I know many travelers have a love-hate relationship with the airlines and it couldn’t be any more true for American Airlines (AA) customers. I’ve been one of their top tier elites for years since I fly them so much and love all the perks, including free upgrades (when space is available), a dedicated phone line so I can usually get right through to an agent, free checked bags, twice the amount of points and more.
However, it really ticks me off when AA or any airline schedules more than what they can fly, overwork their employees, pay their executives way more than the workers who really get the planes off the ground and cut corners regarding safety.
I never thought I would write a post like this but after watching a recent CNBC interview with the head of American Airlines pilot union, the Allied Pilots Association, I’m now wondering. Dennis Tajer, who is also a 737 pilot with American Airlines, had this to say on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box.’
Dennis blames the recent delays and cancellations as “a failure to plan by management.” Dennis says management received $13 billion from the U.S. government in payroll support but they didn’t train the pilots. “And now what we’re seeing is a failure to utilize the pilots that you do have and their backlog and training is epic. And now here’s the real problem. They’re trying to fly airplanes without the pilots available. They are pilot pushing and they are narrowing the margin of safety. Our fatigue calls have gone up tenfold, and this has just got to stop. It’s a very serious issue right now and I’m out on a trip right now and I had very little time yesterday to spare. Otherwise, I would’ve gone illegal and been unable to fly the rest of the sequence.”
Dennis goes on to say, “this is a failure of management to utilize the money that was given to them by the American taxpayer to have us ready for recovery and we’re not. They just did not have a plan. And now we’re starting to see them trying to cut corners in training. For instance, Guatemala City, which is a high terrain, very challenging airport. They used to have an experienced instructor go with us on our first flight there. Now they’re telling us, hey, why don’t you just take a look at this iPad course and you will be good to go. I think Boeing learned that’s not the way to train pilots.”
You should watch the whole interview as it’s only three minutes long but Dennis ends it with this: “You know, you gotta wonder why American Airlines right now, the US government, that books travel for our military members and federal employees has said do not book American Airlines because of the cancelation rate and the inability to rebook your flight. That’s stunning. The federal government is saying don’t book on American Airlines. They sold tickets that they know they were not going to be able to fulfill this summer. And today we have 82 of the 84 flight that have canceled for American are all coded because they could not connect the pilot to the airplane. That’s just not doing business. That’s just selling something that you don’t have.”
I have multiple flights booked on American Airlines and now I’m second guessing them. This is really disturbing to have the captain of their pilot’s union raise these red flags.
On top of this, Captain Sully Sullenberger, the hero commercial pilot who safely landed a US Airways (now American Airlines) Airbus A320 on New York’s Hudson River in 2009, announced yesterday that he would step down as U.S. envoy to an international aviation group on July 1. Reuters reports: “Sullenberger was confirmed in December as U.S ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization based in Montreal. He said in a statement that “relinquishing my role” was not an easy decision but did not offer a reason for his departure after just over six months. Last month, a pilots union distributed a statement from Sullenberger raising concerns about efforts by regional airlines to reduce new pilot requirements, quoting him saying they were “trying to weaken critically important pilot experience standards that are needed to keep passengers and crews safe.”
I’m not sure if I’m reading between the lines correctly but it sounds to me like Captain Sully doesn’t want to be around when things really hit the ground fan.
What has your experience been like flying American Airlines the last couple of months? Have you had an AA flight delayed or canceled? How do you feel about flying American Airlines after hearing from one of their lead pilots sound the alarm? Please share your experiences below so others can discuss.
Three weeks ago we flew American Airlines to Bangor, Maine. We had a short connection in Charlotte but we made our flight to Bangor. Return was totally different!! Departure from Portland to Charlotte was delayed. We missed our original connection in Charlotte and AA told us we would get on a later flight. We arrived in Charlotte. AA changed our gate departure 4 times and we finally boarded the plane at 11:45 pm. Ready for departure and the pilot announced a mechanical problem and maintenance will have to repair. We sit on the plane for an hour. The pilot then announces he can no longer fly and we will have to get off the plane. It is now 1:00 am. We spent the night at the Charlotte airport. 10:00 am AA issued hotel vouchers to a hotel with vacancies and we spent the day there. AA then put us on a flight at 9;45 pm. This flight was also delayed waiting on the crew arrival. We did depart at 11:00 pm to Little Rock. I was already nervous about AA but after your article I am even more concerned. I am suppose to fly AA in September but am going to explore my options.
Why does anyone fly AA. Their record of employee relations would make anyone cringe. But Doug parker and his minions continually give themselves bonuses but the employees have gone without a contract ( or pay raises for years). Their reason for lack of compensation, they say, is because they could not negotiate because of COVID, but again, that did not stop them from giving each other raises. They tell the employees that they should be proud because they work for the largest airline, but not necessarily the best. Front end ( pilots) and back end ,( flight attendants) are just considered as equipment and expected to go for unusually long hours with little time for rest. And please, the FAA is a complete joke. Have we forgotten how they handled the Boeing Max aircraft. Flying is not what it use to be.
I was suppose to start my vacation Saturday. June 18, 2022 at 6 am flying out on AA. They sent me a text message the day before at 4:30 am canceling our flights (5 people in my party) They did try to reschedule us. I got on the phone and had to do it myself. They were able to get everyone but me on an early Saturday flight but I had to wait until Sunday. My friend in New York was having similar issues. First thing Saturday we get another email pushing my family to Monday. Which is cutting into more vacation time. I take my family to the airport talk with agent and having to ask for the manager. The Manger sees how many times our flight has been changed since we got the tickets a year ago. He transfers my family to United. Sunday morning comes and I am on my way to the airport still on AA I get a message flight canceled and rebooted for Tuesday. Now I am angry. I get on the phone and after a lot of verbal judo, they move me to United my friend in New York not so lucky. She is stuck in CLY with delays and finally gets up in the air for the final destination Grand Cayman but have to make a stop in Jamaica to refuel. (How does an aircraft take off with not enough gas?)
