FAA Safety Summit: Recommitting to the Safest Aviation System
March 19, 2023 - This week, the Federal Aviation System (FAA) held a safety summit to address a recent string of close calls on airport runways among other safety concerns. The summit brought together government agencies including the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board, Flight Attendants, pilots, air traffic controllers, airlines and more.
The focus was to gain a deeper understanding of the root causes of the near-collisions and other safety loopholes in our system. Our union raised the continued violent passenger assaults, increasing severe turbulence events, and a seat onboard for every passenger.
“[Turbulence is] especially dangerous for flight attendants, where turbulence accounts for 3 out of every 4 flight attendant injuries,” said Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair. “We issued a report in 2021 to prevent turbulence-related injuries. It had 21 new recommendations and 4 that we re-iterated on weather reports, increased sharing of turbulence events, the need for flight attendants to be seated with their seatbelt buckled during certain phases of flight, and the need for parents to secure children under 2 in their own seat with an FAA-approved child restraint system. All 25 turbulence recommendations remain open.”
It’s time for action. While we push regulators to take action, AFA President Sara Nelson will also testify before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday on our FAA Reauthorization priorities which includes these safety issues.
- Watch the FAA Safety Summit
- Flight attendants want to seats for babies on planes, Washington Post
- WATCH: Airlines struggle with disruptive passengers, CNN
