Originally Posted by
777lover
Technically it is not a separate cabin. I know this sounds strange but i was told they can’t call it a separate cabin. If they did, per their FA contract they would have to staff it with a minimum of 2 FAs. Hence there are no upgrades to this “cabin” It is all economy. Just a special section of economy with special benefits.
I'm not versed in the FA contract...maybe you are, or maybe you've heard through the grapevine. But how does the FA union define 'cabin'? PE is it's own physical cabin, in the sense that it is separated by bulkhead walls from Biz and Main Cabin. PE is also sold as a separate class of service, as Biz and Main Cabin are. So where does the FA contract delineate "cabin" for the purposes of staffing? I thought the airline could staff as they please, so long as they meet the
minimum FA staffing per
FAA reg 14 CFR 121.391, which is based on how many passenger seats are in the entire aircraft. Essentially it means 1 FA per 50 seats. For AA that would mean minimums on PE equipped aircraft:
788 - 5
789 - 6
772 - 6
773 - 7
Haven't flown recently to do an FA headcount. Does AA stick to those minimums or are they staffing those aircraft with more than the minimum FAs? Does the FA contract make a staffing exception for a domestic run of a widebody where AA doesn't sell PE, but just makes those seats MCE?