10
Loading video...
By Amanda Greenwood
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
American Airlines has introduced a new performance-monitoring system for flight attendants that is drawing scrutiny from labor advocates and raising broader questions about employee surveillance in the modern workplace. The platform, known internally as Me@Work, assigns flight attendants a score based on a range of workplace metrics collected over the previous 12 months.
...
The system incorporates data including:
Read More on News
- Passenger satisfaction surveys
- Attendance records
- Operational performance measures
- Flight-attendant-related delays
- Compliance with company procedures
- Microsoft Teams usage
- Electronic flight bag compliance
- Timeliness of incident reports
Rather than a disciplinary mechanism, American Airlines has described Me@Work as an informational and developmental tool intended to provide flight attendants with insight into their operational and customer-service performance, according to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), which represents American Airlines flight attendants.
Why the System Is Controversial
...
Critics argue that many of the metrics used in the scoring system may be influenced by circumstances beyond a flight attendant's control.
Passenger survey results, for example, can be affected by delayed flights, malfunctioning Wi-Fi, catering issues, aircraft cleanliness and other factors unrelated to the performance of individual crew members. Flight attendants have also questioned how "operational contribution" is measured and whether workers could be unfairly penalized for wider airline operational problems.
APFA has also raised concerns over transparency surrounding the scoring process and the underlying data used to generate employee ratings. The union argues that workers should be able to review, challenge, and correct information that affects their scores, adding: “We continue to have the right to dispute any attendance, performance, or disciplinary issue, including anything that may arise from or reflect on our record as a Flight Attendant, regardless [of] how that information is obtained.”
Why California Privacy Law Has Entered the Debate
The controversy has become particularly notable in California because of the state's expansive privacy protections.
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), grants California residents—including employees of many businesses—the right to know what personal information is being collected, how it’s being used, to access that data, and to request corrections of inaccurate information.
The law also requires businesses to provide notice regarding data collection practices.
According to the CPPA, Californians have the right to know, correct, and delete certain personal information, while businesses must inform individuals about how their data is collected and used.
APFA has indicated that it’s seeking additional information about how Me@Work operates and has stressed the importance of ensuring flight attendants can challenge performance-related information reflected in their records.
The airline, meanwhile, may contend that it has already provided appropriate notices and remains compliant with applicable requirements.
No regulator has publicly concluded that the airline violated California law.
A Test Case for the Future of Workplace Surveillance
...
The dispute over American Airlines' Me@Work platform arrives as employers across industries collect unprecedented amounts of worker data.
While businesses argue such systems can improve accountability and operational performance, employee advocates increasingly question how performance scores are generated, whether workers can challenge them, and what role automated tools should play in evaluating people.
For now, the debate surrounding American Airlines' flight attendant ratings system appears to be less about aviation and more about a much larger question confronting workplaces nationwide: how much monitoring is too much?
Newsweek has contacted American Airlines via email to establish exactly what data is used to generate employee scores, whether employees can review and challenge their scores, and whether their scores will ever be used for compensation, promotion, or discipline.
Newsweek has also contacted three American Airlines flight attendants for comments on the Me@Work app.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Cristina Diciu.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines