AA Still Short Flight Attendants....
- Thread starter Flyboy4u
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I guess this about sums it up.....From the APFA webiste....
" I want to talk briefly about the ongoing manning situation in the Domestic Operation. I know from the daily briefings I receive from the APFA Scheduling Department as well as the e-mails and voice mail messages I've received from the membership that the current flight attendant shortage on Domestic has reached a critical level and is quite frankly, out of control. The Company has, for two months now, seriously underestimated its need for flight attendants. The Reserves are literally sick and tired and, as a result, regularly scheduled flight attendants are now routinely being rescheduled/reassigned. We make no apologies for the Company. With approximately 1,500 flight attendants out on Overage Leaves and with over 6,100 flight attendants on the street, there is just no acceptable excuse for not having enough Reserves. "
It doesnt sound prettty out there guys. Hope this company can get it together before it gets worse!
" I want to talk briefly about the ongoing manning situation in the Domestic Operation. I know from the daily briefings I receive from the APFA Scheduling Department as well as the e-mails and voice mail messages I've received from the membership that the current flight attendant shortage on Domestic has reached a critical level and is quite frankly, out of control. The Company has, for two months now, seriously underestimated its need for flight attendants. The Reserves are literally sick and tired and, as a result, regularly scheduled flight attendants are now routinely being rescheduled/reassigned. We make no apologies for the Company. With approximately 1,500 flight attendants out on Overage Leaves and with over 6,100 flight attendants on the street, there is just no acceptable excuse for not having enough Reserves. "
It doesnt sound prettty out there guys. Hope this company can get it together before it gets worse!
operaations
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- Jul 31, 2003
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The Sick list is usually at 800 or so for this time of the year and that is with the normal number of flight attendants. The sick list usually jumped to 1600-1800 during the thanksgiving and christmas holidays. Right now the sick list stands at 1500 with a lesser number of flight attendants, wich is forcing crew schedule and crew tracking to re assign just to keep flights from being cancelled. Why dont the flight attendants hold the sick abusers accountable for their actions. I completley agree that getting reassigned after reassigned is enough to wipe someone out mentally and physically...and I wish it did not have to happen. But is scheduling had the sick list back the normal this would not be happening.
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Why should they be held accountable for being sick? Try putting in 15 hour workdays and continually getting reassigned prolonging a 3day trip to a 4day or even 5day. Talk about Exhaustion. That is reason enough to be on the sick list, not to mention, the safety factor ( Which it seems AA doesn't care about ). Also, those scheduled to retire maybe using accrued sick time before they exit out the door. It seems those at centerport again miscalculated what they were doing when they furloughed so many of us without blinking an eye. Now those left on the line are having to pay the price for their mistakes including tracking and scheduling. I talked with a friend of mine who is a tracker and her response was that it's absoultely ridiculous what is going on. and she hopes it changes before the holiday traffic picks up. I too hope a resolution can be reached but it looks like it will get worse as the sick list continues to grow. :angry:
operaations
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not true the ones that are truly sick deserve to stay home and get well. But there are the ones going sick to make some type of statement to management. All they are doing is forcing crew sched to re assign....And you are not even employed any more so what would you know
Skyyggoddess
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- Jun 28, 2003
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Operations,operaations said:
How do you know these F/A's are not sick or too exhausted to safely work a trip? Your post shows me that you are out of touch with how bad things really are on the line. I don't know anyone staying home who doesn't truly need to be staying home.
Terry
operaations
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when people call and say i need to go sick...and you hear the page of the airport that they are commuting in from in the back round and check the non rev list and see that they got bumped is proof alone
when people call in and you hear them partying in the backround ..that is also proof alone...I have more shall i go on...the problem is some of you wont face the truth....not only are the work conditions bad your own fellow flight attendants are screwing you and you are too stupid to even notice
when people call in and you hear them partying in the backround ..that is also proof alone...I have more shall i go on...the problem is some of you wont face the truth....not only are the work conditions bad your own fellow flight attendants are screwing you and you are too stupid to even notice
operaations
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or how about the person who calls and says if I cant get a later sign in I will have to call sick...hummm ....or how about the ones that say I like that trip i got on make up but i want this other one more...if i cant have it i will go sick....
