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American Airlines, so called guide!
Ask yourself should I book with this company? Or perhaps choose another airline.

Almost a full year ago, this article was written.
American Airlines pilots plan disruptions, not full strike  By David Koenig usatoday.com









$8 packet will include pillow and blanket starts 1, May, 2010. 

22 June 2016 Heads up if you are taking an American Airline flight to Europe several aviation strikes are likely to slow you down, all out of American's control. Belgium general strikes, Madrid airport, French air traffic control, Portuguese air traffic control, Italian air traffic control, Scottish airport workers, Venice baggage handlers
www.easytravelreport.com

13 April 2016 American Airlines flights still up the creek, this time it's Belgian air traffic control strike

6 April 2015 French air traffic control strikes April May 2015
Air France strikes


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Old strikes
13April 2013 Judge rejects CEO getting $20 million retirement package for the moment qz.com

12 December 2012 American Airlines cleared for  bankruptcy as pilots agree to a tentative contract.
AA codeshares with Spanish airline Iberia who have voted to strike this month.

28 November 2012 December 7 United and American Airlines vite should be in Chicago Tribune
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For passengers it's really risky flying with this airline, particularly over Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Some of us just don't have the money to throw around in this economy. The thought of being stranded connecting between flights with kids, elderly or disabled is just unacceptable. Plenty of other airlines to choose from who are cashing in with an unexpected bonanza in bookings. Hope a commission is monitoring air prices.

9 November 2012 American Airlines appealing to Supreme Court Dallas News 

20 October 2012 Not much improvement has gone on here lately.  Wall St. Journal calling out AA bosses for not being "sufficiently transparent". CEO being left out of future negotiations and management has asked Judge for more time to organize bankruptcy LA Times has a video up about American Airlines new seating plan on Boeing 777. Business class seat lays flat.  Non premium seats 17" wide and first class seats 36" wide.  Pilots still don't have a deal. Talks still on going. 

1 October 2012  New York to Miami plane had to return to 
to JFK. American has 8 jets grounded.

29 September Management threaten to take pilots to court if they keep disrupting service. President Obama will not touch this issue. (This is such an old long winded bitter dispute, we predict that this airline could be grounded by the employees for a week in the not to distant future. Perhaps they will show us wrong and embarrass us, with any luck.) 
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Thursday 27 September 5% of flights cancelled. 
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Wednesday 26 September 2012 Today AA pilots protest out side Boston Logan Airport and the State House. Pilots union and management were due to meet today. Airline publishes a 82 million dollar loss for August. Jet Blue has no interest with a merger.
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Monday 24 September 2012 Most American Airline pilots have flown regulated number of hours for the month of September. 

Saturday 22 September 2012  Pilot sick out being helped along by flight attendants calling in maintenance problems, such as backed up toilets, slow taxing to the gate, frayed seat belts, broken coffee machines, passenger reading lights.
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Friday 21 September Another 32 flights canceled at Dallas Fort Worth.
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18 September 2012 American canceling flights, Sunday (90) and Monday (57) more than any other airline. Airline has imposed new rules on it's pilots. Outsourcing more flights to other airlines, terminating pilots retirement a program.  22 scrubbed for today. 

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American Airlines pilots strike ballot results will be in Wednesday October 3. No imminent strike threat. It will take weeks before anything like that takes place. (I would buy travel insurance. Once a strike date is made public it is too late to buy insurance.) All policies have different rules and regulations, be diligent.

September 5, 2012 One analysis view 

September Can this company get any worse. Down Syndrome passenger denied seat dailymail      

21 August 2012 American Airlines flight attendants accept new contract. Fear that a future contract will have even more cuts, layoffs of some 2,500 flight attendants. This joins AA mechanics who signed a new contract recently.

12 August 2012 Now airline is being fined for safety issues. $162.4 million. Documents come to light after bankruptcy papers went through The Statesman   

10 August 2012 The Allied Pilots Association union gets new head after leader of AA union head resigns post bulletin

9 August 2012 AA Pilots reject deal 

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11 June 2012 Here's an update as to what's going on with this airline. Pilots calling in sick by the droves. Taking time off for elective surgeries while the co-payes are low. American management is canceling flights in July due to lack of pilots, best confirm your flight. 57 pilots retired in May. 1,400 management and support jobs to be gone by the end of summer. 
The date to watch Friday 22 June is the day a judge will announce whether or not AA management can get away with breaking employee contracts, eliminating jobs and reducing benefits to 55,000 union workers Bloomberg business week

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29 November 2011 Bankrupt. Now what's the unions move? What happens to pensions? Minimal disruptions. Alliance partner. Pilots, management will meet with federal mediator Dec. 6 to tell them how the talks are going! Pilots and management talks stalled two weeks. 
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26 October, New French general strike starting this Wednesday 5pm, check our front page for updates

25, August, Votes in, contract rejected, 6,074 to 3,371 against, next move is National Mediation Board, who months ago told mechanics to go back to negotiating. Remember if mediation board calls this dispute at an impasse, union/workers still have to do a 30 day cooling off period. Thanksgiving coming up, protect yourself, choose another airline!

