"America's Last Unregulated Workplace"

Flight Attendants Fight for Health and Safety Improvements in Aircraft Cabin

For workers in just about every private industry workplace, federal and state Occupational Safety and Health laws spell out protections and safeguards to help keep workplaces free from hazards.

That is, unless your workplace is the aircraft cabin. That means that 100,000 flight attendants — more than half of whom are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA — don't yet have the right to a safe and healthy workplace.

"We work in the last unregulated workplace in America," testified AFA-CWA member Ruth Medina to a U.S. Senator earlier this year. After 30 years at Northwest Airlines, Medina had to retire due to damage to her lungs and brain caused by exposure to cabin air contaminated by heated engine oil on two flights.

Cabin air contamination from "engine bleed" fumes causes serious health problems for flight attendants, pilots and passengers. AFA-CWA is pressing Congress to require the Federal Aviation Administration to take action. Language in the House-passed FAA Reauthorization legislation would require the agency to begin research and development to detect and remove contaminants from air entering the passenger cabin.

"My department has been working on this problem for over 15 years, but we are making headway," says AFA-CWA Industrial Hygienist Judith Murawski. "Congress urged the FAA to conduct a study of the issue during the Bush administration, but it did nothing to direct airlines to cooperate and permit flight attendants and researchers to collect air samples in the cabin," she said.

The House FAA Reauthorization bill also would permanently ban cell phone use during flight, a practice that currently is prohibited, but cell phone providers are lobbying for the ban to be lifted. Cell phone signals can interfere with an aircraft's communications and navigation systems and pose other problems as well, distracting passengers during safety announcements and provoking conflict among passengers that flight crews are forced to referee and resolve, said Chris Witkowski, AFA-CWA Director of Air Safety, Health and Security.

Another cabin safety problem results from the lack of uniformity in airline rules governing carry-on bags. The volume of carry-on bags has grown tremendously as more airlines charge fees to check luggage. Size limits for carry-ons vary from airline to airline, creating confusion during boarding and sometimes causing a flight to be delayed. "Because carry-on bag programs differ at each airline, flight attendants find themselves having to settle overhead bin disputes," said AFA-CWA President Pat Friend. "They also get injured by handling carry-ons that do not meet the airline's guidelines."

Legislation backed by AFA-CWA would set uniform carry-on size limits and require that the Transportation Security Administration install baggage templates at security stations to allow screening and tagging of carry-ons that exceed prescribed dimensions.

During the current H1N1 virus pandemic, AFA-CWA also is asking the FAA to require airlines to do a better job protecting crew and passengers. Most carriers are doing very little to reduce the risk of H1N1 transmission in the aircraft cabin according to a recent survey of AFA-CWA safety committee members conducted at 20 airlines.

At many airlines, flight attendants are not permitted to wear protective gloves and respirators when they come in contact with passengers who have flu-like systems. Flight attendants also worry that they cannot take the sick leave they need without fear of losing their jobs. Finally, none of the airlines surveyed by AFA-CWA has developed flexible leave policies so workers with flu symptoms can take leave without penalty, or stay home to care for sick family members or children if schools and child care programs are forced to close.