Airline Manager Refuses To Pay Employee An Extra $1.75 An Hour, Ends Up Costing Thousands In Delays

Sometimes, cutting corners can cost you a whole lot more than you bargained for. One airport baggage handler found out the hard way when his supervisor tried to save a few bucks by not paying for the lead work he’d already been doing.

What followed was a series of events that caused the airline to lose thousands of dollars in extra fuel, overtime, and passenger compensation, all because a supervisor didn’t want to fork out an extra $10.50. Keep reading to see how one small decision turned into a costly mistake for the airline.

A supervisor refuses to pay an employee $10.50 to be a lead, costing the airline thousands in delays and overtime

The protagonist, a part-time baggage handler at a major airline, was working under a hybrid role, handling bags and occasionally stepping in as a lead for specific tasks, like guiding planes to the runway.

Although new to the job, the protagonist had already passed training to become a lead and was often upgraded to that position when necessary. The extra pay for these lead responsibilities was $1.75 per hour.

However, the airline’s financial struggles due to COVID-19 meant cost-cutting measures were being enforced across the board.

One evening, the protagonist was asked to take on a lead role for a flight, but when they requested the lead pay upgrade, the supervisor informed them that they could not afford to authorize the extra cost of $10.50 for the six-hour shift. This was despite the fact that only a lead could guide the plane to the gate, due to union regulations.

As a result of the supervisor’s refusal to approve the pay increase, the flight was delayed for 45 minutes. During this time, the plane sat idle at the gate, waiting for the proper lead to arrive. This delay cost the airline thousands of dollars in additional fuel charges, overtime for flight attendants, and compensation for passengers who were inconvenienced by the delay.

Research into airline ground operations has shown that delays like these can be costly, with some estimates suggesting $79 per minute in operating costs for an aircraft sitting idle at the gate due to lack of ground support.

This incident not only impacted the airline’s bottom line but likely affected the supervisor’s bonus as well, as performance-based incentives in the airline industry are often tied to flight turnaround times.

Despite the supervisor’s insistence on minimizing costs, the decision to refuse the extra pay ended up being a false economy, with the financial repercussions far outweighing the cost of paying the extra $10.50 to the protagonist.

After the situation was escalated, it became clear that the failure to recognize the value of properly compensating employees for their expertise caused more harm than good.

In this case, the supervisor’s reluctance to pay the extra amount cost the airline thousands of dollars and likely affected their employee retention and satisfaction, as the protagonist’s frustration highlighted a larger issue of management not recognizing the value of their staff’s contributions.

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

These Redditors applauded the OP for standing their ground, pointing out how the supervisor’s refusal to pay the extra $12 cost the airline significantly more

These commenters focused on the absurdity of management’s penny-pinching approach

These users shared similar experiences where poor decisions by management led to much bigger issues

These users reflected on the larger issue of poor management in the service and airline industries

Was the handler a hero for holding the line, or could a wink have towed the sup to safety? Would you have pocketed the $10.50 and towed anyway? Drop your ramp rants below!