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[[Image:Stewardess, circa 1949-50, American Overseas, Flaghip Denmark, Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.jpg|thumb|250px|Stewardess, circa 1949-50, American Overseas, Flagship Denmark, Boeing Stratocruiser]]
[[Image:Stewardess, circa 1949-50, American Overseas, Flaghip Denmark, Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.jpg|thumb|250px|Stewardess, circa 1949-50, American Overseas, Flagship Denmark, Boeing Stratocruiser]]


In [[aviation]], '''flight attendants'''—formerly known as '''sky girls''', '''air hostesses,''' '''stewardesses''' or '''stewards'''—are members of a [[flight crew]] employed by [[airline]]s to ensure the safety of the [[passenger]]s aboard commercial flights.
In [[aviation]], '''flight attendants'''—Also known as '''sky girls''', '''air hostesses,''' '''stewardesses''' or '''stewards'''—are members of a [[flight crew]] employed by [[airline]]s to ensure the safety of the [[passenger]]s aboard commercial flights.


==Overview==
==Overview==

Revision as of 06:31, 7 April 2007

Flight attendant in an Embraer ERJ 145 LR (PBair, Thailand)
Stewardess, circa 1949-50, American Overseas, Flagship Denmark, Boeing Stratocruiser

In aviation, flight attendants—Also known as sky girls, air hostesses, stewardesses or stewards—are members of a flight crew employed by airlines to ensure the safety of the passengers aboard commercial flights.

Overview

The primary and overriding responsibility of flight attendants is passenger safety. However, they are often tasked with the secondary function of seeing to the care and comfort of the passengers, insofar as this does not interfere with their safety responsibilities. They are often perceived by the flying public as waitresses or servants because only this latter function is normally seen outside the extremely rare event of in-flight emergency; and historically this perception has been encouraged by airlines.

The role of a flight attendant ultimately derives from that of similar positions on passenger ships or passenger trains, but it has more direct involvement with passengers because of the confined quarters and often shorter travel times on aircraft. Additionally, the job of a flight attendant revolves around safety to a much greater extent than those of similar staff on other forms of transportation. Flight attendants on board a flight collectively form a cabin crew, as distinguished from pilots and engineers on the flight deck.

Outside the exceptional case of an in-flight emergency, flight attendants usually provide courtesy services for passengers, such as preparation distribution of in-flight meals and drinks, management of in-flight entertainment systems, sale of duty-free and other merchandise, and the like. As the most visible representatives of their airlines, their importance to customer relations and the image of their airlines is considerable.

Many jurisdictions mandate the presence of flight attendants on commercial aircraft, based on the passenger capacity of the aircraft and other factors. This mandate generally relates only to their function as safety technicians.

Qualifications

Training

Flight attendants are normally trained in the hub or headquarters city of an airline over a period that may run from six weeks to six months, depending on the country. The main focus of training is safety. One flight attendant is required for every 50 passenger seats on board in the United States, but many airlines have chosen to increase that number. One of the most elaborate training facilities was Breech Academy which TWA opened in 1969 in Overland Park, Kansas, United States. Other airlines were to also send their attendants to the school. However, during the fare wars the school's viability declined and it closed around 1990.

Safety training includes, but is not limited to: emergency passenger evacuation management, use of evacuation slides / life rafts, in-flight fire fighting, survival in the jungle / sea / desert / ice, first aid, CPR, defibrillation, ditching / emergency landing procedures, decompression emergencies, crew resource management and security.

File:Ah870401.jpg
Air Algérie history 1987

Language

Multilingual flight attendants are often in demand to accommodate international travelers. The languages most in demand, other than English, are Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Height and weight

Some airlines, such as EVA Air, have height requirements for purely aesthetic purposes. Horizon Air and other regional carriers have height restrictions because their aircraft have low ceilings. A typical acceptable range is from 5'2" (1.57 m) to 6'0" (1.83 m).

Flight attendants are also subject to weight requirements as well. Weight must usually be in proportion to height; persons outside the normal range may not be qualified to act as flight attendants.

History

The first flight attendant, a steward, was reportedly a man on the German Zeppelin LZ10 Schwaben in 1911.[citation needed] Imperial Airways of the United Kingdom had “cabin boys” or “stewards” in the 1920s. The first female flight attendant was a 25-year-old registered nurse named Ellen Church: Hired by United Airlines in 1930, she also first envisioned nurses on aircraft.

Other airlines followed suit, hiring nurses to serve as stewardesses on most of their flights. The requirement to be a registered nurse was relaxed at the start of World War II, as so many nurses enlisted into the armed forces.