5/26 Flight attendant talks with management came to an impasse last Friday. AA have sent out e-mails to managers asking for volunteers if cabin crew strike.  No new meetings scheduled.  

19, May, 2010 Flight attendants counting strike votes.

May, 2010, AA mechanics after three years sign a tentative three year contract. 6% pay raise over the three years. Preserved medical benefits for current retiree's and current workers over 50 years aflcio

15, April, 2010 AA and union representing workers ordered back to mediations talks today.

2, April, 20100 American Airlines told the National Mediation Board that it's making progress in negotiations with two of its unions and should continue mediated contract talks.

11, March, 2010 AA machinist now leave mediation, in 30 day cooling off period. 

4, March, 2010 Flight attendants now on a 30 day cooling off period after which they can legally have a strike vote. 
Expect no word till mid-April from mediation committee.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants has said it will ask to be released from mediation when its next bargaining session ends Friday, 2/26/10

2/16/10 Ground workers for American Airlines threaten strike. Transport Workers Union will ask federal mediators permission to let employees walk away from mediation talks if no deal is reached by March 8, 2010. If mediators agree, union can strike legally from 30 days on. Only president Obama or Congress can block a strike.  

1, Feb. Management thinking about the training of replacement workers in the event of a flight attendants striking. British Airways doing same thing as AA, but a little further along than AA. 

1/29/2010  Mechanics and flight attendants are still working without contracts. Talks are still at an impasse with management.  

11/17/09 American Airlines flight attendants conduct a simulated strike demonstration, Wednesday, at airports across the country, Dallas, San Diego, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Raleigh-Durham, Miami, San Francisco, West Palm Beach, St. Louis, Newark (NJ), and New York City. In the simulated strike, a select number of American Airlines flights will be designated as "red flights." Flight attendants assigned to these flights will wear a red disc under their union pin with the words "Got Guts" signifying this flight would not be operating if this were a real strike. 

14, Oct, 09 Senators urge close scrutiny of Oneworld alliance between American Airlines, British Airways.

9/5/09 American Airlines looking to merge with British Airways.  British Airways hanging on by a thread and threaten strikes this Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays 2009. AA by ETR as to what's going on.

12 June, 09 American Airlines will cut about 1,600 jobs, representing 2% of AA workers.  Flight attendants will take the biggest hit from NY La Guardia and Chicago.  50 cargo jobs and 40 maintenance workers.  Will take delivery of 31 new Boeing 737-800 jets in 2009, up from 29. Next year, it'll take 45 of the new 737-800s, up from 39. Replacing those tatty old MD-80.

18 April, 2009 AMR CEO's 2008 compensation fell to $5.1 million

2 April, 2009 Things are starting to get nasty.  Employees no raise since 03 and executives will get bonuses, stock based.  Of course not so much this year as AA lost $2.07 billion last year! $40 per share in early 2007 to less than $3 last month.  TWU to take ads out on news sites featuring corporate executives matching name with bonus!  TWU is still in mediation, no changes.

3/4/09  Latest. Thousands of American Airlines pilots gathered Tuesday to strategies about work slowdowns and other headaches that they might inflict on airline passengers.  9 Union chapters met country wide, 2,000 pilots in all.  No progress with management.

2/25/09  American Airlines pilots, will not strike, but they will disrupt and cause chaos to the airline, if it can't get a new labor contract after 29 months of bargaining! Negotiations have fallen apart, but before a strike can legally occur the federal mediators assigned to making the deal work must declare the talks at a standoff. Parties have been in mediation since June 08. The union hopes that by taking a no-strike stance, it will increase the chances that the National Mediation Board (shall we say threaten board) will declare the talks at a standoff and let the union take less dramatic steps allowed by law.  Mediation could go well into 2010 affectingly putting a halt to any strike. 


