Union blames Christmas air chaos on bad management

Union leaders blamed US Airways’ Christmas meltdown on understaffing and bad planning, dismissing accusations that workers had staged a mass “sickie” to penalise the bankrupt airline for slashing their pay.

Executives at US Airways Group said they were forced to cancel hundreds of flights and strand thousands of passengers between Thursday and Sunday because three times the usual number of flight attendants called in sick.

Simultaneously, an unusually high number of baggage handlers at Philadelphia’s airport failed to report to work, the airline said, and the remaining staff became overwhelmed by a mountain of luggage.