Relations between American Airlines management and flight attendants aren’t good at all at the moment. Flight attendants are seeking a new contract, but are making little progress, and have been refused the right to go on strike.
Continue reading: Bizarre: American Executive Accused Of Lying About Inflight Service
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Under Brady’s leadership, punishment has become the standard practice. There is no longer any relationship between crew members and their individual manager. There is no grace. There is no opportunity for crew to explain themselves. His administration has taken all of the humanity out of our profession. Based on every interaction I’ve had, I wholeheartedly believe the crew here. I’ll dance on his proverbial grave the day he gets fired.
The other narrative is that you are all lazy, entitled, and looking to do as little as possible for absurdly high salaries. And he is just trying to restore sanity into the service aspect that was long ago thrown out by clog wearing Union militants who barricade galleys with seatbelts.
As my late father used to say, “Perspective depends on whether you’re buying or selling.”
Honestly after you’ve been flying business class in Europe EVERY service in the US is just shit. Don’t worry
No matter how bad the turbulence I am sure the crew always made time to:
1) Mention the great Barclays AA offer pre-departure
2) Pitch the poor offer and lie what you can get for a long time
3) At landing mention again to take lots of the offer home to friends and family
Having just flown 4 legs in AA 1st I can say AA is so bad from FAs to food to seats.
The flight attendants are playing right into American(UsAir) hand. After the election the NMB will release the FA’s to strike shutting down the airline. American(UsAir) will take advantage of the strike by filing for bankruptcy thus lowering their debt. As well as cleaning up their balance sheet, they will replace as many of the FA’s as possible. Right out of the UsAir playbook.
Gucci shAAmming?
Can't imagine what other Flagship customer are being called behind the galley.
Heck, if the SVP of Inflight and Premium (Tim Dunn disagrees) Guest Services is using Gucci products, as a passenger I would believe he resonates to the customer better. I'd take the Gucci guy over a crappy Someone Somewhere any day.
Why would anyone trust a person with a name like Brady Byrnes who probably couldn't manage a McDonalds properly? If he has a problem he should address it, but really as a passenger it would be preferable to see him replaced so someone else takes the job. The experience can't get much worse, and he's not helping. He should bring his own drinks and drink bottles for his kids or open the cans himself like everyone else. What a dweeb.
The newer crop of FA's, for the most part, are terrible at service. Most have their heads buried in their smart phones during the flight. The 50+ YO FA's are GREAT! What flying used to be like.
The FAs should start doing their jobs and stop fantasizing about pipe dreams of big raises and profit sharing. Profits are for shareholders who have invested and lent money to American. FAs do not own a stake in the company.
The facts of this specific flight don't even matter and is possible the whole complaint was fabricated to drive an larger wedge between the FAs and the company.
The real issue is that labor relations at AA are so broken that no contract is going to be able to return AA to an acceptable level of in-flight service.
AA mgmt very well might be moving toward breaking the union and starting all over.
As someone who flies with a lot of different airlines all around the world, I can absolutely assure you that - on average - AA flight attendants are among the laziest and least engaging bunch on the planet. The best thing AA could do would be to send their crew to experience training at Cathay, Qatar, Emirates or even one of the European majors (or even probably Delta….), and perhaps they might then gain a bit of a sense of perspective. As things stand, the degree of entitlement they are displaying is extraordinary, and it’s damaging the airline because the people who are suffering are passengers. You know, the people who actually pay money to be provided with a service…
Last week, I got off a Singapore Airlines flight at JFK and then took AA to DFW. Being greeted by a scruffy looking FA wearing a “WAR” lanyard was - to put it mildly - a bit of a shock to the system after a Singapore Airlines flight!
“Absurdly high salaries”… new hire flight attendants qualify for food stamps in many states, as their starting salary is about 26,000 a year working full time and don’t recieve any “substantial” raises until 5 years into service. Service levels and staffing have been gutted by the company to the bare-minimum and cheapest crAAp quality products and catering providers possible in most cases. The company doesn’t care about any kind of premium offerings and wants to compete with Spirit and Frontier, so why not expect that level of service??
The crew's response reads exactly like Ben's experience with the bad Oman Air flight. Delusional FA caught red-handed tries to blame everything else and make you feel guilty for even suggesting they did something wrong.
On Wednesday's flight from SYD-LAX, the flight attendants who all were very senior did the bare minimum. Hours would go by without seeing one, and once when I searched for one, I found them on their phones..
The really striking thing, IMHO, is that there's a reason why *even if this happened exactly as the crew claims* no one believes them at all. That should be cause for reflection.
Asian airlines are capable of using the "do your job or your fired" line and it works because FAs are well paid.
