12.10.21 – Special APFA LGA Base Brief – Friday, December 10, 2021

Friday, December 10, 2021

Special APFA LGA Base Brief

Since American returned services onboard to pre-pandemic levels, I have been hearing from flight attendants flying the 777-200 and 777-300 on international flights, as well as the A321T on our transcontinental flights. Our workload has changed, but our staffing kept short. Through my communication with local management and upper management, I have made many attempts to convey how this decision is a physical challenge for us and contributes to compromising the safety of our flight attendants. Today, I have sent Brady Byrnes, Vice President of Flight Service, a letter to reiterate the effects of this decision on flight attendants, customers, and the airline.

I want each of you to know that it is not enough for me to wait on a hearing by an arbitrator who may not have any real grasp of our reality. As your base president, I will continue to make our case to management and, if necessary, the public.

Although these challenges do put a strain on our daily lives and quality of work-life, there has never been a time more important than now for flight attendants to look out for one another.

Below is my letter to Mr. Byrnes.

December 10, 2021

Dear Brady,

Perhaps you may not fully understand the physical and mental strain the company’s decision not to return staffing to pre-pandemic levels has and continues to have on the Flight Attendants. We are already dealing with assaults and chaotic start-ups of international routes, while still working and living through a pandemic as frontline workers. While the service has returned to pre-pandemic levels, we, the safety professionals, now must make judgment calls on whether to leave our designated areas unattended and vulnerable to assist with any situation in other parts of the cabin. The lack of pre-pandemic staffing translates to aircraft cabins being left vulnerable to medical and safety emergencies. Pursers are looked upon to ensure our Premium customer’s onboard experience. They are being spread too thin, which in turn our customer sees. Not to mention the uneven workload they now shoulder for no more than the contractual purser-pay.

Brady, I know the position this puts you in as the vice president of flight service, but I also know you were and will always be a flight attendant. There is a very palpable dejected feeling in the air. I am inviting you to come to New York, join our colleagues on one of these trips, and experience firsthand what your Flight Attendants are going through. We are grateful for the economic turn we are taking and want to see our airline succeed as much as you, but that cannot happen at the expense of safety and disregard for labor. 

Christian M. Santana
APFA LGA Base President, Proudly. 
cc. 
Samuel Maher
Frank Morales 
Sent via FedEx