American Airlines should not have to lay off any flight attendants in the coming months and may need to hire some after 2,205 agreed to accept a cash buyout offer, the airline and the flight attendants union announced Friday.
The high number of flight attendants who decided to take the $40,000 cash payment offer and leave American voluntarily in the next year "will benefit the entire membership," Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said in an e-mail message to the union members.As older and more senior flight attendants depart, their younger and less experienced colleagues "will be moving up the seniority list and off reserve," drawing better work assignments and schedules."I am happy these 2,205 will now have the security they need to enter the next chapter of their lives," Glading said.The "voluntary early out program" was negotiated as part of the union's new contract with American, which contained other cost-saving and productivity enhancement measures the airline said it needs to successfully exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.The largest number of domestic flight attendants accepting the buyouts is 369 based at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, followed by New York LaGuardia with 156, according to data obtained by the Star-Telegram. Flight attendants on international routes outnumbered domestic flight attendants, 1,119 to 1,074."Providing this voluntary early out incentive for our flight attendants is another positive step forward in our restructuring," said American spokesman Bruce Hicks.The airline doesn't "anticipate furloughing any flight attendants as a result of the near-term restructuring changes" and "will also begin recruiting new flight attendants later this year," to meet anticipated staffing needs in 2013 and beyond, he said.Next month, flight attendants who signed up to take the buyout will be able to request their desired month to end their employment.American will "stagger departures over the next year, based on seniority and operational needs," Hick said.Meanwhile, American's pilots union continued its legal battle to try and block the airline from breaking its existing labor contract and unilaterally imposing new terms.The union filed a motion asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane to suspend his earlier order that allowed the airline to throw out the contract and impose cost cuts, while they appeal the ruling to federal court.Allowing American to abrogate the contract and impose new terms will cause "irreparable harm" to pilots, the Allied Pilots Association said in the court filing.Hicks said that American was largely able to operate its flights across the country Friday without further major disruptions. The company was forced to cancel hundreds of flights this week to better align available airplanes and flight crews.The airline has said that in recent days a higher-than-normal number of pilots calling in sick and a sharp increase in maintenance reports being filed by pilots was disrupting the normal flight schedule.This apparently prompted American to apologize by e-mail to its best customers for the recent increase in delayed and canceled flights. Messages sent Friday to members of its AAdvantage loyalty program said the airline was sorry for the inconvenience, The Associated Press reported.AAdvantage President Suzanne L. Rubin said the airline added staff in maintenance, reservations and at airports to help travelers.Bob Cox, 817-390-7723Twitter: @bobcoxict
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