7.16.25 – APFA ORD Base Brief – Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Chicago,

This weekend brought another operational meltdown at American Airlines following storms that impacted multiple bases. This isn’t new, weather happens. Somehow, American still can’t manage the disruptions that come with it.

Social media is flooded with horror stories with Flight Attendants stuck on hold for hours, trying to reach tracking after a cancellation, or waiting endlessly for hotel and transportation details.

At work, we’re held to the highest standard—punished and scrutinized for the smallest things. A passenger mentions your name in a letter? That goes in your file. One minute late because the employee bus was running late? That’s in your file.

The same company that holds Flight Attendants to the highest standards will find it acceptable to keep you on hold for hours on end trying to find out about your flying.

The same company that holds us to these standards thinks it’s acceptable to leave us on hold for hours, just to find out what’s happening with our own schedules. The company said the new Flight Service structure would bring support. Do you feel supported?

Reschedules

If you were rescheduled and feel it was done illegally, please follow up with your Senior Crew Manager. Cite the contractual language that was violated and ask for Crew Schedule Error compensation – 10.T.3 of the CBA.

CBA language you may have concerns about:

• 10.J.7 – Return to Crew Base – The company must make every effort to return you back to base within the footprint of a trip when being rescheduled to different flying. If you were rescheduled to different flying, or rescheduled to a different flight, if there were RSVs available and they could have reported to your reschedule without causing a further delay or cancelation, the reserves should have been utilized before rescheduling you.
  • Include your HI3
  • Include screenshots you have of the callout reports showing other options (while this list isn’t real time, it will give an idea of what RSVs were already assigned)
  • If you called tracking to contest the reschedule, include the date and time you made that phone call
• 6.B.5 – Compensation for Hotel Delays – Once your sequence was modified to reflect a layover in a city different that originally scheduled, the clock begins for your hotel to be assigned.
  • Each crew member needs to file a Direct Connect for the hotel delay incentive
  • If your Direct Connect takes more than 7-10 business days, please email your Senior Crew Manager and ask if they can reach out to the appropriate department
• 10.L – Last Sequence of the month -This language speaks to when a reschedule can occur. 10.L.5 explicitly states, “after origination.” If you reported for a sequence that was your last sequence of the month and were subsequently rescheduled to different flying before origination, you need to email your manager requesting compensation commensurate with 10.3.T.

Hold Times

Flight Attendants are given a Late Report and issued a performance point when we sign in for duty outside the grace period.

Meanwhile, the departments we rely on; tracking, scheduling, hotels, seemingly face no accountability for excessive wait times.

If you experienced an egregious wait this week trying to contact your employer, they need to hear about it and explain why that is an acceptable way to treat their employees.

If you waited on hold, email a screenshot to the company. Include why you were calling (legality, cancellation, hotel, etc.) and CC APFA. It would be a damning number to see how many collective hours Chicago waited on hold this weekend.

Your base should be able to assist you when you need assistance. The structure has changed over the last few years.

Chicago Flight Attendants deserve support from their base. The current structure places that responsibility on Bobby Watkins (Sr. Manager) and Rory Copley (Director of Inflight Operations). If your hold times were excessive, let Rory know, and copy in [email protected].

We can’t keep accepting these failures as normal. It’s the 21st century, and American Airlines needs to support us during weather events. American is our employer, and they have a responsibility to take care of their people.

In Solidarity,

Justin Patterson
APFA ORD Base President
ORD Base Number: (773) 645-0809
Cell: (509) 720-0067
[email protected]

Dray Howard
APFA ORD Base Vice President
ORD Base Number: (773) 645-0809
Cell: (630) 215-8410
[email protected]