MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Airlines are recruiting flight attendants out of college. Why can't AA recruit some college students for the summer and tell them those that do well they will be at the top of the pick for flight attendant recruitment. Given the number of young people that take a flight attendant's job out of college (presuming it's more exciting than working the customer service desk at Best Buy) seems to be AA should be able to fill the summer demand fairly cheaply. Won't have to pay benefits and since students would be returning to class travel privileges won't be needed.

Tack

Fair question. First I’d ask why would a customer care if a temporary airline employee did the work vs a current employee who is willing to volunteer? Customers still get the lobby and concourse volunteer staff to answer questions and offer assistance in getting to a gate/bag drop etc. just like a temp would provide. You could even make an argument that the service is better because a volunteer employee is already vested in the success of the airline. Some may be confusing the role of a volunteer for more technical work like seat changes, boarding, ticketing and other check-in and Control like jobs, that’s not what’s needed. Second, AA is not forcing any salaried employees to pick up shifts, nor have they removed the need or ability of permanent staff from getting overtime, so I’m confused why many are irked by this? Third, I can tell you for a fact that inflight will want no part of managing a new hire “test run” of candidates at the airports. Having worked as a manager for both services and inflight, there is more than enough work ensuring regulatory compliance, training and general taking care of the work groups to keep them busy. The operation of an airline is obviously more dynamic than a retail store or restaurant. When an airline has a group of employees readily willing and available to step in during a travel surge, it’s not worth the time or effort to vet a new hire, run the required background checks and complete other HR type paperwork for someone who most likely will only be employed for 90 days or less.

beachmouse

The background check turnaround is a real issue for any airside position- I've heard three weeks minimum on a different thread and given that the entities performing those have personnel issues of their own right now, it could be longer than that. The current airline employees are likely far, far easier to credential even if they don't currently work airside.

The time I've seen the temps work out well was at SEA when they were having huge TSA checkpoint back ups, and they hired a bunch fo college kids to hold up 'line starts here' signs on the landside part of the airport.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Based on what I saw yesterday we are headed into the travel summer of hell like we'd never seen before. Planes are fuller than they've ever been and AA has shoved more flights into banks in order to reduce the number of banks. That means constant misconnects and few seats to put flyers in along with planes parked all over the airport with no gate to go to. I fully expect airports, particularly AA hubs to look like refugee camps. The "anger escalation" will be off the charts-fueled by airport bars that will keep on serving no matter what.

And you would expect that the Accounting Supervisor or other such similar position would want to come down and get mixed into this circle of hell?

Tack

Yup. believe it or not, the vast majority of all airline workers love the business. Love talking to and yes, even assisting customers. They care about helping to make their carrier a success. Even those who work in non contact positions. Every busy travel time is rife with customer challenges for staff. I guarantee AA will have plenty of volunteers to help at DFW, and inside any circle of hell. AA will also have plenty of their union staff signing up for overtime above and below the wing. And this summer, while busy won’t be any worse than summers past. The customers? You’re right they’re terrible, but passenger poor behavior isn’t under any airlines control or exclusive to only AA. Cheers!

writerguyfl

co-signed

I used to work at the Disney World call center. Unlike many Disney jobs, we all worked inside an air-conditioned building with an on-site café. We parked, at most, 150 yards from our desks. That fact meant we never had to park at a remote location, wait for a shuttle bus, and then walk 10 minutes to reach our work location (all unpaid) like other folks. Plus, we got to wear comfortable business casual clothing. None of the jobs there were easy, but the location was very comfortable.

During the busiest times of the year (New Year's, Spring Break, the final two weeks of summer before Florida public schools began), Disney asked for "volunteers" to work in the parks. It was seemingly identical to this American Airlines program. Hourly Cast Members (aka employees) were paid their normal rates and salaried Managers find a way to get their normal work finished and still help out.

These were uniformly crappy jobs. Lots of crowd control in the blazing sun wearing (usually) ill-fitting polyester uniforms. In the years I worked there, those "volunteer" shifts never went unfilled. There were a nice change-of-pace. It was a way to break up the monotony of sitting at a desk 40 to 48 hours every week.

As you noted, we all wanted the company to succeed. Sure, part of doing those shifts was about talking to and assisting guests. But, most of us viewed it primarily as helping out our fellow Cast Members when they most needed it.

To borrow a Disney song lyrics: We did feel like "we're all in this together." I'd hope that most airline employees would have a similar mindset as we slowing claw our way out of a (hopefully) once-in-a-generation global pandemic.

cmd320

Can't wait to meet some of them one day...

Tack

lol I love back seat riders, of which I’m now one. Just because your job pays for you to fly, does not an expert make. I’ve come to notice on FT that the majority wouldn’t be happy with an airline even if a family member was CEO. Ahhhh first world problems and arrogance. Enjoy your flights. Cheers!

cmd320

Who said my job pays for me to fly?