Flight Attendants Lead Push For Airline Worker Safety During Coronavirus Crisis

Airline industry unions, particularly flight attendant unions, are strongly advocating for worker safety and forcing changes in operations as coronavirus ravages commercial aviation.

“The airlines want to do the right thing, but this is a crisis,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. “We have been able to direct specific solution-oriented advice. Where that has been implemented, we’ve all been safer.”

Nelson spoke Monday on a media call with leaders of a dozen AFL-CIO unions representing airline workers. Most said they were working with employers to reduce the virus’ impact on workers.

For instance, after flight attendants refused to work a flight loaded with cruise line employees, American Airlines added a Boeing 777 flight to its Miami-Dallas service on Sunday. The flight enabled spacing between passengers including about 175 Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines workers who had just disembarked from ships.

Meanwhile, after flight attendants at Alaska Airlines and United Airlines declined to work on flights carrying recently disembarked cruise line passengers, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention changed its policy to require that cruise lines charter flights for passengers and workers who are returning to their homes.

“They were going to be put on Alaska flights and we stopped that and they got charters with safety and health guidelines,” Nelson said. “Unions have played a critical role.”

Also on the AFL call, James Carlson, assistant airlines coordinator for the International Association of Machinists, said, “What we’ve tried to do is limit exposure.

At Newark, Carlson said, United has reduced daily departures to 15 from 350. “We can reduce the number of people out there,” he said. “We’ve been able to negotiate half go home, half stay at the workplace, and the next week they switch.”

Unions “have been coming up with ideas to keep people safe,” he said. IAM represents more than 100,000 airline industry workers at airlines, Boeing and other manufacturers. At United, it has about 30,000 members including fleet service workers and agents.

Additionally, Angelo Cucuzza, special projects coordinator for the Transport Workers Union, said TWU has sought to ensure that carriers provide its members with proper personal protection equipment. He said the union has been distributing masks to members since April 1.

“We’re going to get supplies in our workers’ hands as quickly as we can,” he said, noting, “We put out a request to JetBlue management. We got everything we asked for, but it took three weeks.”  TWU represents 65,000 airline workers including JetBlue flight attendants.

Also, Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said that over 75 controllers and Federal Aviation Administration workers at about 30 towers have tested positive for the virus. “We had to figure out a way of working collaboratively with the FAA to develop backup crew, to always keep a crew in waiting to come in once a facility has been cleaned,” he said. He said the agency has been cooperative.

The two principal pilot unions, the Air Line Pilots Association and the Allied Pilots Association, have worked to ensure safe cockpit environments. ALPA President Joe DePete said on the call that despite drastic cutbacks, air service remains critical, transporting medical workers and delivering cargo. “Our members are increasingly put at risk,” he said. ALPA has pushed CDC to ensure cockpits are cleaned between flights and pilots are notified of COVID-19 cases.

APA has pushed American to provide protective masks, spokesman Dennis Tajer said Tuesday. On Friday APA told members it had reached agreement with the carrier. “You may use a mask that you have personally acquired or one that will soon be provided by American,” it said.

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American flight attendants, said Tuesday that it has pushed for personal protective equipment for flight attendants, social distancing on flights, thermal scanning in airport, and quick notice when flight attendants test positive for the virus.

Regarding the Alaska and United flights, AFA told members Monday that it was made aware on Friday that cruise passengers were scheduled to transfer from a charter flight to a half dozen Alaska flights at the carrier’s San Francisco hub. “Our AFA leadership raised concerns with management about commingling these passengers with regularly scheduled passengers and our crews,” the union said. The union also raised concerns about cruise passengers scheduled to fly United flights including SFO-Sydney.

“The solution that AFA achieved at both carriers was to schedule management-staffed charters for the cruise line passengers only, with specific health protocols,” the union said. Subsequently, CDC issued new guidance requiring that cruise lines charter flights to return passengers to their homes.