Without a release from mediation, any strike action the union takes would be a violation of federal law.  Union leaders declined to say exactly what they intend to do except that it will be kept legal as one member said "use your imagination"

Go Slow ie: flight delays, cancellations, no pilot available at this time, slow to leave gate, sick outs, extra long time sitting on runway. You know you've dealt with it.  Very inconvenient.  Let's get the word out. Don't book with this airline unless you don't have an alternative route or another carrier. Will check in staff be aligned with them?  

Pilots due to meet up again next week.

In  a nutshell, short history.  2003 AA went bankrupt, convinced staff pilots, attendants, ground crew to take pay cuts.  Airline came out of bankruptcy and never came through with a deal for its staff.  In1997 pilots walked off job for 24 minutes till President Bill Clinton stepped in. In 1999 Federal judge fined union $45 million after illegal sickouts canceled 6,000 flights! Unions are bitter and opened these negotiations asking for a 50 percent raise over several years!  Can you blame them? AA have not made a counterproposal. Union's leverage is limited by the recession.

President Obama's first union problem?



2/26/09 Thursday, American Airlines will. let go 410 junior flight attendants by April 1 if it does not have enough volunteers for early leaves, job sharing and  retirements.  AA hoping that these incentives will kick in so they don't have to furlough more employees. 

2/10/09 American Airlines Unions not happy that the chief executive of American Airlines won't meet with the unions president to discuss contract talks. 28 months of bargaining! Unions looking for AA to make good on the concessions from  2003.  Negotiations not working, union may ask federal negotiators to declare an impasse.  This could result in a 30 day cooling off period. ultimately followed by a strike. Mediators are still involved in ground crew.

29/1/09 The 300-400 Flight attendants can sigh a sigh of relief tonight, they can keep jobs.  Early retirement incentives helped.

12/19/08 American Airlines flight attendants are also looking for a federal mediator

12/15/08  Wanted federal mediator for American Airlines and ground workers, flight dispatchers who are represented by the Transport Workers Union. Talks broke down after the two sides failed to agree on pay and benefits. 

12/15/08   American Airlines and  TWU union representing about 14,000 baggage handlers and other ground workers (cargo handlers, fleet service workers, aircraft part clerks, simulator tech's, ground school and simulator instructors ended talks after the sides failed to reach a contract after almost two weeks of negotiations.

11/21/08  American Airlines flight attendants protested to regarding new contract.  They want pay increases to return salaries to 2003 levels when the union gave up wage increases as the airline hovered near bankruptcy.

10/29/08 Beginning Saturday, American Airlines customers traveling domestically or to the Caribbean or Mexico will have the choice of two new sandwich offerings for afternoon snacking: Italian Deli Panini - beef salami and turkey, provolone cheese, lettuce and tomato on panini bread served with a side of Italian herb dressing Roast Beef Ciabatta - roast beef and provolone cheese, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta bread served with a side of horseradish Dijon dressing.  A customer favorite, the Asian chicken wrap -- grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, Napa cabbage, red bell peppers and Mandarin orange slices wrapped in a tortilla -- will remain on the menu. The above items are available for $6 each and will be offered on flights lasting three hours or longer and departing after 10 a.m.For customers traveling on flights departing before 10 a.m. and lasting three hours or longer, American Airlines will continue to offer its popular bagel sandwich -- a plain bagel with roasted turkey and mild muenster cheese -- and the breakfast croissant -- a croissant layered with turkey, muenster cheese, lettuce and tomato -- both available for $6 each. 

10/16/08 American Airlines to buy Boeing 787s 

42 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners scheduled for delivery beginning in 2012 and ending in 2018. 58 additional 787s 

10/8/08 American Airlines flight attendants to picket  

10/5/08 American moving to a la carte pricing model

10/7/08 American Airlines considers new price structure...choose your level of discomfort.

9/24/08 U.S. Airlines Grounding 500+ Planes This Fall
Posted by Scott McCartney  blogs.wsj.com

9/14/08  No porn allowed 

9/22/08 American Airlines plans to give best customers priority 

Discontinued Service
The AAdvantage partnership with Turkish Airlines will be discontinued effective March 30, 2008. For Turkish Airlines flights taken on/after March 30, 2008, mileage accrual will no longer be offered.

9/10/08 American Airlines Celebrates Ramadan by Promoting Islamist Supremacy Group  mypetjawa.mu.nu

9/10/08 American Airlines resumes non stop flights from Miami to Antigua after 10 years.

