| On the night
of January 31, 2000, our hearts were heavy. Alaska Airlines Flight 261
crashed off the California coast. US Airways flight attendants are only
too familiar with the sadness, the sense of loss and the need for comfort
and strength that swells after such a tragedy. These needs did not go unfulfilled
for our fellow flight attendants. Immediately upon announcement of the
crash, AFA representatives from many different airlines contacted their
counterparts at Alaska. The message was simple…We are in this together.
Each and every day, there
is work being done by your AFA representatives to increase the credibility
and respect of our  profession.
When your AFA Legislative Affairs committee works for the flight attendants
of US Airways, it is also working for all flight attendants. When we speak
out for our tiniest passengers that have no voice about their safety during
take-off and landing, we are making a difference. When we work towards
recognition of whistleblower protection for flight attendants, we are saying
that safety is our first concern. When we reach out to a group of flight
attendants who are too frightened or intimidated to join a union, we are
standing together as one.
The year 2000 is an important
year for your profession. It is an election year. Your MEC Legislative
Affairs committee, in conjunction with all AFA Legislative committees,
committed their collective strength toward the reforms pursued in the 1999
FAA Reauthorization Bill – crew member interference, cabin air quality,
and whistleblower protection. (For more information, see Your Job Just
Got Safer). We will continue to insist on better regulation of carry-on
baggage until someone listens and acts. In addition, the Legislative Affairs
committee will be striving for protections for flight attendants under
OSHA – the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Capitol Hill Heard Our “By-the-Book”
Message on Negotiations
Due to the consistent and
active lobbying efforts of your AFA Legislative Affairs committee, we found
ourselves well-positioned to take an educational campaign of our negotiations
issues to the offices of the state governors. We pulled together the expertise
from every corner of our International office – from Government Affairs
to Communications – and produced what is known as the briefing book. This
book contained all the information needed for the AFA representatives to
concisely, professionally and accurately present the flight attendants’
message on Capitol Hill.
Our voice was heard. Beginning
on September 15, 1999, Chairman Wolf’s office began receiving letters from
members of Congress from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, California,
Rhode Island and New York, just to name a few. AFA’s initial education
of governors and Congressmembers laid the groundwork for the next step
that came in early January 2000.
Lieutenant Governor of
Maryland Gets Our Message
Through a combined effort,
Mollie McCarthy (LECP BWI) and Donna O’Neil (DCA Shuttle) were granted
a face-to-face meeting with the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Kathleen
Kennedy Townsend. Lt. Governor Townsend was given a ‘briefing’ on the discriminatory
pension administration of married flight attendants, denial of the flight
attendants’ rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and an explanation
of the uncertain financial composite that would determine our wages and
working conditions if accepted. Ms. Townsend ‘got’ our message. Her office
drafted a letter to Mr. Wolf and set up an AFA liaison to keep her office
and the State of Maryland informed of the progress of negotiations.
An Energizing Message
That Keeps On Going and Going
Our message continued to
march its way into state houses around the country. Although the “SnowEaster”
of 2000 stopped the mail delivery in Washington, it did not stop a group
of very dedicated volunteers from our NSC Committees: Lori Vitto (DCA),
Alin Boswell (DCA), and Christopher Atwood (BOS). These volunteers, assisted
by America West MEC President Bill McGlashen, took our message to the state
houses of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana,
Florida, California, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina and
South Carolina. They told state legislators that we deserved to receive
a Contract of Choice that does not erode the importance of our profession
and our quality of life.
Election 2000
Election years are important
to all of us on some level, but very important to you on a professional
level. As you can see from this article, your AFA Legislative Affairs committee
has and will continue to increase our efforts to improve your working conditions
through legislation. If we don’t get our own messages out there to the
decision makers, who will do it for us?
When US Airways management
took down the sizer boxes for baggage, it became apparent that the screening
of bags would fall more and more to the flight attendants. When “state-of-
the-art” aircraft were produced to recycle stale air and provide less cubic
feet of fresh air, airline management would not recognize the possible
long-term health effects on flight attendants. Who will fund the studies
to find out if we are at risk? When a passenger assaults a flight attendant,
how will he or she be prosecuted if there are no laws that demand they
be held accountable for their behavior? Who will get our messages
to the candidates? We can, and we will continue to do so. But we need your
help.
Funding FlightPAC Funds
Your Future
AFA International is legally
prohibited from using a portion of your dues to make campaign contributions
to candidates. In order to help elect candidates who will support the very
important issues of our profession, campaign contributions are a small,
but important, part of the process.
Many of the protections that
we enjoy on the job have been achieved through lobbying and legislation.
