2003 Sacrifices from AA Flight Attendants Restructuring Agreement

Hourly pay rates were slashed by 15.6% 

Many other types of pay were cut in half or eliminated.

Eliminated pay: (monthly amounts based on 75 hours)
Reserve override pay. $2/hour or $150/reserve month guarantee.  $450/year loss.
Narrow body lead pay.  $1.25/hour or $93.75/month; $1125/year loss.
Night pay $.30-.50/hour.
Longevity Pay;  $1000-2250/year depending on seniority
Holiday Pay for 3 holidays.

Reduced pay: : (monthly amounts based on 75 hours)
Understaffing from $10 to $5/hour.
Domestic Purser pay reduced from $4.50 to $2.08/hour; $181.50/month; $2178/year loss.
International Purser pay reduced from $7 to $3/hour; $300/month; $3600/year loss.
International narrow body Purser pay reduced from $4.50 to $2; $187.50/month;  $2250/year loss.
Speaker pay reduced from $2.50 to $1.25/hour; $93.75/month;  $1125/year loss.
Domestic per diem pay reduced from $1.85 to 1.50/hour; $70/month; $840/year (based on 200 hours away from base)
International per diem pay reduced from $2.05 to $1.75/hours; $60/month; $720/year. (Based on 200 hours away from base)
E time pay and credit formulas reduced which translates to Flight Attendants get paid less for being on duty more.
Galley pay reduced by 50%
Training Pay for annual recurrent training.  Increased from 8 to 12 hours of unpaid annual training.

Examples of loss of wages(all examples based on 75 hours/month):
A 7 year domestic Flight attendant without agreeing to sacrifices would have been paid $3017/month.  $36,204/year flying 75 hours/month.
Today a 7 year Flight attendant earns $2569/month; $30,833/year (14.8% difference).

Therefore a 7 year flight attendant must fly almost 12 hours more/month to make the same amount of money which equates to 2 additional days of flying/month.

A 7 year domestic Purser before restructuring: $36,204 + $4,050 purser pay + $4,440 per diem = $44, 694/year.

Same 7 year domestic Purser now earns $30,833 + $1872 purser pay + $3,600 per diem = $36,305/year (almost 19% pay cut).  This Flight Attendant would have to work 17 hours more/month to make the pre-restructuring amount which equates to 3 additional days of flying/month.

A 15 year international Flight Attendant without agreeing to sacrifices would have been paid $4242/month; $50,904/year flying 75 hours/month.
Today that same Flight Attendant earns $3612.50/month; $43,350/year (14.8% difference)

A 15 year international flight attendant must fly almost 12 hours more/month to make the same amount of money which equates to 2 additional days of flying/month.

A 15 year international Purser before restructuring would have made $50,904 + $6300 wide-body purser pay + $4920 per diem = $62,124/year.

Today a 15 year international Purser makes $43,350 + $2700 wide body purser pay + $4200 per diem  = $50,250/year.  (19% pay cut). This Flight Attendant would have to work 17 hours more/month to make the pre-restructuring amount which equates to 3 additional days flying/month.

Vacation Loss:
Each Flight Attendant lost 1/3 of their annual vacation accrual.  A Flight Attendant at AA must work more than 5 years just to get 2 weeks of vacation.  A Flight Attendant does not see 3 weeks of vacation until they’ve worked 20 years at AA.  A Flight Attendant does not see 4 weeks vacation until they’ve worked 25 years or more.

Actual vacation breakdown:
Less than 5 years = 9 days
5-11 years = 14 days
12-19 years = 19 days
20-24 years = 23 days
25 and beyond = 28 days

Duty time & Rest
Domestic:
Minimum scheduled rest was reduced from 10 hours to 9.
On-duty maximums were increased.  Scheduled from 12 ½  to 13; Maximum on duty from 14 to 15 hours.

Daily maximum flying time increased from 8 hours/duty period to 8.59.

The reality of reduced rest:  Most domestic trips and International trips out of MIA to the Caribbean/Central America, flight attendants work 13 hour duty days with 10-12 layovers followed by another 13 hour duty day followed by another 10-12 hour layover followed by yet another 13 hour duty day.  In actual operations, often the duty days increase to 14-15 hours, layovers shrink to 8-10 hours which includes travel time to/from hotels.  Therefore, Flight Attendants rarely get 8 hours of sleep before/after 13-15 hour duty days with multiple flying legs (often 4 legs/day).

Sick Time accrual reduced from 5 to 3 hours/month.