mainlineAF

I hear ya man. But if we aren’t calling for fuel/catering /whatever while we have a contract what are we going to do once Jan 1st comes and we’re getting slow-rolled?

I agree about the product. I complain about our operation a lot but most of the time things go pretty smoothly. Now if there’s snow/ thunderstorms then all bets are off but that’s any airline.

AA has work to do no doubt. But i think things are getting better.

Name User

In general I find whenever things run on schedule they are pretty good. It's when something happens either mechanical or weather related that the whole company seems to go to crap and the way they recover from those events is suboptimal.

EMBFlyer

5 days to recover from a thunderstorm is a bit excessive.

I've had several occasions over the last 6 months where, under no circumstances, should we have been running a full operation into a certain hub, yet we did. The results were exactly as you'd expect.

pooch817

I retired from American 20 years ago. The Airlines were under siege, people were buying the airlines, bankrupting the airline an enriching themselves with the proceeds. We were fortunate in that the person that became our new CEO believed the best way for survival was growth. Our jobs were saved but his leadership ushered in a new era. That of an imperial management. Big salaries for management and tier upon tier of non productive do little managers. Management became more widely separated from the working employee. The employee as an individual can do little. But as a member of a union has some collective say so. The problem with Unions is they can do more harm then good. A union exists for the betterment of its members. What happens in practice is the more hostile to the company are the ones most likely to rise to the top. Too often the upper layer of the union is more interested in running the company then in protecting their members. I've been active in the Union leadership when the Union was well led and active when it was a confederation of dunces. I was kicked out in the later case because of my moderated leanings. This Union leadership got crossways with a Federal Judge and was heavily fined. The membership rose and threw out all of the existing leadership. First thing I can say is go to meetings and take an active part. Those that are the least inclined toward union work are usually the best reps as they are more likely to be concerned with the welfare of the membership. The next step is even tougher and that is to come to a repour with the other Unions. Any good management has turned the unions against one another, and they all are beset with internal problems, but the one thing that could bind them is an Imperial Management. Being part of something that prevented us from becoming another Pan American was rewarding. Trying to protect ourselves from our selves I was a dismal failure. Best of luck, the Airline is unique business with people who's ultimate product is safely and who's employees have a natural espire.

Name User

Do we work for the same company? AA excessively cancels from what I've seen.

Juanpilot

As a pilot who proudly went through the longest strike in aviation history, i only want to give you my support and to hope for an improvement in the working conditions, because everything that you are saying was the main reason for our strike. faults from the administration over and over, ended in a big conflict where no one won. Well but at least you know the meaning of UNION and at the end AA is a great company, that should work.

EMBFlyer

After The After-Christmas storm in December, Parker stated the company attempted to run a full schedule into DFW that night. They tried to bet against the weather and lost. I flew the next 3 days after and the operation was in shambles. Things cancelled for 5 days afterwards because crews and airplanes were out of position. Waiting 2 hours for a gate because no one would move the airplanes? Airplanes parked nose-to-tail on the north side of A terminal because that was the only place to put them to deplane? Amateur hour. The VP of DFW should have been fired. Instead, the following afternoon, he had a quote in the Jetwire saying how well things were handled.

During the Polar Vortex in Chicago, United cancelled 500 out of their 600 flights that day. AA was quoted as saying, "We'll be brining hot beverages around to our team members." No one could get fuel. Flights waiting 2+ hours for gates, etc. They finally pulled whole operation down at 1pm.

This management team has no idea what they're doing. The world's largest airline can't run like a domestic, low-cost carrier based in PHX.

symbian simian

Can't even run like a domestic, low-cost carrier based in Miramar...



(sorry)

Name User

Well they have been whacking DFW's banks over the last couple weeks pretty heavily. Normally when I can't commute because we cancel, I jump on Delta.

Arado 234

I think you see the combination of the worst sides from AA and US/AWA. AA has always excessively cancelled. I remember a mx issue with the Mad Dog ~10 years ago. The FAA had warned AA about some cabling issue but management decided they knew better. The result was a grounding of the Mad Dogs and the person causing all this walked away with a bonus.

(Correct me please if I got this bedtime story wrong)

It's time for employees to start pointing fingers at SWA and Delta and ask management why those big airlines have a smooth running operation compared to our cluster.