Employer sick-note rules
Does American Airlines accept an online doctor’s note?
A doctor's note does not cancel an American Airlines sick-call point. A sick absence of 1 to 6 days is 1 point, 7 days or more is 2, and 1 more is added during a critical period. What keeps an absence off your record is approved FMLA or other legally protected leave.
What American Airlines workers are told
Note needed?
The policy lists no documentation exception for ordinary sick points.
More
Absences that qualify under FMLA or other medical-leave law are not counted, and medical documentation may be required for those. The company may require medical documentation for absences of 21 or more consecutive days.
How absences count
Points on a rolling 12 months (Attendance & Performance Policy, January 2024): sick 1 to 6 days is 1 point, 7 days or more is 2, plus 1 in a critical period (July 1 to 7, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving through the Sunday after, December 22 to January 3).
More
Level One at 4 points, Level Two at 7, Final Warning at 9.
Where to send it
Leave and supporting documents go to the Absence and Return Center (ARC) through Absence Tracker on Jetnet.
Who handles leave
American's in-house Absence and Return Center (ARC)
Sick pay
Set by the flight attendants' union contract; the attendance policy does not state it.
Verified against the company’s own published policy · 2026-10-12
Sources
The rules that sit above American Airlines’s policy
Federal leave law lets an employer ask for medical certification and gives you at least 15 days to return it; disability law limits medical inquiries to what the job requires; twenty states and D.C. limit when any employer, American Airlines included, may demand a note; and federal guidance treats a licensed physician’s online evaluation as telehealth. The statutes and sources are on the state-by-state doctor’s note law index and in are online doctor’s notes legal?
Other airline employers
Southwest Airlines · United Airlines
Every employer’s sick-note rule, in one list
SickSlip is not affiliated with American Airlines (flight attendants). Employer names are used to describe their published policies. Reviewed by Adam Z. Kawalek, MD (NPI 1326223306). Facts checked 2026-10-12.