Skyyggoddess
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Operations, I am sure that out of 26,000 flight attendants you do hear people lie to you. That is not new.operaations said:
The sick list is up because conditions are deplorable and people are tired. The honest ones haven't all of a suddent decided to become liars. The sick list is directly related to extreme conditions.
Btw, I'm smart enough not to call you stupid.
Terry
operaations
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I apologize for saying the word stupid. It was not meant directly towards you. I should have said blind. But how do you explain the sick list being bigger than it ever has been including christmas. Do agree or not agree that is the sick list was not abused and there were more flight attendants out there crew schedule would not have to re assign. I do not think we layed off to many flight attendants. I think that the new minimum rest rules are horrible and some un ethical people choose to fight their battles in a way that undermines all of our work. There are ways to do things and get things done and screwing eachother is not one of them. We all need to sit down get this thing in check and get back to what we are here for making this airline back to profitability and making our careers solid once again. We need to gain the respect of the flying public who are laughing at us right now.
Can't you see the writing on the wall? Perhaps management should try to work the same amount of hours, on an airplane, with the SAME layover times, and stay at the SAME hotels as the crew............then they'd see how and why people ARE getting sick. They aren't "faking"....they are sick!!!!!!!!!!!
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Who the Hell are you to criticize what I know and don't know because I am unmeployed right now. Typical response from someone who doesnt care about anyone except for themselves. I guarntee I have more years with AA than you do! I just happened to be junior when AA decided to furlough. Also, I have A Lot of friends still at the company in the very position you are in. Get your facts straight. The company is wayyy undermanned right now. These sick calls are nothing new for this company so stop blaming the flight attendants for something they have no control over. It was AA who setup this inadequate and outdated sick policy. Instead work and try to fix the problem. If you can't find manning for these flights then put more flight attendants on the line. It's really sad when I walk through DFW and actually hear the gate agents make apologys to the passengers why their flight is delayed because they can't find flight attendants to work the flight. THis has happened more than once. :angry:operaations said:
operaations
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You are right it is an outdated sick policy. He who abuses it should be fired not retained like we do now. :angry:
It seems really easy for some people to draw a line and be able to say who and what, is abuse of sick time. For the flight attendants and pilots it a very different world than for those on the ground. We have altitude cabin pressure to deal with. I may look fine even be able to be out of bed, and working in the yard. Yet unable to fly due to blocked or the potential to be blocked ears. I am not simply driving in for 4 or 8 hours at the airport. Its several hours in the air and then in a different city or cities, over the course of several days. Many of us have foreign countries to contend with, and wont risk the treatment in a third world country hospital simply to make crew scheduling's job easier. So depending on how I feel, and the progression I feel my illness is taking. Its a judgment call on my part. Most times I am right. I make the right choice to go to work or stay home. Other times wrong, but its a personal judgment call I have to make with the information and symptoms I have prior to sign in. Its all I have to go by.
Garfield1966
Veteran
Sorry, but you can try and rationalize the size of the sick list all you want but as they say in the south, “that dog won’t huntâ€.
Whether or not AA is short flight attendants cannot be proved by the size of the sick list. The flight attendant group as a whole has already proven that when they choose not to work (holidays, weekends, birthdays, upcoming vacation, returning from vacation .. etc) they call in sick. You can argue that point all you like and I can show you all sick records and company data to prove you wrong. Ever holiday the sick list doubles. Those people are abusing the sick list. It is a statistical fact. Given this record of abuse and given the fact the fact that the day the new TA went into effect the sick list went from approximately 800 to over 1200 and has since hit 1500 on numerous occasions to me just says that the FA’s are upset and this is what they are going to do about. If you guys would have played it straight from the get go and worked on X-mass and New years and Easter … etc and not sent the sick list through the roof every freaking year, your argument would probably carry a lot more water. But as it stands, it’s a lot like the boy who cried wolf.
