Rank and File Mechanics Actions at American Airlines

It comes as no surprise when word of airlines mistreating their employees appear in the news. Anyone from front line i.e. ticket agents, gate agents and ramp agents, pilots and flight attendants, even down to the very people who are given the greatest task of all in keeping the aircrafts running safely – the mechanics. Until recently, in January 2020 when the mechanics union TWU-IAM Association were able to come to a tentative $4.2 billion agreement. One that took countless fighting, millions of dollars in delayed and canceled flights and one man’s freedom. Last May 2019, mechanics at American Airlines made a threat for what they called the “bloodiest, ugliest battle” in labor history. It would be another seven months before the agreement would be reached and, in that time, mechanics had a plan of their own. American Airlines accused the unions representing their mechanics of purposeful slowdowns in maintenance repairs as a way of beating the airline into submission.

The subsequent cost of these actions were more than 900 flight cancelations and countless delays in the course of only two months. In addition to working slowly, mechanics would write up issues that may otherwise be left unchecked until a major overhaul effectively grounding the aircraft until repairs could be made. This came at a time when the Boeing 737 MAX jets were grounded and airlines were already scrambling to re-accommodate flights with their remaining fleet. In American’s court filing they claimed the unions had caused them “enormous financial losses and untold harm in lost customer good will”.