American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) recently experienced a glitch with its scheduling platform, which ultimately allowed pilots to drop thousands of July flights, according to the pilots union. The malfunction comes as a huge inconvenience to the airline that has strived to minimize flight disruptions throughout the high-demand season.
According to an American Spokesperson, the issue will not cause any flight cancellations and it will have no impact on future operations.
“As a result of this technical glitch, certain trip trading transactions were able to be processed when it shouldn’t have been permitted. We have already restored the vast majority of the affected trips and do not anticipate any operational impact because of this issue,” they added.
Nevertheless, the circumstance has brought to light tension between the carrier and its pilots. The union and airline are now in discussions regarding additional pay for pilots whose dropped trips were reinstated, the Allied Pilots Association said.
“Once again, AA’s operational mismanagement is at the heart of an issue that will soon go public,” Allied Pilots Association President Ed Sicher. “We have been here before. There is an immediate benefit to agreeing on a win-win solution to finally fixing our trip trade system, a problem essential to improving our quality of life.”
American has yet to comment on Sicher’s message.