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.
I tried to get from Scranton/Wilkes Barre to Tulsa to visit my 94 year old aunt. My first trip was canceled at Charlotte and I had to spend two nights at a hotel in Charlotte, pay for meals and transportation, etc. American couldn’t get me confirmed after 3 days, so I returned to Scranton/Wilkes Barre and home. A week later American sent me a credit for another flight, so I rebooked. Guess what? I got stuck in Charlotte again for two nights! This time I was able to get a flight to Tulsa from Charlotte on the 3rd day. Never again on American for me!
Dennis Tajer is head of AA pilots union. Need I say more?
My comment is that on june 14 l took a trip to nyc l was so excited because l had never being there before the visit was amazing but when l was to return home to las vegas on saturday june 18 l was sent a message on my phone on friday that my flight was canceled and l would be update never received an update from AA and was sitting at the hotel trying to find another flight then a message pop up on my phone that my connection flight to Chicago was on. I got a uber and got to the airport to see if l could get another flight and l was first put on stand by and that flight filled up and I ask the flight agent why were they over booking and he told me that there expect people not to show up is that crazy or what if u buy your ticket u will so up and l explain to a flight agent name shatell that was very rude that l need to get home because l was out of medicine so the guy other agent next to here found me a ticket final and instead of making it home at 5:00 Pm did not get home til 11:30 pm because plane was routed to charlotte NC so l have another flight book with AA in Sept to go to Arkansas would nice if AA would give me a voucher for the upcoming trip and credit my card just a thought
We’re lowering the standards in every area of our lives: education, fire, police, politics, professionalism, morality, how people talk, how they dress (or don’t dress) in doors and in professional settings. We want to open the door to more people but rather than taking the time to train them and help them grow and mature, we are cutting corners and ignoring our responsibility to ourselves, our families and our community but lowering the standards and saying come as you are and stay that way. We should open the doors and prepare to train people who may need more training, prepare for the lag in time b/c they may need more time. I have a young girl who works a dotted line to me in a fellowship. She is uneducated and has no experience in the professional world. But rather than mentoring her (which is a requirement of the fellowship), we allow her to be disrespectful, not learning to discern when to speak and when not to speak, how to properly communicate with leadership b/c to accept her means to accept her as she is and letting her “be her”. I’m so grateful for the grace that was given to me when i was young and full of energy and opinions but I’m also for the people in my life who sat down with me in private and taught me, lessons needed for a professional environment. If we lower the standards for customer service, for managing self, for speaking in public, for training and safety, and character, the business will eventually suffer b/c you need these things to lead a successful business but more importantly, we will suffer when we want to take advantage of those services. We will implode from the inside.
Only a few people on here have commented on the real issue of pilot shortages – covidvaccines. The whole industry shut down because of mandatory closures and the airlines furloughed pilots so the airline business would not go bankrupt. Then airlines (not just American) started mandatory vaccines and more pilots either took retirement or furlough offer if they didn’t want to be vaccinated. So now AA is short staffed for the flights people are demanding. You should see the incentives they are offering for new pilots and even the referral incentives – if you find them a pilot. No one wants to fly for an airline that mandates the vaccine. Being part of the union, no one can say that. But they are making their point with calling out sick or fatigued because they can’t be fired for that. Get rid of the vaccine mandate and you will see a flood of pilots willing to fly. All airlines have their bad service and disrupted travel. Use this forum to complain about it, ok, fine. But don’t expect to hear anything useful about the real issue. The solution is not to boycott one airlines or another. The solution is to revoke the vaccine mandate and allow pilots to fly no matter their choice.
Fact: The FAA/Federal Government set pilot rules for hours per day, month, quarter etc.
Fact: Posturing by Union President
14 CFR § 91.1059 – Flight time limitations and rest requirements
a) No program manager may assign any flight crewmember, and no flight crewmember may accept an assignment, for flight time as a member of a one- or two-pilot crew if that crewmember’s total flight time in all commercial flying will exceed –
(1) 500 hours in any calendar quarter;
(2) 800 hours in any two consecutive calendar quarters;
(3) 1,400 hours in any calendar year.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, during any 24 consecutive hours the total flight time of the assigned flight, when added to any commercial flying by that flight crewmember, may not exceed –
(1) 8 hours for a flight crew consisting of one pilot; or
(2) 10 hours for a flight crew consisting of two pilots qualified under this subpart for the operation being conducted.
In my experience, AA is consistently…..terrible and I avoid flying AA even when the route and cost is desirable. From the delays, cancellations, and overall “clock punching” demeanor of the employees, there are better travel options available than to revisit an experience that hasn’t changed in 10+ years.
I’m a CK member and am terrified to fly AA. Last 2 flights out of a regional airport were some of the scariest I have flown (and I clearly fly a lot). Actually had the thought prior article that the pilots did not seemed well trained (went through jet wash on one flight and aborted a landing on the next one). Then JUST read an article that same connection just had an aborted take off due to smoke in the cabin.
I don’t have a lot of options but I also want to be safe. There has already been smoke, when will the fire come?
Our flight was canceled the morning we were to leave Costa Rica to Miami no crew. Couldn’t get out until the next day then in Miami they also canceled our last leg home it was a toss up between ours and another flight crazy. We are frequent flyers also.
Booking not a problem. Make flight reservations based on schedules. Days later – OOPS your flight has been changed – Not just a few minutes sometimes several hours – Mid day flights now early morning or late evening. Not convenient for the traveler. Not really a time change the flight itself cancelled and you are rebooked with very little choice.
I worked for American Airlines for three months, the things I saw and learned have scared me out of the sky, no flying for me, it’s not safe. I also learned the company is full of incompetent people, especially management and training.
Flight 1336 from Dallas to Orlando on the evening of June 22, 2022 was a terrifying. The flight was delayed 3+ hours due to “maintenance”. The fuel was too hot and we waited for it to cool. We boarded, took off, but maintained low altitude. Flight attendants ran up and down the aisle in a panic. About 15 minutes of flying the pilot announces that the plane will be turning around and flying back to Dallas. He asked us to follow all directions given by the flight attendants as he would not be making any further announcements. Upon returning to DFW, we were met by many emergency vehicles and fire trucks. Quite alarming! We were then told there was a fuel leak and deplaned. The flight was canceled and hotel vouchers were offered…it was near midnight. We flew out the next morning at 11. Fortunately everyone was safe, but why would AA knowingly put people at risk to begin with? Not to mention the inconvenience for travelers…hotel reservations, Disney park tix, car rentals, etc. that were lost. AA made a poor decision putting that plane in the air and risking lives.