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Home » Flight Attendant » A Sad New Job Description For Flight Attendants
Flight Attendant

A Sad New Job Description For Flight Attendants

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 12, 2021November 14, 2023 21 Comments

a woman with her mouth open

Who would have thought that in 2020 and 2021 flight attendants would add “mask enforcer” to their job description?

An Updated Job Description For Flight Attendants

You’ve read a lot of stories lately about poor behavior onboard, mostly from selfish passengers who think the rules do not apply to them and refuse to wear a mask. I’m not going to rehash all of them, as much as note that they continue into 2021.

For example, on Sunday a lady made a maskless speech on “tyranny” on an American Airlines flight headed to Washington National:

Tonight this lady refused to wear her mask abord the @AmericanAir flight from Charlotte NC towards #WashingtonDC DCA. She was yelling and gave a speech about “tyranny”. The passengers in neighboring rows moved.
She calmed down when officers in civilian outfit intervened#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/h95v9ddpXH

— Emir Sfaxi (@EmirSX) January 11, 2021

She calmed down and apparently wasn’t removed. That’s privilege in action, but we read stories about this every single week. It may be getting old, but it is not going away.

Julie Hedrick, National President of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, showcases the fears:

It is disturbing to see these acts of aggression towards other passengers and Flight Attendants continue. Yesterday, racial epithets were hurled towards a Black Flight Attendant as they rode to the DCA airport in the hotel shuttle. On another flight, a group of passengers removed their masks after takeoff and harassed the Flight Attendants and other passengers throughout the flight, up to and including the deplaning process. These are just two examples of too many we have seen on flights this week. This behavior is dangerous and threatening. 
 
We are well-trained safety professionals, we are essential workers, and we have clear and concise rules when dealing with a disruptive passenger. We should not have to deal with a group of passengers harassing other passengers and crew, whether through chanting, yelling, or physical altercation. We see compliance on the ground, but after takeoff, the story sometimes changes.

To say I am worried about our Flight Attendants’ safety is an understatement. 

My point is simple: flight attendants don’t deserve this.

It’s just one more reason, but a good one, to keep your mask on and voice down while flying. Yes, do it for your fellow passengers. Yes, do it because airlines can set their own rules for onboard behavior, including making masks compulsory. But also do it for flight attendants, who are the enforcers of that policy and simply doing their jobs. Why would you want to make life miserable for someone else, even if you do not agree with the protective value of masks?

CONCLUSION

Flight attendants have enough on their plates. Now they are mask enforcers too. The last thing they need is abuse from passengers to make their life even harder. So please be kind to one another. Be kind to flight attendants. Let’s get through this time together with a shared goal of reaching a point in which masks no longer will be necessary…

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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21 Comments

  1. Joe Chivas Reply
    January 12, 2021 at 12:15 pm

    Get up. Stand up. Stand up for your rights.

    • Clive Rayman Reply
      January 12, 2021 at 1:02 pm

      Are you suggesting that this woman was right? If so there is only one word to describe you…and that is unprintable!

    • Christian Reply
      January 13, 2021 at 12:20 am

      When doing so isn’t causing problems and possibly death for other people? Sure! Unfortunately, around the end of this month Covid will have killed more Americans than WWII. If people want to whine about basic safety precautions, they can do so to their family or on Facebook.

    • emercycrite Reply
      January 13, 2021 at 10:17 pm

      Get out.

  2. Marik Reply
    January 12, 2021 at 12:54 pm

    As a 34 year flight attendant, caucasian male. This last year I have have been called multiple 4 letter words. I have been called a racist, because of my gender and skin color. We are there for first and foremost your safety, 2nd to provide service. We are not there to be your verbal and physical punching bags, to take out your fear, anger and aggression. I don’t walk into your business and yell at you for something that is out of your control. We are human beings just like you! We will treat you with kindness, dignity and respect. However we do expect the same from you.

