American Airlines Pilots ALL Get Christmas Off
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American Airlines Pilots ALL Get Christmas Off
Seems like this has happened somewhere else before 
:
Computer glitch mistakenly allows ALL American Airlines pilots to take break over Christmas - Mirror Online
:
Computer glitch mistakenly allows ALL American Airlines pilots to take break over Christmas
By Stephen Jones Assistant News Editor
18:52, 29 NOV 2017 Updated19:08, 29 NOV 2017
American Airlines says a computer glitch has mistakenly allowed ALL of its pilots to take break over the Christmas holidays.
The shock news of the foul-up is just breaking in the US, but it appears that the world-famous airline is scrambling tonight to find enough pilots to fill thousands of flights - and get people home to their families for Christmas.
Local media is reporting that 15,000 American Airlines flights have NO pilot between December 17th and the 31st - yet to be confirmed.
The union is reporting that "thousands of flights are in jeopardy of cancellation".
American has said that it is offering 1.5x pay for pilots to fill in, according to ABC News.
By Stephen Jones Assistant News Editor
18:52, 29 NOV 2017 Updated19:08, 29 NOV 2017
American Airlines says a computer glitch has mistakenly allowed ALL of its pilots to take break over the Christmas holidays.
The shock news of the foul-up is just breaking in the US, but it appears that the world-famous airline is scrambling tonight to find enough pilots to fill thousands of flights - and get people home to their families for Christmas.
Local media is reporting that 15,000 American Airlines flights have NO pilot between December 17th and the 31st - yet to be confirmed.
The union is reporting that "thousands of flights are in jeopardy of cancellation".
American has said that it is offering 1.5x pay for pilots to fill in, according to ABC News.
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An earlier possibly related news item:
American Airlines pilots upset with holiday bid schedule | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
American Airlines pilots upset with holiday bid schedule
By Andrea Ahles
[email protected]
November 18, 2016 02:44 PM
UPDATED November 18, 2016 06:00 PM
American Airlines pilots are upset about their December flight schedules, saying that the carrier’s computer software unfairly assigned high-seniority pilots to fly on Christmas.
In a hotline sent to 15,000 pilots on Thursday evening, the Allied Pilots Association said the problems occurred with the version of preferential bidding system software used to create the December schedules.
“It has been botched,” said Dan Carey, the union’s president, at a news briefing on Wednesday. “We have senior pilots who will be working over the holidays in December and junior pilots who will be off.”
According to the union, a newer version of the software that American received in November could have been used to avoid some of the seniority issues. However, American’s information technology team said the software had not been fully tested and senior management chose to use the older version.
Carey met with American’s chief executive Doug Parker on Wednesday to discuss possible remedies to the bid problems, the union said.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the December bid was run with the same software used for the November bid. The update to the software has not been fully tested for every scenario to make sure the algorithms properly address trip coverage, seniority and compliance with Federal Aviation Administration crew duty rules.
“We have reached out to APA to come up with solutions for anyone who has concerns with the December bid but so far APA has declined those offers,” Miller said.
By Andrea Ahles
[email protected]
November 18, 2016 02:44 PM
UPDATED November 18, 2016 06:00 PM
American Airlines pilots are upset about their December flight schedules, saying that the carrier’s computer software unfairly assigned high-seniority pilots to fly on Christmas.
In a hotline sent to 15,000 pilots on Thursday evening, the Allied Pilots Association said the problems occurred with the version of preferential bidding system software used to create the December schedules.
“It has been botched,” said Dan Carey, the union’s president, at a news briefing on Wednesday. “We have senior pilots who will be working over the holidays in December and junior pilots who will be off.”
According to the union, a newer version of the software that American received in November could have been used to avoid some of the seniority issues. However, American’s information technology team said the software had not been fully tested and senior management chose to use the older version.
Carey met with American’s chief executive Doug Parker on Wednesday to discuss possible remedies to the bid problems, the union said.
American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the December bid was run with the same software used for the November bid. The update to the software has not been fully tested for every scenario to make sure the algorithms properly address trip coverage, seniority and compliance with Federal Aviation Administration crew duty rules.
“We have reached out to APA to come up with solutions for anyone who has concerns with the December bid but so far APA has declined those offers,” Miller said.
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"American Airlines says a computer glitch has mistakenly allowed ALL of its pilots to take break over the Christmas holidays."
"Computer glitch" means no human will own up to the deed.
"Computer glitch" means no human will own up to the deed.
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Computer glitch? Surely one of the outputs of the system is a result of adequate pilots being assigned to roster the flights. A very simple, basic gross error check..
Clearly they have completely inadequate procedures in place as there would have been multiple opportunities to design safeguards into the system and prevent such a scenario.
