Productivity is an important component of the cost equation – it is the amount of the employer’s products or services provided by each employee in a given period of time. For example, Car Company “A” is able to build 10 cars per hour, while Car Company “B” produces eight cars per hour. Both have the same fixed costs and number of employees and achieve the same level of quality in their product. However, in this comparison, Company “A” has achieved higher productivity. The power of productivity enables Company “A” to be more profitable and to more highly compensate its employees than Company “B,” while maintaining balanced labor costs, thus producing the product for the same or lower cost.

For flight attendants, productivity is measured by metrics such as the number of hours actually flown during a month as well as the number of hours that are paid but not flown. This includes credit duty rigs (work rules), paid sick time, paid vacation time, etc.

When compared to other large carriers, American flight attendants fly among the fewest hours per month, but are compensated (wages, benefits, pension, etc.) among the highest. During contract negotiations, American plans to explore the full range of issues that drive productivity.