    • Paolo Reply
      January 12, 2021 at 5:43 pm

      It goes without saying that FAs should be treated with the same courtesy and respect as all frontline workers. These lunatic passengers pushing their insane agendas about tyranny/freedom should be dealt with harshly. I agree that the majority of FAs are good, although not the candidates for sainthood you seem to be suggesting. Too many are sourpusses and of marginal competence; others seem to enjoy ‘lording it over’ the public, and give every indication they’d rather be elsewhere ( Godspeed in that regard). These negative characteristics pre-date COVID.
      But of course we should be particularly sensitive to the complexities and pressures of the job at this time, and more forgiving of shortcomings.

  3. UA-NYC Reply
    January 12, 2021 at 3:48 pm

    They have to now also be on the lookout for Trump Terrorists on every flight to DC or a state capitol

    • cargocult Reply
      January 12, 2021 at 5:48 pm

      Liberals were already looking to punch “Nazis” years ago. Of course, their definition of “Nazi” comprised anyone to the political right of Mitt Romney. It’s fine and good to call out abominable behavior by Trump supporters, but why did you ignore the months of rioting and violence done in the name of “anti-racism?” The “mostly peaceful” protesters were harming regular folx, including BIPOCs, instead of “literal Nazis.” Blinded by TDS, no doubt.

      • UA-NYC Reply
        January 12, 2021 at 7:02 pm

        You should be really proud of yourself, trying to “both sides” the Capitol insurrection. Pathetic.

      • 747always Reply
        January 12, 2021 at 11:52 pm

        Nah Cultist, youre the one whos blinded by TDS. TDS affects all of Trumps little Trumpettes.

        • cargocult Reply
          January 13, 2021 at 9:33 pm

          Again, I never voted for Trump, but what does a brainless leftist drone care about facts? Punch a Nazi, then go out for drinks with Michael Beller in celebration of your righteousness!

  4. cargocult Reply
    January 12, 2021 at 8:28 pm

    “Both sides?” What do you call months of leftists attacking governmental and commercial institutions, large and small, for months? Trying to burn down courthouses isn’t insurrection? Billions of dollars in “it’s only property” destroyed and dozens of lives lost. Livelihoods and neighborhoods ruined, all with the blessing of the Democrats. Sure, Trump should have denounced his lunatic supporters, but why couldn’t the Democrats denounce the lunatic left? That pants-shitting troll Jerry Nadler said the violence was a “myth.”

    I always maintained that Trump was an awful person and I never voted for him. Being awful doesn’t seem to preclude anyone from being elected to office, though. What drove me to defend him at all was seeing just how deranged the opposition to him was. The hypocrisy was unbelievable. If you can’t see how blatantly propagandistic the mainstream media were for the DNC, you are truly delusional (well, you do have TDS). Both the leftist and rightist media thrived on the conflict surrounding Trump.

    The election proceedings in Pennsylvania were patently unconstitutional. The Democratic Supreme Court usurped the state legislature’s constitutional authority over elections by extending the mail-in ballot deadline. The SCOTUS did not rule against the Republicans in the case against Boockvar and may revisit the issue at a later date. Did you even know about that case? I read sources from all across the political spectrum while you are likely chugging the DNC Kool-Aid served by the New York Times and MSNBC. Of course, your knowledge about anything is pretty much nil, as demonstrated by your consistent failure to address any facts I present,

    https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2020/10/28/Supreme-Court-decision-Pennsylvania-three-day-ballot-extension-GOP/stories/202010280162
    https://macris.substack.com/p/why-trump-will-triumph-in-pa-litigation

    Trump was, if nothing else, a fighter, and he wasn’t going to cave to the deceitfulness of the left. It’s a shame this spirit didn’t serve nobler goals in the end. Who couldn’t get behind lower taxes and ending wars? Even the gays and minorities the left claimed Trump hated voted for him in greater numbers the second time around. Just because he was wrong at the end doesn’t make the Democrats right about everything else leading up to the Capitol debacle. Now we will resume the endless creep towards socialism with the added bonus of authoritarian techno-fascism, but you don’t get to pretend that you were ever civil. The “punch a Nazi” spirit is rotten at its core.

    • Christian Reply
      January 13, 2021 at 12:22 am

      What does your rant have to do with Matthew’s article?

      • UA-NYC Reply
        January 13, 2021 at 9:30 am

        Nothing at all – it’s straight degenerate.

