Why does American Airlines plan to cancel year end voluntary Leaves for Flight Attendants ?

Will Aviation Recover Fully by Year End ?

American Airlines sees it big, riding on a positive air travel outlook, it wants to reinforce its resources to meet the travel demand.

• Airlines are getting back to profitability for the first time since the pandemic struck.
•  American Airlines is positive, it forecasts for a “slight” second-quarter pretax profit.
• American expects revenue in the second quarter to be 2.5 percentage points higher than its prior forecast and predicted lower operating costs.
• The airline also said it was profitable in June for the first time since December 2019.

Now, American Airlines is planning to cancel the 'voluntary leaves' taken by its flight attendants in November, December and January, as it expects a manpower crunch in the upcoming months.

Dallas Monring news reports, Association of Professional Flight Attendants wrote to its 28,000 members, it’s unclear how many leaves will be canceled.

However, it is understood that, a July 2020 agreement between the American airline and the union permits the carrier to cancel or reduce leaves with at least 60 days notice if a need for more flight attendants arises.

Higher management is all charged up , executives are expeccting strong turn around by the year end , they would definitely won't miss the chance after heavily bleeding in the historical year of 2020.

“We are clearly moving in the right direction,” said CEO Doug Parker and president Robert Isom in a letter to employees.

These 'Voluntary leaves' were sort of breather for the carriers across the globe to minimize the losses last year, when air travel came to a standstill.

Practice was industry wde, the airline offered pilots voluntary leaves ranging from a month to six months and up to a year for flight attendants.

Both groups were also offered early retirement packages, But its a different world now, specifically due to the summer holidays.

• In April and May of last year, 4,800 pilots were given leaves and 715 were granted early retirement. Some 7,200 flight attendants took leave and 760 retired early.

Over one year after the company gave about a third of its staff leaves and retirement packages, American is getting back in the race as flights started filling up again in March and the company reported generating income in June, the first month in over a year.

On Tuesday, American Airlines said it’s on track toward recovery, boasting multiple company bests in a quarterly investor update.

The airline has gone from losing $100 million a day at the height of the pandemic to making $1 million a day in the three-month period from April through June, according to a letter to employees from CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom.

Apart from fresh recruitment efforts, the company already recalled a number of furloughed flight attendants before the summer travel season.