American Airlines scheduling glitch allows pilots to drop thousands of flights

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American Airlines scheduling glitch allows pilots to drop thousands of flights

#1 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat Jul 02, 2022 11:22 pm

American Airlines scheduling glitch allows pilots to drop thousands of flights :-o #-o
More than 12,000 July flights lacked either a captain, first officer or both, after pilots dropped assignments, the Allied Pilots Association said earlier.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/am ... -rcna36475

A glitch in a scheduling platform allowed American Airlines pilots to drop thousands of trips in July last night, their union said Saturday, a headache for the airline as it tries to minimize flight disruptions during a booming travel season.

American confirmed the issue and said it didn’t expect the problem to affect its operation, including during the July Fourth holiday weekend.

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

More than 12,000 July flights lacked either a captain, first officer or both, after pilots dropped assignments, the Allied Pilots Association said earlier.

Pilots can routinely drop or pick up trips, but time off in the summer or holidays is hard to come by for airline employees as schedules peak to cater to strong demand.

On Saturday alone, American had more than 3,000 mainline flights scheduled and they were 93% full, according to an internal tally. Flights left unstaffed, however, are an additional strain on any airline.

The glitch occurred during a rocky start to the Fourth of July weekend when thunderstorms and staffing issues caused thousands of U.S. flight delays and hundreds of cancellations.

PP

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