Flight Attendant Certification

Flight attendants are solely responsible for the safety and security in the aircraft cabin; and they take that responsibility seriously. In a post September 11 world, their training and duties are more important than ever. Tell the House and Senate to support legislation to make sure that flight attendants are certified by the FAA so that they get the respect and recognition that their profession deserves.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Support Flight Attendant Certification

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

As a constituent from your district and a member of the Communications Workers of America, I urge you to support legislation to certify flight attendants.

Flight attendants are trained in federally mandated evacuation, fire fighting, medical emergency and security procedures, but remain the only safety and security sensitive airline employees whose training is not certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Flight attendants are solely responsible for the safety and security in the aircraft cabin; and they take that responsibility seriously. In a post September 11 world, their training and duties are more important than ever.

Supporting flight attendant certification shows your commitment to the safety and security of our skies. The FAA and our airlines must also acknowledge the important services flight attendants provide and the rigorous training necessary to do their jobs effectively. Ultimately, it will be the passengers who benefit as safety increases with certification.

The world has changed dramatically and so has their profession. As they board their planes each day, passengers like me, turn to flight attendants more and more frequently for protection from the unknown. Certifying flight attendants as safety professionals will make us all a little more comfortable and will ensure that the flight attendant is as prepared as they can be in their training and ability to provide the security we passengers deserve. Please support flight attendant certification.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 09, 2003


Background Information

Flight attendant certification will create job portability in these difficult economic times.

·        If a flight attendant is laid off from her/his current employer, certification will allow a flight attendant to present themselves to any carrier that is hiring as a fully certified flight attendant, thereby giving them a hiring advantage.

·        Such portability will allow for the job of flight attendant to become an industry wide portable profession and potential to be a lifetime career.

 

Certification could reduce long term training expenses for carriers.

·        Currently, all newly hired flight attendants take several weeks of new hire training at the new carrier.  This is done regardless of the flight attendant’s previous work history as a flight attendant.  Certification will create a record of proof that a flight attendant has already completed and finalized some segments of new hire training.  Therefore, an airline would not have to “start from scratch” and pay for the certified flight attendant to take this expensive initial training all over again.  This would allow the carrier to avoid duplicating and paying for some training segments and focus on customer service training.  In the long term, as carriers hire already certified flight attendants, there would be increased savings from not having to provide the initial training already completed.

·        Initial training for a flight attendant at Piedmont airlines comes to $776.48 in wages for 14 days of classroom training.  This does not include the costs of the company paying for housing during those 14 days, transportation and classroom materials.  The carrier must also pay a flight attendant for their flight hours and per diem for their Initial Operating Experience (IOE).  An IOE is five hours of actual flight time on an operating commercial flight in which a trainer must approve the flight attendant trainee’s competency.

 

Certification does not impose any new training requirements, regulations or record keeping burdens on the airlines.

·        The FAA already requires that flight attendants be trained in accordance with existing FAA regulations that include passing FAA-approved training courses through a series of competency checks and tests, as well as passing mandatory “recurrent” training every 12 months.

·        Required flight attendant training already includes fire control, first aid, aircraft evacuation and emergency procedures – making flight attendants the first line of defense for safety in the aircraft.

·        Proposed legislative language simply requires that any flight attendant training courses abide by the guidelines and regulations already on the books.  Certification would simply require that all airlines conform with the training requirements already created by the FAA.

·        Airlines are already required to keep records of all flight attendants that have completed FAA mandated crewmember training requirements.  They would simply transmit these records to the FAA when flight attendants complete their training.

 

All certified flight attendants should receive the same basic level of safety training.

·        Currently, some carriers are allowed waivers and/or exemptions from certain portions of safety training from the FAA.  By preventing or making these reductions to training more difficult, then all certified flight attendants would receive the same basic level of safety training that is already listed in current Federal Aviation Regulations.

·        Guaranteeing that all flight attendants receive the same level of safety training will only improve the overall safety and security of our air transportation system.

·        The goal of preventing reductions to training programs is to provide consistency in the training programs.  All certified flight attendants should receive the same basic level of training already required.  Most airlines currently perform the minimum standards outlined.