It is another avenue for securing our futures, our safety on the job, and
the respect of our profession. We are calling on each of you to contribute
to FlightPAC through a voluntary payroll deduction. Any contribution, large
or small, will go a long way toward your future. In this election year
2000, let’s make ourselves heard – loud and clear.
Your
Job Just Got Safer
Marianne Moore – MEC Legislative
Affairs |
While your Negotiating Team
was fighting for the Contract of Choice, there was another battle being
waged in Washington to improve your working conditions. After years of
AFA lobbying, President Clinton has signed into law the Wendell H. Ford
Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century. This legislation
includes four major victories for AFA members.
Whistleblower Protection
With the enactment of this
law, flight attendants are now protected when reporting legitimate safety
violations to federal authorities such as aircraft maintenance issues,
F.A.R. violations and unsafe procedures. If a flight attendant or any other
aviation worker experiences a company reprisal for such reporting, this
legislation provides for a swift and sufficient complaint procedure. A
worker can be fined up to $1,000 for a carrier’s legal expenses if proven
that a report was frivolous in nature.
Crewmember Interference
Flight attendants at US
Airways and all over the country have been subjected to verbal and physical
assault in the workplace; with the frequency of events increasing. This
new law increases the current penalty of $1,100 to $25,000 in an effort
to deter the incidences. The law takes new steps to allow the Attorney
General to deputize local law enforcement officials that will give them
the ability to detain and charge the violent or abusive passengers at the
airport.
Cabin Air Quality
Flight attendants are well
aware that the air they breathe in the workplace is less than adequate
– far from pure and at times, unsafe. Congress and AFA have taken the first
step towards improving cabin air quality. The statistics needed to prove
that improvements are warranted have been difficult to obtain because our
workplace is not under OSHA jurisdiction. This new law funds a 12-month
comprehensive and independent study by the National Academy of Sciences
on the air in our cabins.
International Smoking
Ban
Flight attendants who were
hired before the smoking bans on airplanes remember well what it was like
to work in a cabin where smoking was permitted. Today we tend to take this
achievement for granted. International smoking bans have been “voluntarily”
instituted by most airlines. The law will now require the Secretary of
Transportation to prohibit smoking on any aircraft that has a scheduled
flight segment in the U.S. If a foreign government objects, they must find
an alternative smoking prohibition for those flights.
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... The FAA
is investigating a possible violation concerning your crew. Your supervisor
wants a written response from you. What should you do?
Ask to be provided
with a copy of the complaint letter.
Per the contract, a flight
attendant is entitled to a copy of all complaint letters with the understanding
that no contact with the complainant will be made. A flight attendant does
not have to give an immediate response to such letters; however, a response
must be made within a reasonable period of time following a consultation
with their AFA representative. When the complaint is sent solely to the
FAA, they have assured us that they will make every effort to provide an
accurate account of the passenger complaint to AFA Safety, who will assist
the flight attendant(s) involved in the alleged violation.
In many cases, the flight
attendant’s response to an incident sufficiently explains the event and
nothing further occurs. In some cases, the flight attendant’s response
to the alleged violation confirms that a violation indeed occurred and
the FAA takes enforcement action against the company or flight attendant.
The enforcement action taken against the flight attendant is usually a
Letter of Warning, which is placed in a file at the FAA in Oklahoma City
for two years. The company may also take disciplinary action against the
flight attendant.
I’ve been told I will
have to attend a Cabin Safety Partnership Meeting. What is the purpose
of this?
In some cases, the FAA Cabin
Safety Inspector, Corporate Safety, or AFA Safety will ask that the event
be brought into the Cabin Safety Partnership. This occurs when it is determined
that valuable information will come from a meeting with the flight attendant
crew. The flight deck crew may also be asked to participate. It is more
proactive and productive to address safety issues in this manner, as opposed
to the FAA taking action against the flight attendant(s) or the company,
or the company taking action against the flight attendant(s).
Three recent Cabin Safety
Partnership meetings have revealed that flight attendants may be confused
about the following safety issues:
-
Reading on the Jumpseat – When
we are in our jumpseats during ground movement we are not to read any material.
This includes instances when the aircraft is stationary for deicing or
a ground hold. Our attention should be focused on the passengers and any
activity that may occur in the cabin. During flight we may read only authorized
company material such as Inflight Insights, Safety On Line, US Airways
News, our log books, or trip pairings.
-
DC-9/MD-80 Jumpseat Positions
– The B flight attendant is supposed to sit on the left aft jumpseat for
takeoff and landing.
