Counter Terror Gazette

Flight Attendants: service providers or safety and security professionals?

20 Dec 2011

One of the long-standing challenges of the aviation industry has been how the image of those personnel who, arguably, proffer the last line of defence in the management of a terrorist or unruly passenger incident in-flight, can be transformed from that of a trolley dolly into one of a safety and security professional. Pilots are often portrayed as the guardians of security in the skies whilst, beyond the flight deck door, the flight attendants’ image is still that of a glorified waitress. Sherry Saehlenou discusses the problem and the solutions.

I am on a plane as I write this. It has been a decade since 11^th September 2001, the day that air travel, as we knew it, changed. Since that day the airline industry has made many important advances in closing loopholes in our security systems, enforcing strict regulations on air travel and increasing public awareness. Air travellers have become more ‘security minded’ as they arrive at the airport, walk though the terminals, go through the intensive security screening, board their flights and settle into their seats. But does our “security mindset” tend to stop there? Unfortunately, many times it does.

What do you think of when I say ‘flight attendant?’ I’m willing to bet that the image of a uniformed safety professional wrestling an unruly passenger to the floor and handcuffing him/her to the seat leg isn’t the first thing that pops to mind. Who hasn’t seen the numerous in-flight videos on the internet featuring rapping, dancing flight attendants, nearly nude flight attendants (covered with head to toe body paint), or even fitness gurus, rugby teams, and little kids giving the in-flight safety briefing? As clever and entertaining as these marketing campaigns are, it’s no wonder that it’s sometimes hard to take the flight attendant’s security role seriously after all that.

The sad fact remains that even after the heroic actions of those flight attendants who also lost their lives that September day in 2001, after all the talk about flight attendants being ‘the first line of defence,’ after the precision-trained cabin crew saved passengers’ lives on the Hudson, and after both the shoe and the underwear bombers’ attempts were, in part, thwarted by cabin crews, flight attendants still have to combat the general perception that they are there to entertain and serve.

To answer the question “Are flight attendants regarded as ‘service providers’ or ‘safety professionals?’ it helps to examine the point of view of each group that makes up a part of the flight attendant’s working world.

Airline Passengers

With that question in mind, I set about to do some informal interviews of my own. I queried passengers sitting next to me each time I flew, I brought the subject up at dinner parties, and I asked my friends outside the industry. Each time I asked the question, the response was the same: a detailed description of a recent flight where the flight attendants didn’t smile or the onboard service was bad. No one gave the question further thought. At one dinner party, however, a ‘techie’ summed up his attitude eloquently by comparing in-flight safety to working on a computer. “When you use a computer you have an anti-virus programme on it,” he explained, “which allows you to do your work, knowing that you are protected from viruses and malware. You don’t see the software but you know it is there and you depend on it. Flight attendants are like that. You know that they are expertly trained to react in an emergency and that knowledge allows you to relax and enjoy your flight.”  Brilliant analogy, but unfortunately a view not shared by many.

On a recent flight I was sitting next to a couple seated in the emergency exit row. The flight attendant appeared and asked if we had all read the safety information card and if we were ready to assist in an evacuation in case of an emergency? We all responded yes. Then, when the flight attendant walked away, the wife turned to her husband and asked, “What card?”

Fellow Crew Members

The attitude of pilots towards flight attendants is difficult to assess. Most pilots I have worked with seemed to respect the job of the flight attendant, or at least outwardly. The best ones to work with give thorough flight briefings, including all the flight attendants on the crew, emphasising that they are all one team on board and want to know when something happens in the cabin that doesn’t look right. There are many pilots who really count on, and respect, the security and safety skills of the flight attendants in the back and treat them accordingly. There are far too many, however, that don’t.

Last week I attended a conference, on an unrelated subject, where I met a pilot who was still flying for the same airline where I previously worked as a flight attendant. We figured out that we probably had worked together several times carrying passengers between Paris and Washington DC. It was at that point that he actually told me, with a chuckle, how the flight deck refers to flight attendants: ‘Airbags’, ‘CDs’ (because they are wide, spanning the aisles from the C to the D seats), and of course my favourite – ‘hostitutes’.

Recently a disturbing incident made the news, involving a 737 pilot for a major airline in the US. This pilot, on an open mic, broadcast a rant against flight attendants over the ATC frequency in which he called flight attendants “a bunch of gays, grannies and grandees.” He continued talking (even after being told his mic was on) about meeting some of the crew members after the flight and how increasingly difficult it is to find flight attendants he wanted to sleep with. He continued, “There’s only a handful of cute chicks … I only found one that was probably doable.”

How did the company handle the situation? The pilot was reprimanded, sent to ‘diversity training’ and suspended for an undisclosed amount of time. This brings us to probably the most influential group in the flight attendant’s world – the one that could make the most difference in promoting the image of flight attendants as safety professionals – the companies they work for.

