Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

Union Applauds United Airlines for Immediate Response to Veteran’s Travel Needs

Washington, DC (June 2, 2019) — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), representing 50,000 Flight Attendants at 20 airlines, is proud to crew the flight that will carry World War II Veteran Sidney Walton and his family to Paris on his way to the 75th D-Day Anniversary in Normandy.

“Throughout our union’s history, aviation’s first responders feel a special bond with service members who we carry to deployment, and we are especially grateful when we can bring them home again,” stated Sara Nelson, AFA president. “We have a responsibility to ensure we work hard to protect labor rights and strong unions so that freedoms at home and good jobs are waiting for their return or available to their families who also sacrifice so much for our country. What an extraordinary honor to be a small part of providing safe passage to Mr. Walton, one of the oldest Jewish American World War II veterans, who enlisted in our nation’s army to fight fascism. We salute Mr. Walton and his family as we approach this D-Day anniversary, and every day.”

As soon as Senator Paul Strauss (D-DC) discovered Mr. Walton’s travel plans to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of D-Day had fallen through, he contacted AFA to seek our help. It was our union’s honor to receive the request to assist this 100 year old veteran. We contacted United Airlines to help provide travel for Mr. Walton to this historic event. United Airlines executives responded immediately and arranged travel in United’s Polaris Business Class, along with a hero’s send off from Washington Dulles Airport.

AFA is joining Senator Strauss at 3 pm today at United Airlines departures to celebrate Mr. Walton and wish him safe travels to Normandy.

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The Association of Flight Attendants is the Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for 73 years. Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions. Nearly 50,000 Flight Attendants come together to form AFA, part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.