Flight attendants at American Airlines have slammed senior management at the Fort Worth-based carrier in an explosive new memo from the official crew union, saying they have heard enough excuses and that real change must come quickly to fix the airline’s financial position.
The memo from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) came just hours after American Airlines published its financial results for the first quarter of 2025 – reporting a net loss of $473 million between January and March on the back of revenue of $12.6 billion.
The flight attendant union is particularly unhappy that former chief commercial officer Vasu Raja was able to leave the airline with a severance package of more than $1 million, even after it became clear that the business strategy he had pushed at American Airlines had failed.
Under Vasu’s tenure, American Airlines turned its domestic route network into its product, slashing onboard amenities by removing seatback televisions and retreating from premium international markets.
Vasu was also the brainchild behind a “highly questionable” new sales strategy that alienated travel agencies and corporate customers, potentially driving them to rivals like Delta and United.
“Today, we are calling on American Airlines’ leadership to right this ship—enough with the excuses. Fix the product in all cabins and staff your airplanes to be the global leader in aviation.”
Julie Hedrick, APFA national president
Commenting on the airline’s latest financial results, the flight attendant union said: “A contributor to this underperformance has been a series of missteps in sales and distribution strategies. Notably, the former Chief Commercial Officer at American Airlines—who was directly responsible for the recent high-profile sales and distribution blunder—continued receiving his base salary until January 31, 2025, totaling $462,019 from his exit date in June 2024. Additionally, a lump sum payment of $968,750 was paid after his severance period concluded.”
“This kind of executive exit package, especially in the wake of such costly strategic errors for American, sends a troubling message to frontline workers and investors,” the memo continued. “While leadership decisions have led to real financial setbacks for our company, those responsible are walking away with generous compensation.”
Julie Hedrick, APFA’s national president, now says it is time that American’s senior leadership team “are held to the same performance standards as the Flight Attendants.”
In other words, Hedrick suggests that senior leaders should face serious disciplinary measures for mistakes that could result in termination without severance.
“Today, we are calling on American Airlines’ leadership to right this ship—enough with the excuses,” Hedrick commented. “Fix the product in all cabins and staff your airplanes to be the global leader in aviation.”
American Airlines does, at least, seem to realize that it has to make some changes to its onboard experience if it is to have any hope of competing with its rivals.
In the next few months, the airline is expected to take delivery of Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners with a new Business Class cabin featuring privacy doors at every seat, while the airline has also announced the introduction of free in-flight Wi-Fi across its domestic single-aisle fleet early next year.
Last year, flight attendants at the carrier also ratified an updated contract that promised a pay rise of nearly 33% for veteran crew members. The contract has added significantly to the airline’s costs while no major concessions in terms of flight attendant workload were added.
I wonder how their salaries comare to AS and United.