American Airlines Flight Attendants ‘Catergorically Reject’ Plan to Reduce Minimum Crew Member Requirement On Premium-Heavy 787 Dreamliners

Flight attendants at American Airlines say they “categorically reject” the carrier’s plans to reduce the minimum crew requirements on its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, which the carrier will soon start taking delivery of.

American Airlines is preparing to introduce a premium heavy configuration on its 787-9s with a new Flagship Business Class suite that has privacy doors, along with a set of slightly larger seats, which are to be dubbed Flagship Preferred.

The introduction of the new Dreamliners is set to dramatically improve the onboard experience for American’s passengers, especially those sitting at the front of the airplane, but the incoming aircraft isn’t being welcomed by the union that represents flight attendants.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) has taken issue with American Airlines’s collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reduce the minimum number of cabin crew needed to operate the aircraft to just seven flight attendants.

In normal day-to-day operations, American Airlines plans to have nine flight attendants working on its premium Boeing 787-9s (known internally as the 787-9P).

But if a flight attendant goes sick during a trip and American Airlines can’t replace the crew member before the return flight, the carrier is looking to have the airplane certified to have a minimum crew complement of just seven flight attendants.

This request should not be too problematic, given that it mirrors the minimum crew complement that United Airlines has managed to have certified for all variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, including the larger 787-10 model.

While American Airlines argues that it would only ever reduce the normal crew complement if a flight attendant was taken ill or was injured downroute, the flight attendant union remains unconvinced.

“This is yet another unacceptable erosion of Flight Attendant staffing,” the union slammed in a leaked memo. “It is unrealistic and unsafe to expect that seven Flight Attendants can adequately serve and ensure safety under the new configuration of the 787-9P, especially with an increase to 51 private Business Class Suites, with each seat bringing added Flight Attendant workload in an already understaffed cabin.”

The union further notes that the new Adient Business Class suites have privacy doors that must be locked open by flight attendants for taxi, takeoff, and landing.

“It is impossible to perform these additional duties without compromising safety and service standards,” the memo continued.

Rather than attempting to negotiate a compromise position for situations when the normal crew complement would have to be reduced, the flight attendant union says it “categorically rejects” the proposed changes.

“We will not participate in the certification process for these changes,” the union warned. “However, we will attend to represent our Members’ interests and ensure the FAA and all interested parties are aware of the safety concerns surrounding the proposed staffing on this new aircraft configuration.”

“Our safety, workload, and working conditions are non-negotiable.”

It should be noted that in Europe, the minimum cabin crew complement for the Boeing 787-9 is just six flight attendants.

Instead of categorically rejecting the proposal and refusing to take part in the certification process, the union could work with American Airlines to implement service alterations in cases when the crew complement has to be reduced.

For example, it could be that the Flagship Business Class suite doors remain locked open for the duration of the flight when the crew complement is reduced. Alternatively, the airline could work with the union on a simplified service routine when a crew member goes sick downroute.

The alternative, as suggested by APFA, is that if more than one flight attendant goes sick before a flight, then that service has to be canceled.