Were I to be a shareholder, I would be asking some very tough questions of their CIO at the very least.
Clearly they have completely inadequate procedures in place as there would have been multiple opportunities to design safeguards into the system and prevent such a scenario.
Were I to be a shareholder, I would be asking some very tough questions of their CIO at the very least.
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More Fake News from ABC...
https://twitter.com/SweeneyABC/statu...42616167960576
Sam Sweeney ABC News
Verified account
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BREAKING: American Airlines says computer glitch allowed all pilots to take vacation over Christmas week. Now union says thousands of flights are in jeopardy of cancellation. Americans says they’re offering 1.5x pay for pilots to fill in and expect to resolve the issue.
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BREAKING: American Airlines says computer glitch allowed all pilots to take vacation over Christmas week. Now union says thousands of flights are in jeopardy of cancellation. Americans says they’re offering 1.5x pay for pilots to fill in and expect to resolve the issue.
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Holy crap, what a load of rubbish.
The trip trade system glitched for a few hours. Our trips in the TTS show as either red or green. Green means you can dump the trip into open time or dump it and get paid out of vacation time. Red means no drops, “you will get nothing and like it”.
The east coast and Midwest domiciles were able to take advantage if they were fortunate enough to be online to catch the mistake. West coasters and PHX never saw the windfall because someone woke up from their nap and pushed the button to turn off the system.
The result of this is that some people dumped their schedule into open time. Christmas and New Year’s Eve just received some more open trips available. What the company has done has been to announce the fleets and bases that have the most uncovered trips will see 150% pay to cover those trips. That incentive, plus the huge amount of reserves in the second half of the month will ensure that the trips get flown. Crew tracking and scheduling will be in a frenzy but in the end I expect no flights to cancel.
It’s funny, I saw my calendar that day and the green trips and I didn’t bother to drop any. I’m flying back home Christmas Day and I liked my schedule already.
The trip trade system glitched for a few hours. Our trips in the TTS show as either red or green. Green means you can dump the trip into open time or dump it and get paid out of vacation time. Red means no drops, “you will get nothing and like it”.
The east coast and Midwest domiciles were able to take advantage if they were fortunate enough to be online to catch the mistake. West coasters and PHX never saw the windfall because someone woke up from their nap and pushed the button to turn off the system.
The result of this is that some people dumped their schedule into open time. Christmas and New Year’s Eve just received some more open trips available. What the company has done has been to announce the fleets and bases that have the most uncovered trips will see 150% pay to cover those trips. That incentive, plus the huge amount of reserves in the second half of the month will ensure that the trips get flown. Crew tracking and scheduling will be in a frenzy but in the end I expect no flights to cancel.
It’s funny, I saw my calendar that day and the green trips and I didn’t bother to drop any. I’m flying back home Christmas Day and I liked my schedule already.
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cactusbusdrvr -- saw a pilot's union spokesman on the news last night who seemed eager to stick it to AA, talking rubbish about the airline making this 150% pay offer without "getting into a conversation with the union" and "contract violations." Is he serious?
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The union always wants to stick it to the company in my observation.
I think one of the issues is that American would like to offer more than 150% ensure coverage on some flights but that would not be contractual. Also, the 150% offer may not be kosher under the CBA (the union contract) without a side letter from the APA (the union).
From the union's website:
https://www.alliedpilots.org/News/ID...duling-Failure
I think one of the issues is that American would like to offer more than 150% ensure coverage on some flights but that would not be contractual. Also, the 150% offer may not be kosher under the CBA (the union contract) without a side letter from the APA (the union).
From the union's website:
Holiday Scheduling Failure
posted on November 28, 2017 18:29
On Friday, management disclosed a failure within the pilot schedule bidding system. As a result, thousands of flights currently do not have pilots assigned to fly them during the upcoming critical holiday period.
Today, management issued an update detailing the “significant holes” in the operation and unilaterally invoked a solution for crewing affected flights.
Management’s actions are in direct violation of your contract.
APA has responded by filing a Presidential Grievance (Carey Presidential Grievance No.17-187).
Because management unilaterally created their solution in violation of the contract, neither APA nor the contract can guarantee the promised payment of the premium being offered.
Important to note: By not including APA in developing collaborative solutions to this critical holiday scheduling failure, management’s actions contrast with their handling of previous scheduling failures involving other work groups. This stands in direct opposition to the company mantra of “Validating the Trust” and the stated goal of making culture a competitive advantage. Management’s actions likewise jeopardize any collaborative effort to ensure our passengers have a pilot crew to take them to their important holiday events.
posted on November 28, 2017 18:29
On Friday, management disclosed a failure within the pilot schedule bidding system. As a result, thousands of flights currently do not have pilots assigned to fly them during the upcoming critical holiday period.
