Pilots and flight attendants for American Airlines are struggling to find transportation and hotel accommodations during layovers, unions for the two groups say, and in some cases it's leading to a lack of sleep for crews.
Complaints filed Tuesday by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Allied Pilots Association, which represent 43,000 crew members for the airline, say American's management failed to provide them with timely hotel and transportation accommodations.
'We have Flight Attendants sleeping in airports and outside of baggage claim due to the company not providing hotel accommodations in a timely manner,' APFA National President Julie Hedrick said in a statement.
The unions representing flight attendants and pilots for American Airlines say they have been hit with delays for hotel room booking and transportation during layovers, which in some cases had led to attendants sleeping in airports.
'Crew rest is being impacted, and clean, comfortable, and quiet rooms are not being provided for required rest.'
The complaint says its members have faced problems such as no rooms available upon arrival, 'excessive' wait times for bookings and a lack of reliable transportation.
'Basically it's as elementary as you can get,' Capt. Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the APA told the Daily Mail. 'It's hard to have a workplace culture if you don't have a place to stay.'
Tajer said the problem is recent. Pilots have waited hours to receive a hotel room, which can lead to flight delays when they are unable to get the required 10 hours of rest between trips.
The complaints come as American Airlines has struggled to match demand for surging summer travel. Pictured: American passenger jets prepare to depart from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport last Wednesday
'It bleeds into the system very quickly,' he said.
Tajer said the issue was urgent, 'because every day that passes there's another crew that shows up and doesn't have a hotel.'
American automatically canceled hotel accommodations for pilots when flights are delayed, he said, speculating that it might be a cost-saving measure.
Complaints filed by unions representing pilots and flight attendants for American Airlines say they have been hit with delays in hotel and transportation bookings
'It's not the performance you'd expect from a well-established airline,' he said.
The union is also asking American to reimburse pilots for rooms when they are forced to make their own accommodations.
'Taking care of our crew members while they are away from home is a priority for American,' American said in a statement. 'We are looking into the concerns raised by APA and APFA.'
The issues appear to stem from the
