American Airlines increases pay after operational meltdown

American Airlines is offering one-time holiday pay premiums to flight attendants who work during the holidays. The company announced the holiday pay in an internal memo. The decision for the holiday pay came after an operational meltdown during the Halloween weekend that forced the airlines to cancel thousands of flights partly due to the staffing shortage. According to the memo, all flight attendants who work from November 23 to November 29 and December 22 to January 2 will receive a 150% premium. Attendants with no absences between November 15 to January 2 will receive an even higher premium of 300% for the hours they work during the peak holiday period.

David Seymour, COO said in an internal staff note, "On the schedule front, we've ensured that November and December are built to meet customer demand and that they are fully supportable by our staffing." American Airlines anticipates that another 4,000 new team members would join the company in the fourth quarter and that it will have 600 new flight attendant hires by the end of December. The company said that nearly 1,800 flight attendants returned from leaves in November and another 800 will return in December. American Airlines also said that the company currently has 24,000 flight attendants. 

Source: CNN