        Apparently “punching Nazis” is claimed to be a bad thing? I’m glad the FBI will now be punching several hundred insurrectionist Nazis in the coming weeks.

        • cargocult Reply
          January 13, 2021 at 6:35 pm

          Punching Nazis is a bad thing unless the “literal Nazis” have punched you first. The problem is, as I stated above, the definition of “literal Nazis” now comprises anyone leftists don’t like, even people left-of-center who don’t buy into the woke nonsense, and outright aggression against people viewed as being to the right of you politically is encouraged by Democratic leaders.

          I imagine UA-TDS would have a blast hanging out with Michael Beller, Esq., gleefully discussing reeducation camps for children of conservatives and spikes in COVID-19 cases in red states. If UA-TDS wants to punch a Nazi, maybe he should punch himself, as he is the racist socialist. Not all heroes wear capes? More like not all Nazis wear armbands.

          https://twitter.com/CaldronPool/status/1347005939971330049
          https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas/status/1349027090767769601
          https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-entertainment-coronavirus-pandemic-8f586d687ab332777a7a059457ff818e

      • cargocult Reply
        January 13, 2021 at 6:25 pm

        UA-TDS is the one who makes everything about Trump. Given the overwhelming anti-Trump and anti-conservative bias in the media, people need to push back and call out the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of the left. This does not mean we should condone the violence at the Capitol.

        • UA-NYC Reply
          January 13, 2021 at 7:45 pm

          What you call “bias”, most everyone who is rational and sane calls “reality”. Keep screaming into the wind with no one listening to you & not standing for anything (other than being against everyone apparently).

          • cargocult
            January 13, 2021 at 9:15 pm

            In the liberal media “reality,” Eric Swalwell was never compromised by a Chinese spy but he is free to compare Trump to Osama bin Laden. In the liberal media “reality.” Hunter Biden’s laptop is Russian disinformation and there is no ongoing Federal investigation of his affairs. In the liberal media “reality,” there is no questioning of unconstitutional abrogation of the Pennsylvania legislature’s authority over elections by its Democratic Supreme Court.

            I have no problem admitting that outlets like Fox have a slant. Why can’t you admit that the New York Times and the Washington Post have their own agendas as the propaganda arms of the DNC? Even those rabid MAGA-hat wearing Trump trolls Bari Weiss and James Bennett aren’t woke enough for the Times.

            What do you think you’re going to get in an institution if 80-90+% of its employees are Democrats as with most major newspapers and tech companies? Conservatives are likely just flat-earthers to you. You must be looking forward to life in the People’s Democratic Republic of Equal Folx while doing box jumps in your “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like” tshirt. Keep virtue signaling, my rational fatty comrade. May your life be mostly peaceful.

            https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty_pages/romain.wacziarg/mediapapers/GrosecloseMilyo.pdf
            https://freakonomics.com/2011/08/08/tim-groseclose-author-of-left-turn-answers-your-questions/
            https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-polisci-040811-115123

  5. Erock Reply
    January 13, 2021 at 2:12 am

    It really is bad. My sister is a flight attendant and now dreads flying. Almost every flight is a non-stop battle asking people to wear masks. I just don’t get why it’s so hard for people.

    The best story she has so far is a guy who refused to wear a mask right after getting on the plane. After a long argument and his refusal to even entertain the idea of wearing a mask, he was taken off the plane and banned. Only problem for him is he was on an island, only serviced by one airline. Hope he enjoyed the price of that charter flight to get home.

  6. James Reply
    January 13, 2021 at 8:53 am

    Well…. The flight attendants are there for passengers safety and security. Including safety from covid and security from lunatic.

    Then again, you people are crazy in the first place, such as calling animal as emotional support, obese as health, and crazyness as freedom of speech.

    Stick with trip reviews please. Your opinion is a joke.

  7. derek Reply
    January 13, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    This is why I have not yet returned to flying on airlines. I want to book a flight. I need to, eventually, in some cases. However, too many people are not taking precautions seriously. There are also those who think they do but have significant lapses. I, too, am guilty. Some precautions that I did in March 2020 I don’t consider adequate now.

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