Flight Attendant Certification
Flight Attendant Certification Victory!
The Flight Attendant Certification language contained in the recently passed FAA Reauthorization bill is a significant victory for us. Thanks to the hard work of AFA’s Government Affairs Department and the members of the Government Affairs committees at all AFA carriers, the U.S. Congress recognized Flight Attendants as trained safety professionals.
The Long Road to Victory
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires Flight Attendants on board commercial aircraft and establishes the basic training required of Flight Attendants. While pilots, flight engineers, navigators, dispatchers and air traffic controllers are certified, Flight Attendants, the on-board safety experts, are not certified. AFA believes it is time to certify Flight Attendants to ensure that we are properly trained and qualified. We believe that the lack of certification prevents Flight Attendants from being treated in the same manner as other aviation safety professionals.
Safety and security are our primary concerns. We do more than evacuate airplanes in emergency situations. We are the first line of defense dealing with hijackers, terrorists and abusive passengers. We are the fire department at 30,000 feet who must be able to detect and fight fires. We are the paramedics effectively handling in-flight medical emergencies ranging from heart attacks to turbulent related injuries. We assist passengers in aircraft decompressions and are the on-site bomb detection squad. In addition, we perform routine safety and service duties on board the aircraft.
Background
The FAA and Federal Aviation Regulations already require flight attendants to pass FAA-approved safety and security training programs and require flight attendants to be onboard all passenger aircraft with 20 or more seats. The FAA requires flight attendants to be trained in accordance with FAR’s that include passing FAA-approved training courses through a series of competency checks and tests, as well as passing mandatory re-current training every twelve months. Currently, the FAA certifies all other aviation workers who have demonstrated a stipulated level of knowledge and skills. Flight attendants deserve similar certification of their professional abilities. Flight attendant certification would be similar to certifying mechanics where no additional medical qualifications are required. Flight attendants play a key role in the security of passengers onboard commercial aircraft and are now the last line of defense to defend the cockpit, themselves and their passengers from lethal attacks by suicidal terrorists in the aircraft cabin. The FAA should ultimately attest to and ensure the qualifications of flight attendants through an official certification process, thereby restoring consumer confidence in air travel and improving the overall safety and security of our air transportation system.
Lobby Strategy
Certification can be achieved through the legislative process. Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) have committed to introducing legislation to certify Flight Attendants. The proposal for certification is currently being drafted in to legislative language.
See also: |
|
Flight Attendant Certification Act (June, 2004)
UPDATE (June 2004): The 2003 FAA Reauthorization Act (Flight 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act,) which was signed into law last year, requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to certify flight attendants. The flight attendant certification requirement gave the FAA a one year period, from enactment of the law ( December 11, 2003 ) to put the program in place.
The FAA recently sent out a notice that they believe the system should be in place by the end of the summer.
Flight Attendant Certification should not be confused with Flight Attendant Security Training.
From June 3, 2003:
The U.S. House is expected to vote on the FAA Reauthorization bill on Wednesday, June 11. As approved in Committee the FAA Reauthorization bill includes language addressing Flight Attendant Certification. Although the language is not identical to HR 1889, it is a big step towards Flight Attendants receiving certification for the training that we receive.
Your calls, letters and lobby visits have sent a clear message to our Representatives that Flight Attendants should be recognized as the aviation safety professionals that we are. Flight Attendant Certification will address a long standing disparity in the aviation industry! And while I am being cautiously optimistic that we will be victorious - anything can happen between now and final passage of FAA Reauthorization.
The Senate is expected to vote on their version of FAA Reauthorization soon and then the bill will be sent to a Conference Committee to work out the differences (let's not forget that child tax credits were eliminated from the recent tax cut bill when it was debated in Conference!).
If your Representative is not on this list, please call them today and remind them that Flight Attendant Certification is a priority issue for us and we oppose any attempts to strip this non-partisan language from the FAA Reauthorization during the House debate on Wednesday.
HR 1889 cosponsors:
Abercrombie (D-HI)
Boehlert (R-NY)
Boswell (D-IA)
Capuano (D-MA)
Case (D-HI)
Conyers (D-MI)
Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Crowley (D-NY)
DeLauro (D-CT)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Ford (D-TN)
Frost (D-TX)
Holden (D-PA)
Kelly (R-NY)
Kilpatrick (D-MI)
Kleckza (D-WI)
Levin (D-MI)
LoBiondo (R-NJ)
Michaud (D-ME)
Millender-McDonald (D-CA)
Norton (D-DC)
Rick Larsen (D-WA)
Solis (D-CA)
Weiner (D-NY)
Gordon (D-TN)
Costello (D-IL)
Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Sandlin (D-TX)
Gutierrez (D-IL)
Honda (D-CA)
Hooley (D-OR)
Pallone (D-NJ)
Thompson (D-CA)
McCarthy, Carolyn (D-NY)
Lampson (D-TX)
Maloney (D-NY)
Cummings (D-MD)
Lantos (D-CA)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
Schakowsky (D-IL)
Hinchey (D-NY)
Latourette (R-OH)
Tauscher (D-CA)
Kildee (D-MI)
Markey (D-MA)
Eshoo (D-CA)
Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rahm Emanuel (D-IL)
Filner (D-CA)
McHugh (R-NY)
Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
McNulty (D-NY)
McCollum (D-MN)
Peter King (R-NY)
Walsh (R-NY)
Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Diaz-Balart, Mario (R-FL)
Tom Allen (D-ME)
Holt (D-NJ)
Blumenauer (D-OR)
McGovern (D-MA)
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Lynch (D-MA)
Udall, Mark (D-CO)
Baird (D-WA)
Frank, Barney (D-MA)
DeGette (D-CO)
Lee (D-CA)
Delahunt (D-MA)
Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
Bishop, Tim (D-NY)
Wu (D-OR)
Lofgren (D-CA)
McDermott (D-WA)
Langevin (D-RI)
Bordallo (D-Guam)
Nadler (D-NY)
Gephardt (D-MO)
Stenholm (D-TX)
Owens (D-NY)
Inslee (D-WA)
Tierney (D-MA)
Israel (D-NY)
Pelosi (D-CA)
Smith, Adam (D-WA)
