American Airlines Corrects Pilot Scheduling Glitch Threatening 12,000 Flights

A crisis of over 12,000 flight cancelations was closely avoided.


Photo by Simple Flying

Over 12,000 flights were dropped by pilots of American Airlines over the 4th of July weekend. This happened due to a glitch in the airlines' scheduling system which has now been fixed. Had this glitch remained, the already turbulent weekend for air travel would have been made even worse.

Read more: American Airlines Eyes Return To Cuba

A flawed system

On July 2nd, American Airlines noticed a massive amount of flights being removed from pilots' schedules. The source of this liquidation was found to be a glitch in the scheduling system. In total, an estimated 12,075 flights were dropped according to the Allied Pilots Association. Following the correction of the technical error, all pilots who had their flights dropped were reassigned to those same services.

The airline addressed this issue stating that no flights were affected by this and that it will have no effect on future operations. A spokesperson for American said,

“As a result of this technical glitch, certain trip trading transactions were able to be processed when it shouldn’t have been permitted. We have already restored the vast majority of the affected trips and do not anticipate any operational impact because of this issue.”

The correction of this glitch could not have come at a better time. Amid a busy travel weekend with cancellations being the latest trend, news of thousands of cancellations later in the month would seem catastrophic to any airline. However, the glitch did manage to raise an alarming question. Why did all of those pilots want to drop their flights in the first place?

A discontent workforce

The fact that so many pilots dropped their flights in such a short period has brought to light much of the discontent shared among American Airlines pilots. The drop in flights shows that the pilots wish to cut back their schedules to avoid overwork and promote a healthier work-life balance.

American Airlines like most Airlines pays their pilots per flight hour. Except for reserve pay, this means that if flights are dropped, the pilots will be paid less. This shows just how important a healthy work-life balance is to pilots - they show their willingness to sacrifice pay for time off.

The airline has recently raised pay for its pilots significantly. This follows a notable rise in pay for its regional flight crews. Even amidst this pay rise, American Airlines has failed to win over the hearts of its pilots in an attempt to encourage more work for more pay. Ed Sicher, president of the Allied Pilots Association addressed the discrepancies brought to light by the recent event. He stated,

“Let’s hope that given the crisis they have once again created, they can now see the wisdom in collaboratively working on immediate solutions,”

The fourth of July weekend was hectic for air travel amid so many delays and cancelations. American Airlines also had to deal with a scare of over 12,000 flights being dropped by pilots for later in the month. But this issue was resolved almost as quickly as it arose. Nonetheless, the discontent of the airlines' pilots was put on full display amid this closely averted crisis.