Flight Attendants Cheer Inclusion of Top Safety Initiative in House FAA Bill
Washington, DC (June 22, 2017) — The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) cheered Chairman Shuster’s introduction of H.R. 2997, the 21st Century AIRR Act, that includes the union’s top safety priority of 10 hours minimum rest for Flight Attendants - equal to the flight deck - and a Fatigue Risk Management Plan (FRMP).
“Flight Attendants are cheering Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) for including 10 hours minimum rest and a Fatigue Risk Management Plan for cabin crew in his bill,” said Sara Nelson, AFA International President. “Flight Attendant fatigue studies commissioned by Congress demonstrate it is past time to close this aviation safety loophole. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) and Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), along with Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) have been champions on Flight Attendant rest. We applaud these lawmakers for getting us one step closer to ensuring no Flight Attendant is fatigued when charged with saving lives.”
AFA congratulates its members on achieving our top priority in the House bill. Flight Attendants took part in rallies and office visits on Capitol Hill, meetings at congressional district offices and tens of thousands of calls and letters written to their representatives in support of 10 hours minimum rest and an FRMP. Crews told personal stories of working 14 hours days followed by minimum 8 hours rest that includes transit to and from the airport and all of the necessary preparations for the next work day. Commonly aviation’s first responders only get 4-5 hours in bed before working another long duty day in pressurized cabins that are fuller than ever with minimum Flight Attendant staffing to ensure the safety, health and security of each passenger.
“We look forward to bi-partisan work to adopt important safety initiatives for Flight Attendants and the passengers in our care,” Nelson stated.
Other items in the House FAA Reauthorization Bill that AFA promoted:
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Ban on Voice Calls on Planes
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Safe transport of lithium batteries
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Study on Cabin Evacuation Certification
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Requiring privacy for nursing in the airport
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Evaluation and update of emergency medical kit contents, with consideration for children
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Required notification of Insecticide use
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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 71 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.