I am now in Texas on united with a 2 hour delay which scares me. Not only do they get us on our flight the have bottled water and cookies and crackers for free as we wait in the terminal for another plane to come. (Now that is customer service). On the way back from Cayman Island our plane takes off late which makes us miss our next flight back to Pittsburgh. (The plane left early) On AA once again I wait in a line that doesn’t move for 45 minutes for a new flight. A woman tells us to go to another area for help we get to that area and the AA emoyee said she was only going to help one person. A woman in from of me tried to explain to her that we were sent. She didn’t care she wasn’t willing to help. Another employee next to her said she would help us. As she looked at the flight she said to me “looks like you are going to be sleeping at the airport.” My response was looking like you are going to have a guest at your house. And just to let you know I snore. ( I was already tired and nor in the mood for sarcastic remarks.) She finally get 2 people in my party tickets on a 10pm flight and the rest on standby which was interesting because the other part of my family who did book with us was having the same problem and the gentleman told him he can give him the last two tickets and he would have to be on standby. So if that is the case how was I able to get two tickets about 2 hours after him. I believe it wax a setup. We eventually got home but I will never ride AA agsin
lol “pay their executives more than…”
When people write that it’s usually a good indicator to skip the rest of the article.
Such a nonsensical comment.
We flew AA
DSM-PHX 4/13 no delays or issues
PHX-DSM 4/20 no delays or issues
DSM-ORD 6/7 short delay
ORD-CLT 6/7 2 hour delay and plane change after boarding due to mechanical failure
CLT-DSM 6/14 45 minute delay due to ground crew shortage.
I was awaiting a AA connecting flight when it was announced that the second pilot was running late. We waited for approximately 30 minutes when this poor disheveled young pilot wanders up looking like he had slept in his uniform. The flight was crammed full as usual.
The pilot communicated with the passengers constantly apologizing and he got us there, fast, safe, and prioritized at the gate. We were lucky!
When is the FAA going to do their job?
These pilots and staff are human and can only handle so much.
The Airlines are selling its employees and passengers short and getting away with it while endangering lives.
The greedy corporate executives that funneled all the free bail out money into their pockets should be made to correct this problem at their cost.
I’m sure they are flying in private jets using pilots that have slept. Why should they care when no one is calling them out?
I’ll be sticking to for wheels on the ground for the time being.
I flew May 18th Phoenix to Fayettville NC thru Charlotte. Only a 10 min delay on return from Charlotte to Phoenix. Have flight res in September to Maui. We will see. So far I have no issues with American. But its alarming to me if they are lowering the standards for pilots. Safety should be their first concern and not lining their pockets with taxpayer money. If indeed thats the case. When I fly I want to know my pilot is the best qualified.
Thank you for the information on AA. It is disheartening, to say the least. My hubby and I stopped flying AA a couple of years ago due to their disrepect of their customers. We are both older citizens, and handicapped to boot, and always choose an aisle seat opposite each other due to complications of trying to get into and out of the middle and window seats. On one particular flight, we had a layover in Denver, which is a huge airport. Our gate was changed FOUR times within a short period of time, which made it extremely hard on us. When we finally arrived at our departing gate, we found that our assigned seats ( which we had paid extra for) had been changed to the very last row, middle seats. Anyone in the flying public knows that these are the absolute worst seats in any plane. We waited in a very long line to explain to the attendant the reason why we could not fly in these seats, but he simply did not care. He then looked down at his computer and ignored us. So we just stood there, holding up the line. He finally asked someone to trade with us, making it sound as if we got better seats, but all he did was change us to the aisle seat in the last row. Once we boarded, I nicely explained to a stewardess that I had a bad back and asked her for a pillow. She very nastily told me that pillows were for first class passengers only. Wow! Right then and there I decided to never fly AA again! Now you have given me another very good reason to fly other carriers. Back then I was appalled that an airline would treat their passengers so badly, but to now know that they are also risking our lives reaffirms our decision to stay away from American Airlines. Thank you Johnny. You provide an invaluable service to the flying public.
Believe it when it’s discovered by a pilot that training is going to the sideline over money. Pilots know. We don’t need a major crash again to remind us of doing the right thing. Remember the Max. They didn’t even tell pilots so they wouldn’t have to spend money on training!!!! Not enough pilots everybody. Scary. My brother was a Captain for Pan Am. Flew untill it wasn’t safe and came back to the US from Berlin (Lockerbie bomb he flew that route). He once went to superiors and complained about a pilot (Captain) that was a pain. Didn’t ground him. He flew a plane into the mountains and killed everyone. So I guess we should listen to Good pilots, if they say it’s not safe it probably isn’t. Sully quiting – yea take that as an omen.
Just completed Honolulu to Fort Lauderdale on AA on 6/24 with stops in LAX and DFW. Everything on time. Even got a 1st Class upgrade on the HUL to LAX…!!! No complaints here…
Cynthia Gibb, this is utterly false. Hawaii did not lose “98% of its tourist revenue.” Where are you getting this figure? We were on two islands in Hawaii in November and it was jampacked. Rental cars were impossible to get, and our flights were completely full. At worst they may have experienced a decline of 29 to 34% in 2020, but that’s when nobody was traveling anywhere.
I for one was very happy that everybody had to be vaccinated to be on the flight.
They cancelled my flight out of DFW with my 7 year old granddaughter on 6/17 and just rebooked us on 6/19 with an overnight in charlotte, not getting home until 6/20. Unacceptable. I had no choice but to rent a car and drive 10 hours to get us home on 6/18.