9/10/08 American Airlines honored for commitment to Hispanics aviationblog.dallasnews.com

9/10/08 American Airlines, JFK Airport, Hyatt win top travel awards aviationblog.dallasnews.com

9/10/08 The American Airlines routes that are being protected are Chicago, Miami and Detroit which are offering competition to Air Jamaica, the subsidized national airline which services two of these areas and needs the market jamaica-gleaner.com

9/10/08  Grounding are older generation planes," Horton said. "They burn 35 percent more fuel per seat than the new generation planes. So, when you ground those planes, it would be very difficult to bring them back, not just in operations cost but also in maintenance infrastructure." 

9/10/08  HORROR: American Airlines Sued Over Missing Body 

9/10/08 US airlines not planning to cut fuel surcharges.

9/9/08 American Airlines, pilots at odds over taxiing incident (were they on a go slow?) aviationblog.dallasnews.com


8/27/08 Union blasts American Airlines in newspaper ads firstcoastnews           

8/20/08 Nine commuter aircraft were grounded for safety inspections Tuesday at Chicago's O'Hare airport after a federal security inspector climbed onto them by grabbing sensitive outside instruments, the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday cnn

8/15/08 American Airlines fined 7.1 million  bbc

8/15/08 WASHINGTON -- Attempting to stem a national furor, American Airlines announced that it would stop charging extra-luggage fees for active military personnel. Now a Tampa Bay area congressman wants to ensure that other airlines put an end to the practice. 

8/14/08  BA, Iberia and AA strike alliance.  ttglive.com

8/8/08 frequent fliers on American Airlines Inc. got hit with another round of fees on Thursday – this time to upgrade discounted economy class tickets to the business and first class cabin.

7/18/08 Airline to cut 1,300 mechanic positions

07/16/2008 PRICED OUT BY OIL
Cheap Airlines Are Losing Altitude
By Dinah Deckstein, Spiegelonlineinternational

14 July 08 The Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents the 12,000 pilots of American Airlines (NYSE:AMR), has held what it called a "strike preparedness summit"

9 July 08, Here we go again, recall on MD-80's. 

3 July 08 American airline Continental and five individuals are to stand trial in France on manslaughter charges over the crash of an Air France Concorde near Paris in 2000 abc.net.au

2 July 08  American Airlines confirmed Wednesday it sent a "WARN" letter to its 900 most junior flight attendants, advising them they are subject to furlough effective Aug. 31.

6/26/08  American Airlines officials have told employees that the carrier expects to cut about 8 percent of management and support jobs at the nation's biggest airline as it copes with record high jet fuel prices.  

25June 08, Lots of cuts from American Airlines  kwtx.com

25 June 08 American Airlines to test in-flight Wi-Fi service, The in-flight service, dubbed "Gogo," was developed by AirCell and installed on 15 of American’s Boeing 767-200 jets. It will be available Wednesday to customers flying from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. American will begin a broader test offering of the service, which will priced at $12.95 for flights longer than three hours, and $9.95 for shorter flights. 

5 June 08 American Airlines new $15 fee for first checked bag will affect fewer than one in four customers and won't lengthen lines at boarding gates.
Members of the elite levels of American's frequent flyer program won't have to pay the fee, and neither will those who bought full-fare tickets or are traveling overseas.

4 June 08, Woman suing American Airline over peanut allergy.

5/30/08  American Airlines has agreed to drop a controversial $2-per-bag fee for curbside check-in and lift a ban on tips for skycaps at Logan International Airport usatoday

5/29/08   American Airlines cuts service between New York's JFK, London's Stansted Airport

5/29/08  "A $100 million cost to shut that airplane down for something that was never, at any time, a safety factor,"  said. Tom Coburn   aero-news Network

5/28/08  American Airlines says pilot contract would boost costs $3B a year.

5/12/08  American plane loses panel in flight, flies to Paris  usatoday

4/10/08 See here, picture of the wiring from kxan

The airline, whose parent, AMR Corp., lost over $300 million in the first quarter this year, says passengers on those cancelled flights can get a full refund, apply the value of their tickets toward future travel, or rebook without a fee. AMR's CEO Gerard Arpey has said that the airline will contract with an independent third party to review compliance "with all future FAA airworthiness directives." Shares of AMR were down 11% on Wednesday.

The cancellation of thousands of flights within a week will definitely have an impact on the company’s earnings and is expected to cost American Airlines tens of millions of dollars. But the officials at the company said that the nation's largest carrier can withstand the losses. The main losses were incurred when it booked people on other airlines. On the other hand, it has saved the fuel that would have been spent on those 2,500 flights. AA is already running a tab for meals, hotel rooms and $500 travel vouchers for stranded passenger. Experts believe that American has fallen victim to FAA’s desperate measures to save its reputation as the agency has been under fire since disclosures last month of its lax enforcement of safety rules at Southwest Airlines Co. by Abhishek Garg

4/11/08  Still looking out for us, To help out with the inconvenience, American is offering passengers travel vouchers to make up for cancelled flights boston.com

4/10/08  1,000 flights or more cancelled today on the MD80's.kstp.com

3/29/08 Historic day,  Open Skies agreement starts today.  AA lands in troubled Heathrow. 

