American Airlines Writes Another Check to Solve Another Problem

Last week, American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) and its pilots union revealed that as many as 15,000 December flights didn't have a full crew of pilots assigned. This raised the specter of a reputation-busting surge in flight cancellations later this month.

Fortunately for its customers, American Airlines has reached an agreement with its pilots union that will keep its holiday flights in late December fully staffed. Unfortunately, the carrier had to pay a steep price to correct its error. This will extend its unseemly trend of rapid cost inflation.

Airline crew scheduling procedures are extremely complex, particularly for large carriers. Pilots and flight attendants can put in detailed preferences for when and where they want to fly. Airlines have computer systems that reconcile those preferences with staffing needs, ensuring that every flight is fully staffed and that there are adequate reserve crews to account for potential delays, cancellations, illness, etc. More senior pilots and flight attendants have priority in terms of getting the schedules they want.

Source: Fool.com