American Airlines, pilots agree deal to avoid holiday flight chaos
American Airlines has struck a deal with pilots to avert the nightmare before Christmas.
As reported last week, a tech glitch allowed far too many pilots time off during the upcoming holiday season, leaving thousands of flights without pilot cover.
The Allied Pilots Association said more than 15,000 flights scheduled before December 31 were affected.
However American says it has agreed a deal with the APA where pilots will get double their normal pay rate to ‘maintain a full December schedule as planned,’ the airline said.
"By working together, we can assure customers that among the many stresses of the season, worrying about a canceled flight won’t be one of them."
American has originally hoped to pay pilots 150% of normal pay but the union lodged a grievance as that violated the labor contract without bilateral talks.
The two parties finally came to an agreement after talks over the weekend.
It will cost American an estimated $10 million in extra pay.
"We’ve reached an agreement that we believe will ensure that our customers’ holiday travel plans are not disrupted while also recognizing our pilots’ extra efforts to help resolve this challenge," the APA said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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