Flight attendants are celebrating new FAA duty rules which now require more statutory minimum rest between duty periods. While flight attendants should certainly celebrate this victory, Sara Nelson’s choice of words yet again strikes me as unnecessarily partisan.
Nelson Misses The Forest In The Trees With Paristan Victory Lap Over FAA Minimum Flight Attendant Rest Rules
Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented a new rule requiring flight attendants to receive a minimum of 10 hours of rest (from nine) between duty periods. This applies to duty periods of up to 14 hours (if a flight attendant works more than 14 hours, more time off must already be given and that rule does not change).
Or course “world’s most powerful flight attendant” Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, went on a victory lap:
“President Biden delivered today. Five years ago after decades of action by AFA members, science to back up our alarm on Flight Attendant fatigue, and relentless efforts with lawmakers, we achieved an overwhelming bipartisan vote to equalize minimum rest with commercial airline pilots. The law could not have been more clear, but instead of taking definitive direction from Congress, the Trump administration put our rest on a regulatory road to kill it. President Biden promised to make this a top priority to correct this and today under the leadership of Secretary Buttigieg and Acting FAA Administrator Nolen the rule for 10 hours irreducible rest for Flight Attendants is final…”
“We have been successful in setting these rest standards in several contracts, but this raises the minimum standard for all Flight Attendants and airlines will have to meet that standard in 90 days. It’s about time! As aviation’s first responders and last line of defense, it is critical that we are well rested and ready to perform our duties. COVID has only exacerbated the safety gap with long duty days, short nights, and combative conditions on planes.”
Nelson is an extreme partisan, never letting an opportunity go to attack those she is not in ideological alignment with. Do you notice that instead of just thanking the current administration, she attacks the former one?
We can look at this in two ways, both in the truth of her statements and her role as AFA-CWA president. In terms of making a general truth claim, such criticism against the prior administration seems valid. Trump-era Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao did little to implement what Congress passed on a bipartisan basis in 2018 (asking the FAA to impose stricter rules concerning minimum rest periods on U.S. airlines).
But Trump and Chao helped to save tens of thousands of flight attendant jobs by embracing the Payroll Protection Plan and essentially kowtowed to airline efforts to fleece taxpayers during the pandemic, precisely what Nelson advocated for.
Considering most flight attendants already enjoy at least 10 hours of rest, her attack on the previous administration strikes me as missing the forest in the trees. I hold the Trump Administration in high contempt for its poorly-thought-out pandemic-era subsidies doled out to airlines. But Nelson should be singing their praises because it isn’t clear if she would have received the same sweet deal under an Obama or Biden administration (like Lufthansa).
In any case, her carefully-calculated speech constantly denigrating those with whom she disagrees strikes me as inherently problematic for a figure who is supposed to represent the voices of all flight attendants.
Tell me what you’re for, not what you’re against. Don’t rub victory in on the losers…it just makes you appear petty. Of course, Nelson hopes her language will influence close races in November, but her perspective on politics does not advance the country toward an ability to seek common ground.
CONCLUSION
This is a small issue, but aviation-related and indicative of a wider problem in America. Even as each of us brings our worldview to the table in dialogue, I am making a greater effort to tell people what I am for, not what I am against, especially when the matter is already settled.
As for the new rule, I do not believe we will see much change (perhaps a bit at the regional level) as major carriers already generally give flight attendants this minimum rest (or more). 10 hours seems quite reasonable to me, though, considering that is not sleeping time, but the total time between flights.
Why do expect a lobbying organization to be non partisan? You wouldn’t say the same thing about a teachers’ union or a coal mining association.
She owes her life to Agent Orange. She should be more thankful.
No shock here. Union management doing what union management does. Pity any member who has to pay union dues and shares a different political view.
Continue to keep this hag away from Delta, please.
“10 hours seems quite reasonable to me, though, considering that is not sleeping time, but the total time between flights.” That’s 10 hours from 15 minutes from when a flight blocks in to one hour before the next day’s departure. Let’s look at that: flight gets to gate at 9:00 p.m., (which at least at American Airlines, my former employer) starts the clock at 9:15 p.m., or the 15 minute “debrief” term used for deplaning. 9:20ish, passengers off, maybe, unless the wheelchairs are late and I’m required to wait on board or on the jetbridge until they show. Walk to hotel pickup, wait 15-30 minutes for pick up. Arrive at hotel at 10:15ish to 10:30. Get room key and if lucky, get to room by 10:45ish. 2 hours of that “reasonable” 10 hours is almost already gone, making it nearly impossible to get even 7 hours of sleep if you factor in getting up 45 minutes before pickup in the morning, taking shuttle to the airport, getting through security and being at the gate the required 1 hour before departure.
So if the minimum of 10 hours is applied to the above example a flight attendant would have to be at the departure gate the next morning at 7:15 a.m. You do the math. The flight attendant could have been required to be on duty 13 hours that day and you think 6 or 7 hours of good sleep is reasonable? I flew for 31 years and I can most assuredly tell you, it is not.
Yeah, it’s not 10 hours of “rest” but rather 10 hours “off the clock.”
Good points well presented, David.
I sometimes feel the “author” of these articles either doesn’t fully understand/appreciate the issues, or has his on agenda to follow. Hey ho…..
https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-fight-to-save-jobs-in-the-airline-industry
One of your commenters referred to Ms. Nelson as a “hag”. This New Yorker article might shine some light on said hag and her role in making the airline Payroll Support Plan a reality.
“The Trump Administration has not taken strong action to curb the spread of the virus, leading to ongoing outbreaks across the country. This has amounted to a form of economic self-sabotage: the Trump Administration’s lack of leadership has undermined the benefits of the costly economic bailouts that Congress passed, insuring that even more money will have to be spent in the future. If the Administration had managed to get the spread of the virus under control by midsummer, the ongoing need for aggressive government bailouts would have been less severe than it currently is.”
And where in this New Yorker piece does it mention Nelson and her role? It seemed to be more of a partisan statement which says nothing on Nelson. But thank you for your political view.
And now I will eat crow, after reading the actual article. It does describe her efforts. Too bad it has not be updated to the present.
Is “CONCUSSION” the new “conclusion”? I wouldn’t necessarily argue with you on that!
Just having fun, Matthew. 🙂
I read the statement 3 times and did not see any partisan attack at all. There was no mention of the Democratic Party in a positive sense, nor a mention of Republicans in a negative light. What Ms. Nelson did was speak about the last administration and the current administration. If you want to ascribe that to party differences, that is your decision to make it politically partisan. What I read was about individuals and their administrations, not parties.
From my admittedly privileged position in the left hand seat up the pointy end, I do know what a generally hard and often crap job the FAs’s do for, usually, very little money. The often spouted statement it’s a “lifestyle and way of life, not a job….” doesn’t cut it. I’m proud of my crews and the work they do and think they deserve decent ‘off the clock’ downtime: if it takes someone with the balls to stand up for them, be it to government or employers, I’m all for it……
I hope Sara doesn’t dislocate her shoulder patting herself on the back. And the timing of this announcement, how convenient, weeks before the mid-term elections. Would have been nice if these rules were implemented before the summer schedule, but then people might have forgotten about this by November.
I’ve read elsewhere that this is mostly a non-factor in terms of airlines and costs which I think matters most to people.