The Company

Unfortunately most companies think of flight attendants in terms of ‘marketing’ rather than ‘safety.’ Granted, customer service is important and is a large part of what flight attendants do and no company wants to emphasise the fact that you are travelling at 500 mph 35,000 feet in the air where many things could go wrong, but I’d be willing to bet that there would be no flight attendants on board at all in the United States if it weren’t for a FAA ruling stipulating the ratio of flight attendants to passengers on commercial airline flights. The FAA has reasons why they require flight attendants on board, and specify the ratio. It isn’t to pass out pretzels.

Candace Kolander, coordinator for air safety health and security for the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), testified before the Subcommittee on Aviation in Washington DC, that “Years of cultural attitudes have often relegated flight attendants to nothing more than ‘servers in the sky’ in the eyes of some. In fact, airline management is more than willing to spend money to add more and more customer service and sales type training for flight attendants. Yet at the same time the trend has been to squeeze all the required emergency safety and security training into as little time in the classroom as possible. Flight attendant classroom emergency training hours have been reduced to the bare minimum allowed by the regulations.” (Kolander 2009)

It does seem to be that the image of flight attendants is weighted heavily on the side of the ‘service provider.’ In fact, the only group that regards flight attendants as true ‘safety professionals’ appears to be the flight attendants themselves. What can be done, then, to bring the safety image of this group sharply into focus? Despite the best efforts of the flight attendants, the change in attitude needs to start from the top in terms of legislation, training and serious certification.

A Shift in Attitude

To start to change the perception of flight attendants from ‘trolley dollies’ to ‘safety and security professionals’ requires the industry to take the role of flight attendants seriously and implement training programmes, work rules and to provide equipment that will support them in their role as safety professionals.

Cabin crews annually go through programmes that test their knowledge of the specific airplanes in their fleet, use of emergency equipment on board, evacuation procedures, first aid, CPR, fire fighting, explosives on board, and special passenger handling. Training, however, varies from airline to airline and country to country. Some major airlines have robust crew resource management training (CRM), for example, and some carriers hold a two hour session just to ‘check a box’ on the training roster – if, indeed, they have it at all.

Commercial airlines are now looking at their training programmes, through the lens of saving money and resources, in order to comply with regulating authorities’ increasingly strict guidelines. Advanced qualification programmes (AQP) are being designed to help the airlines manage training of large flight attendant populations and the varied curricula necessary for certification. Today more depth and a higher level of skills and knowledge is now required of flight attendants Even with redesigned training programmes and new federal regulations there still remains a desperate need to provide training in important, much-neglected areas that affect onboard safety and security such as: communication, situational awareness, behavioural risk assessment, self-defence tactics, cultural diversity, and sleep and fatigue management. 

Improved Communication

The ability of flight attendants to communicate with the flight deck is fundamental to safety, however, the flight deck barriers put in place after 9/11 have seriously degraded the quality of communication between the two, calling for a review of past procedures and an earnest look at improving this critical element of security.

CRM encompasses many aspects of communication (situational awareness, behaviour recognition and decision making). Most airline companies do have a required CRM programme in place, and some even combine pilots and flight attendants in the same session, however for most it is reduced to a “just-check-the-box” training event that both groups put up with for two hours.

Lori Brown, professor and researcher at Western Michigan University, has significantly contributed to the airline community in her present role as researcher in air crew safety and security. Her background as a flight attendant, pilot, and ground instructor as well as her degree in Human Factors in Aviation qualifies her to pose some serious questions concerning the state of security in the cabin. She has studied CRM issues and communication between flight attendants and the flight deck in depth and concludes that, “The cabin crew is essential to the safety of the aircraft and passengers. Effective communication and synergy between the flight deck and cabin crew has never been more significant and challenging.” (Brown 2010)

Still, airlines have been slow to revamp their CRM programmes and most crews see what’s offered as a waste of time. Lack of improved, joint (pilot/flight attendant) training creates a gap in communication and coordination which has already been impeded by the flight deck door.

Effective Security Training

Following 9/11, the US Congress specifically acknowledged the urgent need for flight attendant security training with the air Transportation Security Act (2001), Homeland Security Act (2002), and the FAA Reauthorisation Act (2003). This legislation called for a basic, mandatory level of security training including provisions for crew communication and coordination, terrorist psychology and basic moves for self-defence. There was also a provision that the TSA must further develop regulations and guidelines for a more aggressive method of self-defence training to be more physical in nature. At the last minute the language for the basic security training was changed from “the TSA shall issue these guidelines” to “the TSA may issue these guidelines.” With the change of just one word, TSA industry-wide guidelines were removed. The result: some airlines have succeeded in keeping flight attendant security training almost non-existent.

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