Unionized US airlines can't use that line because so few FAs are fired.
Given that US airlines are increasingly using profit sharing as an incentive for employees to embrace what the company wants but AA - and now WN - sits well below DL and even UA in profits - the problem is that there are no incentives which AA can use to get AA FAs to do their job.
At some point, the company has to just toss the whole status quo out the window and start all over.
Why would this executive lie about this? He would have everything to lose if caught. Maybe there's a different story here. And yes there are a small number of flight attendants that will do anything to get out of work. A few months back on a PHX/MIA flight while seated in coach the FAs made an announcement they could only do a water service because of turbulence awhile the seatbelt sign WAS OFF. When someone complained the FAS claims that even doing a water service was "very dangerous for us."
Can you imagine being a junior employee at a company, being called out by an exec while on the job, and instead of being apologetic and embarrassed, having the gall to accuse the exec of lying? Wtf is this circus of a company? The inmates are truly running the asylum. Lock out this union and get your company back.
You're unskilled labor, not a profession. Be grateful for getting above minimum wage and free flights, and get over yourself.
Might the FA be lying? Yes. Might AA management be a collective gaggle of jerks with zero strategy other than to run every single flight through DFW? Also, yes. Two things can be true at the same time. I’m no fan of AA FAs. But it’s also very likely that this guy and everyone else in AA management is a clown.
Based on my experience last week, the exec is probably spot on. In a 5 hour 16 minute smooth as silk flight, the F/A's were only able to squeeze in one beverage service before retreating to the galley for the rest of the flight. AA wants to be Spirit, they should charge like Spirit.
Constantly....and I would absolutely trust Brynes over the flight attendant. Inflight "service " on AA is nonexistent....and when it is existent, it's abysmal.
This falls into the “We really don’t know what happened, but AA FAs are a hot button topic, so let’s drive some ENGAGEMENT.” OMAAT category.
@Pacific Traveler
Im flying SYD-LAX next week as well. Hit the call button if you need something in J on a long haul flight. And I report FAs all the time on international flights . Instead of eating noodles at 4AM for Instagram in an exotic place they should be at their hotel resting during stopovers so they can be ready to work the turnaround flight.
I assume you go out of your way to report employees who aren’t white men based on the deranged bigotry evident in many of your posts here. You should just stay home seeing as you’re so triggered by the mere existence of people different from yourself.
Another way to look at it: Does anybody believe FAs would cut corners knowing who’s sitting in their F cabin?
Are these ppl. for real and expecting Asian hospitalty and service from AA? LOL!
If SQ is allowed to serve domestic service within the US, you know exactly in which airline these ppl. will be flying with...in a heartbeat!
And this is why you are a troll. Have you looked at my portfolio lately? I think not.
Why would he lie? I'm an AA frequent flier and I've seen all kinds of awful behavior from the FAs. Hostile attitude, skipping service, dropping bread in the galley and tossing it back on a first class tray (gag). Anyone who flies AA with any regularity can see how shamelessly awful most of them are at their jobs.
Well if these allegations are false then by all means wouldn’t he make an effort to clear his name or rectify this situation? His silence as a leader speaks volumes.
So why did management employee relations reach such a state. I simply do not understand how some companies operate.
I flew AA from Belize City to Miami in "Business Class" late December 2023. Flight left around 2PM. I was expecting at least a sandwich or salad. All I received was a glass of water and a choice from that gawdawful snack basket.
In that same month, I also flew from London/Basel on BA and Frankfurt/ Budapest on Lufthansa. Both BA and LH provided meals. There was no turbulence on the AA flight and there was a little on the BA flight. All three flights are roughly clocked at the same 2hrs.
While I was not on that flight, I have been hearing of FAs not providing any service even when there is no turbulence. It has been said that FAs have been using this no service as a pseudo walkout.
I was surprised to see very prompt FA's serving Meals on Flight from DFW to SFO. Is that an anomaly?
Just today, flight flight from IND to Philly, approx 5:40am departure. Same, captain said zero service due to turbulence. Minor turbulence through a little of the flight until the end when it was moderate.
Flight attendant drew the curtain in back and we didn't see her again until the plane landed.
Fly american alot out of PHX. I have noticed if I engage with the flight attendants, simple words like please and thank you, or agree that some passengers are jerks, I get pretty good service out of them. Granted the good service I get isn't on a level with delta's average service. I find that being polite works
I disagree with you about business class in Europe. Every flight I’ve taken in Business was just a coach seat with the middle seat blocked, so you have no one sitting next to you. And when I’m flying in Europe, I do not eat or drink other than maybe a coffee, because I’m usually on my way to my next destination where I’ve already booked my dinner restaurant.
