American Airlines Asks Workers To Volunteer For No Pay During Summer Travel Surge

American Airlines is asking its employees to volunteer their time in order to help with the increase in travelers over the summer. 

The airline is requesting that its headquarters employees volunteer at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport this summer as more people head out of town to travel after the pandemic. 

“As we look forward to welcoming back more of our customers this summer, we know they’re counting on us to deliver a reliable operation and help them feel comfortable as they return after many months away from traveling,” American Airlines spokeswoman Sarah Jantz said in a statement, per the Tampa Bay Times. “That’s something our front-line teams are experts on as they regularly go above and beyond to take care of our customers. To ensure they have the support they need this summer and beyond, our corporate support teams will provide additional support at DFW.”

According to the Times, American Airlines isn’t making its workers volunteer, but if they do give up their time, they won’t be paid for the additional effort. They also must work the extra hours when they are not carrying out their regular requirements.

They will mostly provide assistance to airline customers who need help. “The volunteers will be there to supplement full-time workers such as gate and ticketing agents, and the airline is only expecting to use the volunteers during the busiest period, from June until mid-August,” the outlet noted.

According to Business Insider, American Airlines sliced 30% of its staff, which involved firing around 1,500 people. In April, the airlines said that it “expects to fly more than 90% of its domestic seat capacity compared to summer 2019 and 80% of its international seat capacity compared to 2019.”

Last month, Delta also asked some of its employees to help out at its Sky Club lounges in the Atlanta airport. The workers will not be given any payment for giving their time and effort, either.

As reported by Bloomberg, “Delta sent the request through internal channels to Atlanta salaried and management employees — or headquarters workers — who make up the pool of eligible volunteers, the airline said.” Per the request, the clubs didn’t have 115 workers that were needed.

“Just come to the ATL airport for a few hours to help with cleaning, wiping tables, running food, restocking food buffets, etc,” the company reportedly said in its message to workers. It gave them instructions on what to wear and said that it would also give them aprons. 

“We have asked Atlanta-based, salaried employees to volunteer in our Atlanta Delta Sky Clubs to help meet the rapid, recent increases in customer volumes and ensure that our teams continuously deliver the elevated club experiences our customers have come to expect,” the carrier said in a statement.

Delta said that there would be a limitation of three days per worker for each month, noting, “Ideally we’ll be working each week to fill volunteer slots for the following week.”

Last weekend, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported 1,681,192 travelers on Saturday with 1,984,658 travelers reported on Sunday. Last year, over the same days, there were 353,016 people and 441,255 people, respectively. 

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