Test Positive for COVID-19!

American Airlines talks an awful lot about “protecting their team members” and “caring for people on life’s journey.” Unfortunately, those are just words on a piece of paper.

Our daily operation is in shambles. Trip construction is the worse we have ever experienced, and manpower planning’s answer to their staffing woes is to blame the Flight Attendants and force everyone onto reserve. Management is losing control of this airline we worked so hard to keep operating through the darkest days of the pandemic.

However, there is one area of the airline industry where American Airlines is currently #1: The lack of any protections for Flight Attendants who test positive for COVID-19. Put simply, American does not care about protections for Flight Attendants who test positive.

Absent any COVID leave when testing positive, Flight Attendants are forced to come to work to avoid discipline in the Flight Attendant Attendance and Performance Program, which puts other Crewmembers and passengers at a higher risk for infection.

Just to illustrate how poorly American Airlines is protecting its crews amidst a global pandemic, here is a comparison chart of other airlines and how they choose to protect their employees:

click chart to enlarge

Since Pandemic Leave ended in early April, APFA has taken every opportunity to bring this industry discrepancy to the attention of AA management, and they simply do not care. We will continue discussions every chance we have and do everything in our power to protect Flight Attendants who test positive and accrue attendance points leading to discipline, up to and including termination.

Click here to send the following letter to Cole Brown, SVP, Chief People Officer: Protect Your Flight Attendants Who Test Positive for COVID-19!

Dear Cole,

The safety of our crews and passengers must be a top priority for American management. American is the only major air carrier that has no pandemic leave pay or attendance protections.

Our crews and our passengers deserve safe and reliable air travel. Flight Attendants should not feel pressured to come to work after testing positive for COVID-19. American Flight Attendants did their part to keep this airline running during the darkest days of the pandemic and should not fear for their jobs if they become infected with COVID-19.

We appreciate your attention to this matter. Please work to protect Flight Attendants so they feel American will protect them if they become ill and bring American in line with its competitors.

In Solidarity,

APFA National Officers
APFA Board of Directors
APFA National Health Chair