You're a Senior VP and you don't address the problem when it happens or after your family and the masses depart the plane ?
4am emails are not how you fix problems that you witness.
We're flying AA from LAX to HNL in August, mostly to try to burn up some points so I can shift loyalty to ab better airline, and the comments here definitely lower my expectations. Have to remember to bring food and water onboard with us! Although I'll take getting there without a wheel falling off.
I think it's pretty easy to prove. For one, if there was no service passengers would fall over themselves to complain to the airline. Second, there would be no used cups, wrappers etc. Parts of the plane are monitored so you can see some of the activities. The captain would know unless you believe the pilots are involved in a elaborate conspiracy to get rid of the guy. People off their meds or have early dementia does and says crazy nonsense.
And you think they get a bonus for hocking the product? You think they came up with this task for themselves? Sure.
Yeah I don't think so. Short haul business on ba, air France, klm, sas are nearly as bad as aa, ual and delta. Though I will say you get more food on the European airlines and Europe has better flyer rights. But don't make it sound like it's a dream experience. It is not.
I am not making a value judgment here, I am just observing: everyone basically agrees AA flight attendants deserve *everything* that's coming to you.
You're so lazy, so entitled. You should all be fired. There's 1000 people (literally) ready to replace every last one of you.
I worked for a major airline years ago and my last role was in HR supporting Inflight Services. The VP of Inflight may not negotiate the contract, but he was involved in every detail of the negotiations as it was his budget he had to negotiate within those parameters. So he wasn't at the table, but he called the shots when the negotiators briefed him daily. Also, why would the VP of Inflight report the crew when the crew ultimately reports to him? He couldn't wait to get back to work and then talk with his leadership team? Very weird.
Lol these are people who would allege he was a safety risk if he tried to address the issue in-flight. How exactly do you propose he do it?
I'm so glad this has come up. I fly lga-ord round trip every week. I have found that in recent times well over half my flights require the FA's to "take their seats" for half the flight or more due to "turbulance" that I never seem to feel. This is constant, and its a real problem.
Are we not supposed to believe the story that AA has bad FAs?
American has some of the worst FAs in the western (and I guess Asian) world.
Just because your boss smiles and is nice to you doesn't mean you did a great job.
No wonder AA underperforms UA and DL. No one wants crappy service.
Perfect way to describe AAs soft product.
The FAs destroyed the old (pre-merger) legacy American and now they want to do it again.
Truly no shame
I agree that Gucci products aren't a problem per se, but I would be very hesitant to put my trust into someone who thinks the shoes on the pic are a good idea to wear, irrespective of brand that made them. Lack of taste can be surprisingly useful to read a person.
Short-haul business:
Hard Product: vastly better in US
Soft Product: usually much better in Europe.
Ironically Brady was previously a flight attendant for AA, so not some ivory tower exec who has no idea what happens on the front line.
I feel like there's more to the story here, but Brady's relations with flight attendants and the Inflight team in general is notoriously bad so the incident as described doesn't tax the imaginaton. His leadership style is described as elitist at best, imperious at worst, and known for smiles and platitudes to your face and then a knife in your back as soon as you turn around.
This should be easily verifiable. They always send out those stupid surveys after flights, which people mostly don't fill out. But if there was no service on the flight, you can bet the response rate would be higher.
They should also be keeping track of inventory on the plane and would hopefully notice if 100 cans of soda, 20 beers, and 20 snack boxes needed replenishing.
As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. It was probably a woefully inadequate service, which the SVP might exaggerate as "no service at all" but give the FAs enough grounds to call him a liar.
It seems that there’s a significant oversight among some here regarding Byrnes background. Not everyone knows that he was once a flight attendant—and notably, not an exemplary one. His tenure was marked by frequent issues, necessitating regular union intervention at every base he operated from. Surprisingly, despite his firsthand experience with the challenges of the job, he now harbors a vendetta against flight attendants.
It’s crucial to acknowledge the rigors of being a flight attendant. Our job entails long hours, often working through the night or the entirety of the day, facing 16-hour duty days but only being compensated for 6 hours of flight time. We’re also frequently understaffed, adding to the challenge. Moreover, post-service protocol dictates that we should not disturb passengers only to do walk around ; if they need anything, they can approach us at the back of the plane. It’s possible they weren’t using their phones but tablets, which, incidentally, can function similarly to phones.
Before making hasty judgments or conclusions, it’s important to fully understand the nuances and realities of a flight attendant’s job. Knowing the full story sheds light on the complexity and demands of our role, highlighting the need for empathy and understanding rather than baseless criticisms or personal vendettas.