Frontier Airlines Controversy: Passengers happy, flight attendants 'furious'

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Frontier Airlines Controversy: Passengers happy, flight attendants 'furious'

Thu 04 Apr, 2024 - MSN News
by Jeffrey Quiggle

Quote

"One day trips mean flight attendants will have to pay for more hotel nights in base or spend more nights in a crash pad with multiple other crewmembers,"

For travellers, one of the most surefire ways for a trip to have an unfortunate start is to encounter an airplane delay or cancellation of a flight.

Data released for 2023 revealed the best airlines for on-time performance. And one carrier that did not make the top five quickly made some changes in 2024 that are stirring controversy.

Performance results for North American airlines released by aviation analytics experts at Cirium showed that Delta Air Lines  was first in 2023 with an on-time percentage of 84.72%.

Alaska Airlines came in second at 82.25% and American Airlines was third with an on-time percentage of 80.61%.

Rounding out the top five were United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Frontier Airlines, however, came in eighth on the list — with an on-time rate of 68.68% — and that was apparently enough to trigger some major scheduling changes.

Frontier Airlines' changes anger its flight attendants

While any efforts made to reduce delays and cancellations will please Frontier's passengers, its flight attendants are upset over the developments.

It turns out that Frontier is reworking its flying schedules so its airplanes do more out-and-back flights, rather than flying all around the routes in its system.

"That way, when a plane breaks down or there's bad weather in a city, the effect is localized instead of creating delays and cancellations for them all over the country," wrote Gary Leff of View From the Wing. 

One might expect that among the flight attendants' larger complaints would be that extended trips take them away from home for too long. But that is not the sentiment that is being reported.

The anger seems to be about a change in lifestyle for the ultra-low-cost airline's flight attendants, including financial challenges they anticipate. Leff wrote that they are "furious" about the move.

In fact, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) union calls the changes to Frontier's business model "drastic" and notified the airline's management on April 3 that it is disputing the plan under the Railway Labor Act.

"Management has announced it intends to shift operational scheduling to over 90% one-day turns which would drastically impact the compensation, out of pocket costs, and time at work without additional pay," read a statement from the AFA. "The current collective bargaining agreement does not properly address the effect of this business model change."

Frontier's flight attendants outline their specific complaints

Points of contention identified by the AFA include the fact that one-day trips are worth less pay for flight attendants than multi-day trips.

Importantly, their compensation is structured around flight hours and time away from home.

The union also cites the fact that the majority of current Frontier flight attendants travel to work by air or by driving more than 90 miles to an airport.

"One day trips mean flight attendants will have to pay for more hotel nights in base or spend more nights in a crash pad with multiple other crewmembers," the AFA wrote. "In most cases it means more nights away from families as the turns reduce commuting opportunities at the start or conclusion of work assignments."

"This is a significantly higher cost pushed to flight attendants and disrupts personal commitments at home," the AFA continued. "Local flight attendants will spend more money on gas and car repairs/wear and tear with more trips to the airport."

Also included in the statement is the fact that per diem on one-day trips is taxed, while a worker, identified as away from home on multi-day trips, is not not taxed while away.