American’s Controversial Pilot Upgrade Policy: Why Pilots Clear Before Elites

In the past few years, pilots at most major US airlines have negotiated new contracts. In 2023, we saw American Airlines pilots ratify a new contract, worth nearly $10 billion over four years. As I’ve written about in the past, one interesting aspect of this contract is that pilots will under many circumstances get upgraded to first class ahead of customers on the upgrade list.

This has certainly been controversial, and in this post, I’d like to take a close look at how exactly this policy works. I’ve seen a ton of discussion about this online, and I just received a reader email about this. I figure it’s useful to clarify when this does and doesn’t apply, and how it could impact your upgrade chances.

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Pilots commuting vs. deadheading explained

You’ll often see pilots in uniform flying in the cabin of aircraft, and this is typically for one of two reasons:

• They could be commuting, which is where they live in one city, but are based in another city, and as a result, they need to commute to work as a passenger; for example, an American pilot might live in Tampa, but be based in Dallas
• They could be deadheading, which is where they are traveling as a passenger in order to position to somewhere as part of a trip, either due to a scheduling anomaly, due to bad weather, etc.; for example, an American pilot might be based in Charlotte, but needs to deadhead to Dallas, to be able to operate a flight from there

So, are more pilots typically commuting or deadheading? It really depends on the individual pilot and the base. Some pilots never commute, as they may very well live in the city in which they’re based. Meanwhile other pilots have to commute more than once per week, as they need to do so every time they work a trip.

Meanwhile some pilots might not deadhead for months at a time, and then might have weeks where they have to deadhead a couple of times. Deadheading is especially common when there are weather events, and during very peak periods.

American Airlines’ upgrade policy for pilots

American’s upgrade policy specifically applies to pilots who are deadheading. Commuting is a choice, and as a result, those pilots are flying on a space available basis. When it comes to getting upgraded, commuting pilots would be prioritized after all elite members on the upgrade list.

Meanwhile with American’s current pilot contract, pilots who are deadheading get quite some privileges:

• Pilots who deadhead are assigned the highest class of service for all transoceanic international flights, flights to Hawaii and Alaska, and flights that are south of the equator
• Pilots who deadhead on other routes are initially assigned in economy, in the following preference order — exit row aisle, then exit row window, then non-exit row aisle, then non-exit row window
• For those flights where they’re initially assigned economy, pilots will be at the top of the upgrade list for a first class upgrade at the time of check-in

American Airlines offers its elite members complimentary space available upgrades. So with this policy, within 24 hours of departure American pilots are even ahead of Concierge Key and Executive Platinum members for upgrades. Prior to the current contract, pilots would only get first class upgrades after all the elite members have cleared their upgrades (which would be almost never, at least on most domestic flights).

Just to be thorough, let me emphasize a few points:

• Revenue passengers still clear upgrades ahead of pilots when it’s 24 or more hours before departure; so you better hope your upgrade clears in advance, because as the departure time approaches, you could see your place on the upgrade list decrease
• Those already confirmed in first class won’t be kicked out to accommodate a pilot being upgraded
• Keep in mind that it’s also possible that you’ll see a pilot in uniform in first class who doesn’t actually work for American; lots of cargo and private jet pilots have elite status and/or get booked in paid first class when they’re positioning, and they are customers just like everyone else

Is American’s pilot upgrade policy reasonable?

I see a ton of discussions in online frequent flyer communities about this upgrade policy, and about the merits of it. Above I talked about the actual policy, but now let me try to share an objective take on the merits of this, from both sides.

First of all, it’s important to state that regardless of whether or not American frequent flyers like this policy, we have to accept it. This is a part of the pilot contract for the coming years that was negotiated between the union and pilots, and it’s not going anywhere.

So while you can absolutely express your frustration about this, it’s not even within American’s power to change this policy.

Why American pilots deserve first class upgrades

At the end of the day, airline pilot unions engage in pattern bargaining, whereby they try to match the contracts of other airlines. The reality is that American wasn’t the first airline to negotiate first class upgrades for pilots ahead of customers, as United has had this policy for a few years now.

You certainly can’t blame the union for negotiating similar benefits for its members. We have to be honest, the individual parties in the airline industry are all only looking out for themselves — executives want to get as big of a payday as they can, union members want to get as big of a payday as they can, etc. So you can’t blame them for negotiating as much money and as many benefits as they possibly can.

Furthermore, keep in mind that when pilots are deadheading, they’re often positioning to work a flight. There’s value to them being rested and comfortable prior to that. Furthermore, pilots are well trained professionals making a lot of money. So just as others may get elite status and some travel perks through their business travel, the same is now true for pilots.

Many customer focused companies (I’m not sure one could consider American to be one of those) would argue that if you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of your customers, and on some level, this is taking care of employees.

Why American elite members are understandably frustrated

I think it’s also important to acknowledge why many American AAdvantage members are frustrated by this policy. I’m sure some pilots will say “well if you want first class, pay for first class.” That’s fair enough, though context is important:

• The percentage of first class seats filled with those upgrading has decreased considerably over the years, and nowadays American sells 80%(ish) of first class
• Most quarters, American makes more money from its loyalty program than from actually flying planes, and really that’s largely what’s funding the big pay increases that pilots are getting
• One of the biggest reasons that people go for elite status (and spend money on American Airlines credit cards, which contributes to the carrier’s bottom line) is for the ability to get space available first class upgrades
• It’s one thing if this were the only thing that changed about American’s upgrade process recently, but American has also increasingly been aggressively selling upgrades to people on the upgrade waitlist, which leaves a bad taste in many peoples’ mouths
• While it’s great to take care of employees, the optics are never great when an employee in uniform takes something “away” from a customer

Is this policy materially impacting upgrade odds?

I’ve seen an increasing number of people in forums complaining about how they’ve lost out on upgrades as they were instead given to pilots. There’s no public data on just how frequently pilots are being upgraded.

The challenge is that often American has just two or so first class seats left within 24 hours, which they’re holding back, rather than clearing as upgrades. Since pilots often travel in pairs, this could indeed be the difference between the top two people on the upgrade list getting an upgrade or not. So it does indeed happen, and it’s not infrequent.

For what it’s worth, I’ve had two flights in recent months where at least one American pilot was in first class under this policy, and I don’t fly American that much (at least compared to weekly road warriors — I don’t fly any one airline that consistently).

So in many ways, this is just yet another nail in the coffin for elite upgrades. American is doing a better job actually selling first class, then the airline is selling upgrades as the departure date approaches to elite members on the upgrade list, and now American is also upgrading pilots ahead of customers.

“If you want first class, but first class,” is really becoming the reality in many domestic markets nowadays.

Bottom line

American nowadays upgrades pilots who are deadheading ahead of customers within 24 hours of departure. This is a new policy as of a few years ago, as part of the carrier’s pilot contract. This doesn’t apply to pilots who are commuting, and if there are no first class seats left, then pilots obviously won’t get them.

There’s not much anyone can do about this policy, though it’s worth understanding. It’s one of several changes that has made upgrades at American much harder in recent years.

What do you make of American’s upgrade policy for pilots? Have you been impacted by this?