-
Exit Row Seat Passenger Qualification
When we relocate a passenger because we believe it is likely that they
will be unable to perform the functions or meet the criteria to occupy
the seat, there are no discrimination issues involved. The Department of
Transportation created a rule that states “Carriers may not keep anyone
out of a seat on the basis of handicap, or require anyone to sit in a particular
seat on the basis of handicap, except to comply with an FAA safety rule.”
Additionally, the use of a seat belt extension is not criteria for relocating
a passenger from an exit row seat.
-
Child Restraint Devices (CRD)
– The numerous types of devices available to parents makes our job more
difficult when it comes to ensuring that children under two years of age
are properly restrained during ground movement and flight. We must consider
the following criteria when making this determination.
-
The restraint should have:
-
A solid back and seat
-
Internal straps to securely
hold the child in the restraint
-
A label that it is approved
for use on an aircraft
-
If the restraint has instructions
on the label, they should be followed. We should allow passengers to make
decisions about the placement of the seat as long as it meets the above
criteria, it is secured in the aircraft seat, and it does not block anyone’s
access to the center aisle.
-
If a parent has a child restraint
secured in the seat next to them but chooses to hold a child under two
years old in their lap for ground movement, takeoff, landing, or in flight,
they are allowed to do so. However, we should discreetly inform the parent
that the child is safer in the child restraint device.
-
A child weighing less than 20
pounds should be placed in a rear-facing position and children over 20
pounds in a forward-facing position.
-
An approved child restraint
device may be placed in any seat as long as it does not block a passenger’s
egress, but not in an exit row seat or a seat forward or aft of an exit
row.
-
A child restraint device that
does not have a pedestal-type bottom may be placed in either a forward
or aft-facing position.
Late last year, the FAA stated
that it wanted to require the use of approved child restraint devices for
children less than two years of age aboard commercial aircraft. As you
know, the wheels of progress move too slowly in our industry, but AFA hopes
to see a final rule requiring the use of CRD in the near future.
We are providing you with
examples of approved and non-approved child restraint devices in an attempt
to make your job a little easier. As always, if you have questions about
safety and health issues, please contact your local safety & health
committee.
Translating
Transoceanic
David Guerriero – MEC Vice
President |
Our newly ratified agreement
has added several changes to Transoceanic flying. Regardless of the proposed
merger with United Airlines, it is important for flight attendants to recognize
and understand the changes in our agreement and to remain focused on the
implementation process of these changes. Below we have provided some insight
into the revised areas of Transoceanic flying through brief translations
of the new contract language, and timelines for implementation for those
areas that did not go into effect upon ratification.
Please remember that any
issue that is not addressed in the International section reverts back to
the appropriate main section of the agreement. For example, reserves do
not have an automatic release when being awarded a future trip. This language
will not be found in Section
12-International Flying but in Section
11-Reserve.
30/35 in 7 Section
12 B.4.e. –“Notwithstanding Paragraph B.4.d. above, a reserve flight
attendant in the ITD may be assigned transoceanic international flying
which would cause him/her to exceed thirty block hours (30:00) in a seven
(7) day period only for the purpose of preventing an international transoceanic
flight from being dispatched with less than the full complement of flight
attendants (i.e., no other reserve flight attendant is available for duty
in that ITD who could be assigned the trip without exceeding thirty block
hours (30:00) in a seven (7) day period). Such assignment will be made
to the most junior flight attendant available under the provisions of this
Paragraph. However, under no circumstances will the provisions of this
Paragraph be used to require a reserve flight attendant to exceed, in any
combination of voluntary or assigned flying, two (2) trips back-to-back.”
Translation: An
ITD reserve cannot be forced to work a trip that will make them exceed
30 in 7 with one exception. If an ITD trip would go out with less than
the full flight attendant crew complement, then a reserve may be required
to exceed 30-7. Remember:
-
Use only hard time when calculating
30-7
-
Only one sequence of back-to-back
flying is permitted, either assigned or voluntary
International Crew Rest Seats
Section
12 D.2.d. – “On international flights of seven (7) or more scheduled
hours, flight attendants will be afforded crew rest seats which shall meet
the following parameters:
1. For flight attendant
crew rest only
2. Placarded
3. Reclining seats of the
type provided to passengers in that class of service, with individual reading
lights and air vents
4. In the non-smoking section
5. Curtained
6. Crew rest will be located
as follows:
-
A330: Seats A, B, G and H at
the 3L/3R exit;
-
B767: Seats C, D and E in the
last row of the B zone or the C zone.”
Translation: Full
implementation is required no later than 5/1/01. However, most of the crew
rest seat provisions should be in place ahead of schedule with the exceptions
of installation of the curtains and adjustments of the seats to ensure
reclining. (Continued Below) |
