LAS VEGAS (KLAS)– American Airlines is giving flight attendants a bonus in an effort to prevent another operational meltdown during the holiday season.
According to an internal memo, that was shared with 8 News Now, American flight attendants who work between Nov. 23 to Nov. 29 and Dec. 22 to Jan 2. will get a 150% premium.
For employees, who have no absences between Nov. 15th and Jan. 2nd will receive a 300% premium for the holiday hours they work.
“To ensure we’re providing certainty for both our customers and team members, we’re doubling down on our efforts related to our schedule and staffing,” COO David Seymour said in a staff note on Friday. “On the schedule front, we’ve ensured that November and December are built to meet customer demand and that they are fully supportable by our staffing.”
The one-time premium for peak holiday travel periods is being offered to help American Airlines meet the expected consumer demand.
“We are welcoming back many team members and aggressively onboarding many new hires as well,” Seymour said. “Nearly 1,800 flight attendants have returned from leaves in Nov. and that’ll continue in
Dec. with 800 more.”
American adds that the airline anticipates 4,000 new team members will be joining the company in the fourth quarter and that they will have more than 600 new flight attendants join the team by the end of Dec.
This comes as the airline is still trying to replace furloughed flight attendants during the pandemic.