AA Institutes External Hiring Freeze

[WingNaPrayer]

American has frozen external hiring for management and support staff positions as the company takes further steps to contain costs given soaring fuel prices. The rise in the price of oil – and thus refined jet fuel – and the weakening economy threaten the gradual recovery of American Airlines and other U.S. carriers. In 2008, even with fuel hedging, AMR forecasts annual fuel expense to increase 38 percent to $9.3 billion (averaging almost $3 per gallon). This makes efforts to contain costs, accelerate Fuel Smart initiatives and increase revenue all the more critical.

 

[eolesen]

My guess is pulldowns at airports and maybe closures at smaller airports can't be too far behind... The external freeze leaves positions open for management at those affected locations to move into...

 

[Connected1]

Yes, these things are sometimes harbingers of capacity actions and, at other times like 2003, efforts to improve employee productivity.

 

[TIME FOR CHANGE]

efforts to improve employee productivity.

 

[WingNaPrayer]

My guess is pulldowns at airports and maybe closures at smaller airports can't be too far behind... The external freeze leaves positions open for management at those affected locations to move into...

Do you believe this means that if a vacancy occurs in the near future in either middle to lower management, or support/administrative staff, that they will let it go unfilled and just leave the position vacant? What if it is a vital position?

 

[TWU informer]

Hiring Freeze?

AA is still over staffed in management. We need reductions in management ranks, not just a hiring freeze.

 

[The Goose]

Hiring Freeze?

AA is still over staffed in management. We need reductions in management ranks, not just a hiring freeze.

What do you suppose? I figure about an 80% cut would about do it.

It'd play hell with egos and empires, but ...

 

[eolesen]

Do you believe this means that if a vacancy occurs in the near future in either middle to lower management, or support/administrative staff, that they will let it go unfilled and just leave the position vacant? What if it is a vital position?

Having been in the position... yes. That's exactly what will happen. To bypass the freeze needs executive committee approval, which means Arpey and the other SVP's have to review it, and that's the type of attention most VP's and MD's don't want right now.

Since the freeze is only for external hires, it won't stop jobs from being posted on Jetnet for internal hires. The groups who will be hit hardest are IT and some of the finance groups. The upside is that if you're not in one of those departments but you've got the credentials, you probably have a much better shot at getting a lateral right now because of the reduced competition....

 

[Skymess]

Hiring Freeze?

AA is still over staffed in management. We need reductions in management ranks, not just a hiring freeze.

Ding Ding Ding..........we have a winner! Bingo.

It's a smokescreen for the next chapter of "we don't have enough money for labor so you don't get a raise".

Yes, AA doesn't make enough money to give us a raise but they had plenty of money for the last few years to give themselves bonus after bonus even with the same high fuel costs and ever looming recession.

Good thing the FA's voted Laura in! Decline/Resign.........I'll bet they're scared.

 

[FA Mikey]

I am sure they will be. If it had been ward, they could have just phoned in the cuts they needed. Now they actually have to negotiate with us.

 

[Skymess]

I am sure they will be. If it had been ward, they could have just phoned in the cuts they needed. Now they actually have to negotiate with us.

uh huh. Let's hope it's not just a dream of yours that she knows how to negotiate. I'll believe in her when I see a good TA and a timely one.

 

[Barfbag]

Hiring Freeze?

AA is still over staffed in management. We need reductions in management ranks, not just a hiring freeze.

For ground workers at JFK, we see many management jobs that can be easily handed over to less paid clerical workers. Current CSMs have no input into operational issues anyway. Example a CSM will drive right by a passenger bag left on the ramp, and not even inquire as to why it's there, or who left it. Flights still arrive at the gate area missing off-load and parking crews. Ground equipment damaged without any follow-up. Example, most recently they've (management) have introduced new electric tractors into the ramp operations. Instead of assigning these tractors to only being used in "closed work areas " like the bagrooms, where fumes from gas tractors build. The tractors are all over the field, no one is responsible to recharge them overnight, so the FSCs uses the tractors until they run out of charge, where the tractor is abandoned. If you tell a Crew Chief that they have this new responsibility, the union jumps in and wants to create a new position. Yet there are too many areas where there is either too much coverage or not enough. In the new vastness created by T8, it's easy to hide from your responsibility except when it comes to the grunt work, ( loading, cleaning) that's where the job just has to be done now, or there's a delay. Otherwise things just get shelved, for another day, and another day passes. JFK definitely needs a "zone-concept " for equipment, but there's strong resistance from the union.