Today, management issued an update detailing the “significant holes” in the operation and unilaterally invoked a solution for crewing affected flights.
Management’s actions are in direct violation of your contract.
APA has responded by filing a Presidential Grievance (Carey Presidential Grievance No.17-187).
Because management unilaterally created their solution in violation of the contract, neither APA nor the contract can guarantee the promised payment of the premium being offered.
Important to note: By not including APA in developing collaborative solutions to this critical holiday scheduling failure, management’s actions contrast with their handling of previous scheduling failures involving other work groups. This stands in direct opposition to the company mantra of “Validating the Trust” and the stated goal of making culture a competitive advantage. Management’s actions likewise jeopardize any collaborative effort to ensure our passengers have a pilot crew to take them to their important holiday events.
cactusbusdrvr -- saw a pilot's union spokesman on the news last night who seemed eager to stick it to AA, talking rubbish about the airline making this 150% pay offer without "getting into a conversation with the union" and "contract violations." Is he serious?
Are you a commercial pilot?
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More spin control from American and the pilots' union:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.f1f7a79ab3e2
American Airlines says ‘only a few hundred’ flights are without pilots; union maintains thousands remain unassigned
By Lori Aratani November 30 at 1:32 PM
American Airlines on Thursday sought to reassure nervous passengers that the majority of flights scheduled during the busy December travel season will operate as planned — despite a computer glitch that left more than 15,000 flights without pilots and in danger of being canceled.
“Out of the 200,000 flights American will operate in December, only a few hundred are currently unassigned to pilots,” airline spokesman Matt Miller said. “That number of open flights continues to decrease thanks to our pilots who are stepping up to the plate and picking up trips to ensure customers are taken care of.”
Miller added that the airline generally keeps a higher number of reserve pilots on hand in December, which will enable them to cover flights that are understaffed.
However a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines pilots, disputed the number.
“We remain seriously concerned about the potential for significant schedule disruption for our passengers, pilots, and fellow employees during the critical holiday travel season,” the statement says.
According to a company memo obtained by The Washington Post, the bulk of the flights affected are at the airline’s biggest hub in Dallas-Fort Worth. But flights at Washington’s Reagan National, Boston’s Logan International, Miami International, New York’s LaGuardia, Philadelphia International, Salt Lake City International and Charlotte Douglas International airports are also affected.
APA said Tuesday they were informed of the scheduling issues Friday and were told the airline planned to pay the pilots 150 percent of their normal hourly rate if they would agree to cover the unassigned shifts. The union, however, cautioned pilots about taking the deal saying in a statement that they could not guarantee that the pilots would actually be paid the higher rate.
Miller declined to say how many flights were affected by the scheduling problems, but Capt. Dennis Tajer, a APA spokesman said more than 15,000 were affected. American operates roughly 6,700 flights a day. Most of the flights affected were for travel between Dec. 17 and Dec. 31.
By Lori Aratani November 30 at 1:32 PM
American Airlines on Thursday sought to reassure nervous passengers that the majority of flights scheduled during the busy December travel season will operate as planned — despite a computer glitch that left more than 15,000 flights without pilots and in danger of being canceled.
“Out of the 200,000 flights American will operate in December, only a few hundred are currently unassigned to pilots,” airline spokesman Matt Miller said. “That number of open flights continues to decrease thanks to our pilots who are stepping up to the plate and picking up trips to ensure customers are taken care of.”
Miller added that the airline generally keeps a higher number of reserve pilots on hand in December, which will enable them to cover flights that are understaffed.
However a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents 15,000 American Airlines pilots, disputed the number.
“We remain seriously concerned about the potential for significant schedule disruption for our passengers, pilots, and fellow employees during the critical holiday travel season,” the statement says.
According to a company memo obtained by The Washington Post, the bulk of the flights affected are at the airline’s biggest hub in Dallas-Fort Worth. But flights at Washington’s Reagan National, Boston’s Logan International, Miami International, New York’s LaGuardia, Philadelphia International, Salt Lake City International and Charlotte Douglas International airports are also affected.
APA said Tuesday they were informed of the scheduling issues Friday and were told the airline planned to pay the pilots 150 percent of their normal hourly rate if they would agree to cover the unassigned shifts. The union, however, cautioned pilots about taking the deal saying in a statement that they could not guarantee that the pilots would actually be paid the higher rate.
Miller declined to say how many flights were affected by the scheduling problems, but Capt. Dennis Tajer, a APA spokesman said more than 15,000 were affected. American operates roughly 6,700 flights a day. Most of the flights affected were for travel between Dec. 17 and Dec. 31.
