American Airlines increases flight attendant holiday pay after operational meltdown

American Airlines is giving flight attendants who work during the holidays a one-time holiday pay premium, the company announced in an internal memo. The increased holiday pay comes after an operational meltdown during Halloween weekend, which forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights partly due to staffing shortages.

Flight attendants who work between Nov. 23 to Nov. 29 and Dec. 22 to Jan 2. will receive a 150% premium, according to an internal memo viewed by CNN. Those with no absences between Nov. 15 to Jan. 2 will receive an even higher premium of 300% for the hours they work during the peak holiday period.

"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," COO David Seymour said in an internal staff note viewed by CNN.

American anticipates that 4,000 new team members will be joining the company in the fourth quarter, and that the airline will have 600 new flight attendant hires by the end of December. Nearly 1,800 flight attendants have returned from leaves in November and 800 more will return in December, the staff note said. American said the company has 24,000 flight attendants right now.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/american-airlines-increases-flight-attendant-holiday-pay-after-operational-meltdown/ar-AAQoWRg