Originally Posted by
JBKettle
I posted this on a different thread once before, but I was told that AA FAs choose their aircraft position on their own. (It's not a formal process. Once they are on the plane, they sort it all out.
That is not correct. At American, cabin crew members bid and are awarded their monthly schedule that has specified equipment type, flights and positions. If they want to trade positions with another crew member on a flight, it has to be done through crew scheduling or via the computerized crew management system.
What's likely to have happened here is that purser called off or misconnected and a reserve flight attendant was assigned the number 1 position (purser). While only qualified crew members can bid and hold the purser position, that is not the case when a reserve flight attendant is assigned the position.