How AA is supposed to determine if we are short FA’s or not cannot be done till the sick list returns to normal? With the current number of FA’s it should probably be in the 500 range. You say the sick list is high because of all the reassignments, I say because the sick list is high, I reassign. Every time one of you calls in sick because you don’t feel like working (for what ever reason other than being sick) rest assured you are screwing one of your co-workers. When you call in sick I start looking for a move. If I happen to find a line holder who is low on time and is dead heading somewhere, or better yet on a VMC seq, your mine. If I have to fly you from a turn to a 4 or 5 day I will. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t like to reassign (well a few do but they were dropped as a baby and have never been right). I personally hate it with a passion. It’s more work for me, and I hate screwing up someones plans. My job is to find coverage. I find it by what ever means are at my disposal. So just keep that in mind the next time you call in sick or are reassigned. AA is not going to hire back FA’s just to cover a BS sick list. The only base that had cancellations over the past weekend was STL Everyone else went with minimum crew. No sweat of my brow. Are we short, maybe a few but who knows. The sick list and the reassignments are hooked at the hip, anyone who think other wise needs to come down to scheduling to get a reality check.
Seems to me that folks don’t understand that the world has changed. 9/11 only helped speed the change up. The economy has been waiting to tank for a while. Those companies that don’t change, are going to go away. Is AA doing it right? Who knows, time will tell I guess. Is the minimum rest crappy? Yea, but talk to the FAA about that. They say it’s ok so we did it.
Biggest problem I see is that work groups and management never seem to plan for the future. When times are good employees never want to give anything up because they think it will last for ever. I want more money, easier work rules, more time off, cheap benefits… etc. Management is going to waste money, spend on expansion, upgrades…. Etc. Everyone seems to be under this delusion that the good times will last for ever. It never does.
Whether or not AA is short flight attendants cannot be proved by the size of the sick list. The flight attendant group as a whole has already proven that when they choose not to work (holidays, weekends, birthdays, upcoming vacation, returning from vacation .. etc) they call in sick. You can argue that point all you like and I can show you all sick records and company data to prove you wrong. Ever holiday the sick list doubles. Those people are abusing the sick list. It is a statistical fact. Given this record of abuse and given the fact the fact that the day the new TA went into effect the sick list went from approximately 800 to over 1200 and has since hit 1500 on numerous occasions to me just says that the FA’s are upset and this is what they are going to do about. If you guys would have played it straight from the get go and worked on X-mass and New years and Easter … etc and not sent the sick list through the roof every freaking year, your argument would probably carry a lot more water. But as it stands, it’s a lot like the boy who cried wolf.
How AA is supposed to determine if we are short FA’s or not cannot be done till the sick list returns to normal? With the current number of FA’s it should probably be in the 500 range. You say the sick list is high because of all the reassignments, I say because the sick list is high, I reassign. Every time one of you calls in sick because you don’t feel like working (for what ever reason other than being sick) rest assured you are screwing one of your co-workers. When you call in sick I start looking for a move. If I happen to find a line holder who is low on time and is dead heading somewhere, or better yet on a VMC seq, your mine. If I have to fly you from a turn to a 4 or 5 day I will. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t like to reassign (well a few do but they were dropped as a baby and have never been right). I personally hate it with a passion. It’s more work for me, and I hate screwing up someones plans. My job is to find coverage. I find it by what ever means are at my disposal. So just keep that in mind the next time you call in sick or are reassigned. AA is not going to hire back FA’s just to cover a BS sick list. The only base that had cancellations over the past weekend was STL Everyone else went with minimum crew. No sweat of my brow. Are we short, maybe a few but who knows. The sick list and the reassignments are hooked at the hip, anyone who think other wise needs to come down to scheduling to get a reality check.
Seems to me that folks don’t understand that the world has changed. 9/11 only helped speed the change up. The economy has been waiting to tank for a while. Those companies that don’t change, are going to go away. Is AA doing it right? Who knows, time will tell I guess. Is the minimum rest crappy? Yea, but talk to the FAA about that. They say it’s ok so we did it.
Biggest problem I see is that work groups and management never seem to plan for the future. When times are good employees never want to give anything up because they think it will last for ever. I want more money, easier work rules, more time off, cheap benefits… etc. Management is going to waste money, spend on expansion, upgrades…. Etc. Everyone seems to be under this delusion that the good times will last for ever. It never does.
