5.14.25 – AA Returns to Pre-Covid Onboard Services Without Adequate Staffing or Catering Supplies

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

This week, management announced a return to pre-COVID-19 service procedures despite testifying under oath that the post-pandemic changes were permanent. This reversal calls into question the integrity of American’s management, especially given their arguments during the recent staffing arbitration when APFA challenged their use of the COVID-19 pandemic to adjust certain aircraft staffing levels downward, only to make the changes permanent when travel rebounded.

During the arbitration, the elimination of the second beverage service was a key argument used by Senior VP Inflight and Premium Guest Services Brady Byrnes and Managing Director Inflight Dining and Service Timothy McMahan to justify reducing Flight Attendant staffing levels on certain IPD and Transcon aircraft.

From the staffing arbitration transcript:

Question-Urban (APFA): “When was the permanent service change communicated to the attendants?”

Answer- SVP Inflight B. Byrnes (AA): “So we’ve never gone back out and communicated anything different than this one. So this is our current service footprint that we have today.”

Q-Urban (APFA): “So the flight attendants have never received a communication saying that the temporary service change is permanent?”

A- B. Byrnes (AA): “Not to my knowledge. The reason why we use this word temporary here is we were continuing to collaborate at this time with the APFA, with the — again, we were just trying to make sure that we were as responsive to flight attendants as possible. That collaboration and that working together ended pretty quickly, so we never went back and had a permanent communication now, but we have no intentions of changing our current service footprint. So said differently, temporary is permanent. If I could draw a red line through it, I would.”

This thinly veiled lie is a slap in the face to not just every Flight Attendant but our passengers as well. With no changes to the catering currently supplied on the aircraft and no additional Flight Attendants to accomplish this service, American Airlines has set us all up for frustration and failure. Management’s reversal on service makes it abundantly clear: their arbitration argument was never about what was operationally sustainable — it was about cutting corners at the expense of both the passengers and the Flight Attendants.

American Airlines management continues to demand more work from fewer Flight Attendants, all under the misleading tagline of “enhancing the customer experience.” Sadly, American’s onboard product has fallen behind our competitors in every cabin, and passengers have taken notice. So has Wall Street. The dismal first quarter 2025 financial results made it clear: the lack of meaningful investment in the inflight experience is hurting the brand — and American’s bottom line. 

Next week, your APFA Board of Directors will be traveling to DFW to meet face-to-face with American’s top leadership, including Bobbi Wells, Vice President of Inflight. This meeting is an opportunity for us to confront management directly and demand accountability for these decisions that continue to erode our trust and create more work with less tools and staffing. Flight Attendants have always taken pride in delivering exceptional service — but we must be given the staffing and resources necessary to deliver it successfully.

Management must hear directly from each Flight Attendant. You are dealing with the real impacts of staffing cuts, inadequate service tools, and growing concern that our airline is falling further behind the competition.

The Inflight leadership responsible for these decisions includes:

• Heather Garboden, Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer: [email protected]
• Bobbi Wells, Vice President, Inflight: [email protected]
• Timothy McMahan, Managing Director, Inflight Dining and Service: [email protected]

Next week’s meeting will make clear whether American Airlines intends to step up and compete — or if management is content to lock this company into a permanent, distant third-place position, trailing behind our two main competitors who continue to outperform us in earnings, onboard service and amenities, and in delivering a better experience for both passengers and employees.

In Solidarity,