kirkpatrick
Veteran
We all know that when the sick list goes up on holidays it's because SOME people call off sick when they're not. But to single out AA FA's as somehow different from other groups in this regard is ridiculous. It's a phenomenon that occurs in virtually every industry.Garfield1966 said:Whether or not AA is short flight attendants cannot be proved by the size of the sick list. The flight attendant group as a whole has already proven that when they choose not to work (holidays, weekends, birthdays, upcoming vacation, returning from vacation .. etc) they call in sick.
All the company can do is play "tough guy" and harass people, especially going after the heavy off duty people. This works to a certain extent, as there are those who don't want to be hassled and will go to work more often to prevent it, but in the end it's up to the company to recognize this fact and plan for it.
The fact of the matter is, people are pi$$ed off and this is how they're showing it. If the company had any brains at all, they would have said, let's see, we'll save $340 million by massive pay cuts and massive work rule changes, but then we'll lose 20 million of that because people will be mad and the sick list will increase. In the end we'll end up ahead. But nooooo, AA management doesn't have the foresight.
I'm not trying to justify any of this, but if I feel just a little bit out of sorts and I'm facing a 14 hour day followed by a short layover I'm more likely to just call off than if I faced an easier day with a more reasonable rest. The company needs to get a grip and recall some people if they want to run an airline. High sick use is here to stay, at least as long as morale is the way it is. Maybe proper staffing would alleviate the situation a bit and have a small effect on the number of sick calls.
MK