10 MAR 2010: Enough already. The next time you decide to get stroppy on a plane and hassle the flight attendant – think again. Quite aside from the plastic restraints, the security to meet the flight on arrival, or the RAF fighter jets to escort you in, the Association of Flight Attendants wants the US government to provide more in-flight security measures such as hand-to-hand combat training for flight attendants. One question: remember all those air marshals – where are they?
In any event, the friendly skies are decidedly less friendly these days says the 55,000 member union that has been lobbying the US Congress to implement more stringent measures.
The flight attendants are demanding that Congress:
• Institute mandatory hand-to-hand combat training for all crew members. (Given that many airlines no longer appear to have height, weight or age restrictions for their crew this could be somewhat amusing.)
• Equip flight attendants with portable communications devices so they can speak to the pilots during emergencies. (On board cell phones usage is coming)
• Standardize the size of carry-on luggage so that flight attendants can look for suspicious passengers instead of struggling with oversized bags. (I don’t know about you, but I have yet to see a flight attendant hefting a passenger’s carry on.)
• Shut down onboard wireless Internet during high-threat periods to prevent terrorists from communicating with collaborators on the ground. (Just curious, what is a high threat period and would this also shut off your cockpit communication access?)
"For better or for worse, once the cabin doors close, the flight attendants are the last line of defense," Corey Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the association, told the LA Times.
She pointed out that combat training for flight attendants is now voluntary, and employees who take lessons do so on their own time.
A portable communications system would have allowed flight attendants to talk with the pilots during the attempted attack on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day, she added.
"By having uniform standards (for carry on baggage) everybody would be on the same page," Caldwell said.
Actually they would be on several different pages, because the reason US airlines have not agreed on a maximum size for carry-on luggage, is because the overhead bins vary in size according to airplane make and model.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would determine when the airlines are at a high risk for a terrorist attack, said Caldwell, and could then shut down the onboard Internet.
How and when would they would determine this was not explained.
Caldwell said the association has not come up with a price tag for the changes (can you say “hefty?”) and is not seeking raises for flight attendants as part of the deal.
"We are not taking on more responsibility," she said. "We just want more tools to make the plane safer."
Right.
