TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin AA flight attendants strike?

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We're planning on going to St Croix the first week in August, so this is looking a little dicey to me. Hopefully they get it settled.

Carol, is there another airline you could fly? Although, that may not matter because on the news hubby heard not just AA but all are considering a mass strike.

A lot can happen between now and August. Hopefully they get it resolved as I travel in early August as well.

Our AA flight returns from SXM is July 24. 3 day cooling o period makes it close.

Rosemary--not for St Croix, no. The good thing, I guess, is that we are going to visit Eric's brother, who is living there now. So rescheduling accommodation would be easy. Just out the cost of our insurance, possibly.

CaribLee--agreed. The thing is, it definitely will take a while from here to see if in fact they do strike, but the timing, if it does happen, seems to indicate around beginning of August.

Scuba--I think you will be OK regardless, as they won't declare an impasse that soon, one would think.

We're celebrating our milestone birthdays with an Alaska cruise that starts in late August. I sure hope this is resolved before then!

Carol, may not be the most direct route but Spirit flies into St Thomas and I believe there's still a ferry to St Croix. Just something to consider as a backup.

Although Spirit isn't our first choice, we did that to get to St John. Others in our travel party very anti Spirit, took USAir and had all kinds of things happen: delays, lost luggage. But all air lines are a crap shoot.

That's a 30 day cooling off period, not 3.

Rosemary--No, as in H*ll no. I think there are other ways to get to STT from here other than Spirit, plus the ferry from STT to STX is something like two HOURS. Regardless, if AA goes on strike, we will just reschedule for another date, as trying to get air on anything else last minute would be horrendous. STX does not have nearly the volume of flights that SXM has, and it's not like the other USVI's, where ferries are very quick between them.

A two ferry tide would not be an alternative for me.

Correct. I knew that and missed putting the 0 behind the 3.

There is a sea plane that flies several times a day from STT to Christiansted

Have done it on a sea plane, a lot of years ago, guessing about 1977. What our country does not need right now is an airline strike of any kind. Flight attendant work hours rules are possibly the weirdest set up rules there are, they need to change.

If you fly out of Orlando (MCO), you do have two other options other than AA or Spirit. Delta has a flight that goes from MCO to Atlanta and then non-stop to St. Croix for $520 pp. This is Delta's main cabin fare which lets you choose your seat. Frontier has a non-stop flight from MCO to St. Croix for $295 pp. This is their premium bundle fare with extra legroom and no change fees. These fares are for travel departing on August 3 and returning on August 10.

DavidMartha--sorry, not interested in a connecting flight. And I would seriously doubt Frontier. They have a big reputation for cancelling flights. We will see what happens, as time gets closer. Wendell--yeah, Eric might be interested in "the whale", but we'll see.

I completely agree!

No progress on AA flight attendant situation.

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This is interesting.
"Even after the cooling-off period, the federal government could block a strike under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries based on the government's authority over interstate commerce. The union could also choose to postpone a strike or use other tactics after the cooling-off period ends."

It's in the best interest of everyone to avoid a strike for the many reasons mentioned in the article. I suspect a strike does not happen and if it does, it won't last long.

Like all other travelers I hope a strike can be avoided. There was a time when the job of flight attendant was glamorous - not so much today. Flight crews used to overnight in SXM and stay at the Sonesta in Maho. Now the schedules have been arranged so the crews fly back the same day - putting in 14hr plus days. Between dealing with rude, unruly, entitled passengers and management whose job is to maximize profits, flight attendants can find few percs and less glamour in their jobs. They also have to face irate customers over situations over which they have no control. I truly hope a strike can be avoided, but I also hope the attendants get a great settlement.

We are scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Ireland in the beginning of August, on American; so I hope that there is no strike. There is a later non-stop PHL-DUB flight on Aer Lingus, but their pilots just announced a slow down strike.

It was reported yesterday that the airline and the union have reached a tentative agreement.

Good news.