3/27/08  AA will still pay pilots of cancelled flights will be paid if they were scheduled to fly a MD-80

We've been told that American has offered pay protection to pilots on flights that were cancelled today because of the MD-80 inspections. That basically means that they can still receive their pay if they were scheduled to fly one of those segments that was canceled.

3/26/08 300 flights, 13% of Americans planes  canceled due to MD-80s, twin-engine jets that carry up to 172 passengers and make up about 45 percent of American's total fleet..  Re-inspection, which took up to two hours each, focused on the attachment of bundles of wires that power the plane's auxiliary hydraulic unit, said airline spokesman Tim Wagner. "The aircraft will be rotated in throughout the day as inspections are completed," Wagner said. read full article
and video at Washington post

As of yesterday afternoon, 200 planes had been inspected and 80 were found to need modification, the airline said. 


American Airlines pilots propose schedule for contract talks  

*AA, Pilots, Feb.14 strike deadline.  Would cost the U.S. economy nearly $4.8 billion if it lasts two months, Major repercussions involved.

AA gives workers $67 million, $800 to American employees and $500 to Eagle.  Professional Flight Attendants called the payments "too little, too late."  A start to repaying employees for pay cuts and other concessions they made in 2003. 

AMR Corporation: Net Profit of $504 Million, $273 Million Improvement Over 2006 per  1/16/08

AA  rejected pilots request seek help from a federal mediator.  Company wants joint control of meetings.  1/14/08 

AA  pilots union requests federal mediator 

American Airlines, first to offer in-flight Internet access 1/22/08 

Best in-flight wines 

Lie-flat beds and comfortable seats that swivel will be among the perks American Airlines will spotlight in a new campaign launching during ABC’s Academy Awards telecast on Feb. 24.per 

3 American Jets get installed anti-missile.  Will fly from California - NY.  Mounted on the belly of the plane, between the wheels. The device works with sensors, mounted on the plane, that detect a heat-seeking missile and shoot a laser at it to send the missile veering harmlessly off course. 

American trims flights as pilots plan retirements. American Airlines is canceling dozens of flights in its February schedule as it faces potential retirements of more than 100 pilots, company and pilots union representatives said Wednesday.

American executives said the flight cancellations are unavoidable, necessitated by an early retirement option for senior pilots and a downturn in the stock market. 

AA to let customers check flight status on Web cellphones 1/25/08 per USAToday

American Airlines, first to offer in-flight Internet access 1/22/08 

12/18/08 Hiring new maintenance workers
American, voted best 12/08/07
Pilots, you know this is going to happen for the holidays.  I was wrong!
AA detained in La Paz


Do you have any tips for this airline?  
Did you loose your luggage?
email them to contact@easytravelreport.com  Thanks

   Internet  Now Available
On non-stop flights from NY-LA, NY-Miami, NY-San Francisco, Internet using  laptops, smart phones and PDAs. fee of $12.95. In June, Internet service on 15 American Airlines Boeing 767 aircraft. You put a instant messaging icon on your laptop, speed is as fast as DSL.  Would be nice if American Airlines rented out some laptops whilst on board.  8/09 Wi-Fi service is now available on 100 MD-80 aircraft and15 Boeing 767-200 by Gogo high-speed.
9/8/08 American Airlines targeting mobile users 
Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants APFA

John Conley, Transport Workers Union TWU's air transport division director. Represents 25,000 workers over 7 sectors.

CEO Gerard Arpey 

President Lloyd Hill Air Line Pilots Association International union ALPA

National Mediation Board

American Airline gripes on Facebook

What to expect for a French General Strike
American Airlines strike, threat, expect flight disruptions, pilots, flight attendants layoffs, go slow, unions, review, travel guide, executive bonuses, chaos, sick days, financial health, and industrial disputes. Finally will they strike after I've bought my ticket! American Airlines, the world’s biggest carrier measured by traffic volumes, accounts for barely 7 per cent of world capacity. 73,000 employees.
Arbitration club, AA pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, ground crews, airport agents.
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Don't just stop here - see who else is on strike today and going to mess with your travel plans!

American Airlines Strike