Thousands of American Airlines flight attendants were left without hotel accommodations during Winter Storm Fern, prompting union criticism and reimbursement efforts by the airline.
One of the most solid understandings between airlines and their crewmembers is that they’ll have hotel rooms when they’re away from their base.
When last week’s winter storm snarled airline traffic across the country, thousands of American Airlines flight attendants did not have hotel rooms, and the airline has begun the process of compensating those who found alternative accommodations on their own. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents the airline’s flight attendants, said in an Instagram post that “constitutes the company’s acknowledgement that it failed to uphold the Collective Bargaining Agreement during Winter Storm Fern.”
In the midst of the storm, APFA published a hotline reminding flight attendants of their contractual rights: “Flight Attendants are bearing the brunt of the company’s inability to recover the operation in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern. Many are stranded with no hotels and broken [trip] sequences that the company has been unable to repair. It is the company’s job to take care of and support you while you are on a trip. The company’s most basic obligation per CBA 6.B is to provide hotel accommodations.”
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A Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) governs the responsibilities of both a company and its workers, and the CBA between American and APFA has numerous thresholds for when the company must provide hotel rooms for flight attendants, whether they’re scheduled to overnight during their trip or flight delays or cancellations force an unanticipated overnight stop.
Airlines typically reserve a set number of rooms each night as part of their contract with a crew hotel, and they also make contingencies for additional rooms—either at the same hotel or an alternate—in the event of delays or cancellations. Airlines also contract transportation between the airport and hotels. APFA’s contract with American provides for compensation for flight attendants in the event transportation runs late or there are delays in securing hotel accommodations.
In a Facebook post, flight attendant Heather Poole noted that flight attendants were on hold with American for hours during the storm.
“Flight attendants are displaced due to the winter storm and can’t get hotel rooms. They’re on hold for hours trying to get through to tracking to find out what to do after their flight cancels. We used to have a hotel department but now it’s a third-party source or it’s ‘handle it yourself and we’ll reimburse you’ eventually, maybe, one day. Meanwhile pilots are taken care of, or can afford to pay for $500 rooms during a winter storm. It’s sad to see how bad things are today.”
Poole, a veteran flight attendant, wrote about her experiences in the industry in her 2012 book Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet.
Rest requirements are built into pilot and flight attendant contracts not only for their comfort, but because crew member fatigue has been identified as a safety risk. The agreements set out minimum standards for crew accommodations, and many contracts stipulate that crew rooms must be placed away from noise sources such as elevators, ice machines, or renovations.
On January 26 in a letter to customers, American’s Chief Customer Officer Heather Garboden acknowledged the scope of the storm and its impact to both passengers and workers.
“Five of our nine hubs have been significantly impacted by this large and disruptive storm. Our largest hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), which touches a significant number of the flights we operate each day, was hit particularly hard with record-setting conditions. Fern is also impacting cities that don’t typically have the infrastructure in place to manage these conditions, which in turn has led to staffing issues as team members plus vendor and federal partners struggle to make their way on the roads.”
The storm disrupted American’s operations during a particularly fraught period in relations with APFA. On January 27, the union responded to the airlines release of its 4th Quarter and Full Year 2025 earnings by writing a letter calling for the ouster of the company’s management team, pointing to similar revenues but superior profit at competitors Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
“Employees see the reality every day,” the letter states. “Long-overdue upgrades to onboard products are welcomed, but they cannot make up for poor strategic decisions or an uncompetitive hard product. While we are happy to see leadership upgrade our premium cabins, our coach cabins, where many of our most loyal customers are seated, are outdated, uncomfortable, and far from competitive.”
“Lack of investment in the product has left American years behind its competitors, forcing employees to absorb the consequences and apologize for management’s inaction as leadership delivers the same lackluster results, quarter after quarter.”