1,000 signatures reached
To: DOUG PARKER, AMERICAN AIRLINES
Buddy Passes Fly As D2 When Traveling With The Employee
At America West Airlines AND US Airways if a family member or friend were traveling on a Buddy Pass they always moved up to the employees priority with the exception of when an employee was using a vacation pass. Now that we are the largest airline in the world an employee traveling with their grandchild, a friend or if we want to take a family trip which includes our child who is 24 years of age or older, the buddy pass traveler may be left behind.
Why is this important?
Buddy Passes many times are used when traveling with a friend or family member. In most instances, as the employee we wouldn't leave them behind. Many employees fly to another city to pick up their grandchild for a week, or a parent who is divorced can't guarantee that their step-child will still be able to travel with them when they could previously because the parents were married. We are now the largest airline in the world and the chances of our companion traveling with us are almost nil.
It also causes havoc at the gate. An employee (D2) is #5 on the list and the buddy pass traveler (D3) is #13 on the list. The employee informs the gate that they won't go if they can't get their pass traveler with them. It adds undue pressure on the Gate Agent as they try to accommodate everyone while still waiting to check bags, release seats for no shows, get non-revs seated and get the plane out on time OR when no seats are available, unseat the employee and give the seat to #14 on the list.
America West and US Airways always had this benefit, only to lose it in the merger with American Airlines. So many things were lost to the "AA way" and we feel it would be nice to have this one benefit back, not only for the employee but to alleviate undue stress while controlling a flight in an already hectic environment. In the airline industry we are all family, so shouldn't we be able to fly with our "real family," too?
