DALLAS — American Airlines discriminates against female flight attendants through strict guidelines not imposed on other members of the crew that are predominantly male, the union that represents American's flight attendants alleged Friday morning.
The union, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, plans on filing a charge against American Airlines Group Inc. with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming the carrier discriminates on the basis on sex, union representatives told the Dallas Business Journal.
“We deserve the same respect and professionalism as our other crewmembers, regardless of our gender, and it is unacceptable that American Airlines is perpetuating this gender disparity in 2019," Lori Bassani, APFA president, said in a prepared statement. The union represents more than 27,000 flight attendants, with 5,700 of them based in DFW.
The union takes umbrage with an attendance policy it deems is unfair, and pointed out that American Airlines pilots are not held to the same standard. The majority of pilots for the Fort Worth carrier are men, while approximately 75 percent of flight attendants are women, the union said.
An American spokesperson said the airline has not reviewed the the APFA's filing, but it categorically denied any allegation of gender discrimination in its policies.
"Like nearly all Fortune 100 companies, we have attendance policies that support our 24/7 operation," the spokesperson said. "Our policy is designed to provide support and flexibility for our 27,000 flight attendants to give them latitude in managing their time away from work.
The carrier assigns flight attendants points for absences from work. The union said a new attendance policy was implemented Oct. 1, 2018, increased both the attendance point levels and how quickly attendance points are accrued.
If a flight attendant accrued enough points, he or she could be reprimanded or eventually terminated. The policy was immediately met with harsh derision from the union when it was announced last fall.
This Friday announcement comes after the two sides have butted heads on a couple of different issues recently.
The union plans to picket at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Dallas this week where American is hosting a leadership conference to protest the changes.
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