In advertising

In the 1960s and 1970s, many airlines began advertising the attractiveness and friendliness of their stewardesses. National Airlines began a “Fly Me” campaign using attractive stewardesses with taglines such as “I'm Lorraine. Fly me to Orlando.” Braniff Airways, presented a campaign known as the “Air Strip,” with similarly attractive young stewardesses changing uniforms midflight.[1] A policy of at least one airline required that only unmarried women could be flight attendants.[2]

Unions

Flight attendant unions were formed, beginning at United Airlines in the 1940s, to negotiate improvements in pay, benefits and working conditions.[1] Those unions would later challenge what they perceived as sexist stereotypes and unfair work practices such as age limits, size limits, limitations on marriage, and prohibition of pregnancy. Many of these limitations have been lifted by judicial mandates. The largest flight attendants union is the Association of Flight Attendants, representing over 50,000 flight attendants at 22 airlines within the United States.

In the United Kingdom, cabin crew can be represented by either Cabin Crew '89, or the much larger and more powerful Transport and General Workers Union.

Discrimination

Airline managers commonly subjected flight attendants to various forms of discrimination from the early days of the profession until the 1990s.[2] Flight attendants at US-based airlines, and others as well, were forced to resign or were fired if they got married, if they were overweight, wore eyeglasses, if they turned 30 years of age (or 32 at some airlines). These discriminatory policies came under attack in the United States after passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Flight attendant unions like the Association of Flight Attendants used Title VII, in the courts and at the bargaining table, to bring an end to such practices and recognize the professionalism of the flight attendant career. The no-marriage rule was eliminated throughout the US airline industry by the 1980s.[3] The last such broad categorical discrimination, the weight restrictions,[4] were eliminated in the 1990s through litigation and negotiations.[5] By the end of the 1970s, the term stewardess had generally been replaced by the gender-neutral, and more wordy, alternative flight attendant. More recently the term cabin crew has begun to replace 'flight attendant,' because of the term's recognition of their role as members of the crew. (This, does not, however, suitably replace the older terms, being a collective noun rather than a singular one.)

September 11, 2001

The role of flight attendants received heightened prominence after the September 11, 2001 attacks when flight attendants (such as Sandra W. Bradshaw, Robert Fangman, CeeCee Lyles, Renee May, Betty Ong and Madeline Amy Sweeney) actively attempted to protect passengers from assault, and also provided vital information to air traffic controllers on the hijackings. [3]

In the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, many flight attendants at major airlines were laid off on account of decreased passenger loads.[4]

Roles in an emergency

Actions of flight attendants in emergencies have long been credited in saving lives; in the United States, the NTSB and other aviation authorities view flight attendants as essential for safety, and are thus required on Part 121 aircraft operations. Studies, some done in light of the Manchester air disaster, have concluded that assertive cabin crew are essential for the rapid evacuation of airplanes. [5][6] Notable examples of cabin crew actions include:

  • Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751, when cabin crew recognized an emergency landing was imminent and commanded the passengers to “hold your knees” to adopt the brace position.[7]
  • A Delta Connection (Atlantic Southeast Airlines) flight attendant who provided emergency briefings, brace and evacuation commands to the passengers when a EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft sustained serious damage to one of its engine and crash landed. She was the only flight attendant on board. The NTSB acccident report commended "the exemplary manner in which the flight attendant briefed the passengers and handled the emergency".[8]
  • British Airways Flight 5390, in which a flight attendant was able to prevent a pilot from being lost through a cockpit window that had failed.
  • Southern Airways Flight 242, on which the cabin crew provided safety briefings to their passengers, and on their own initiative, warned passengers of the impending crash by commanding passengers to adopt the brace position. At least one flight attendant is known to have assisted in rescuing trapped passengers.[9]
  • Air Florida Flight 90, in which the lone surviving flight attendant passed the only lifevest she could find to another passenger. She is recognized in the NTSB report for this “unselfish act.”[10]
  • TWA flight attendant Uli Derickson who protected passengers during the TWA Flight 847 hijacking by assisting with negotiation efforts.
  • TWA Flight 843, when a TWA L-1011 aircraft crashed after an aborted takeoff in 1992. The aircraft was destroyed by fire. Nine flight attendants, along with five off-duty flight attendants, evacuated all 292 persons on board without loss of life. The NTSB in their after accident reported noted, “The performance of the flight attendants during the emergency was exceptional and probably contributed to the success of the emergency evacuation.” [11][12]
  • On British Airways Flight 2069, cabin crew stopped the plane from being crashed by a mentally ill passenger. It was a highly mediatized episode of air rage. [13]
  • Crew on American Airlines Flight 63 prevented a shoe bomber from blowing up the plane. [14]
  • Flight attendants on Qantas flight 1737 prevented their plane from being hijacked by a passenger with mental health issues. Two of them were taken to hospital with stab wounds. [15]
  • Aloha Airlines Flight 243 suffered a decompression which tore an 18-foot section of fuselage away from the plane. Despite her injuries, flight attendant Michelle Honda crawled up and down the aisle reassuring passengers. [16]
  • Senior Purser Neerja Bhanot saved the lives of passengers and crew when Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked. She was killed while protecting children from the terrorists. After her death she received the Special Courage Award from the United States Department of Justice.
  • Flight Attendants on Air Canada Flight 797 used procedures which were not specifically taught in training such as instruction passengers to open over wing window exits to allow passengers to evacuate quicker, moving passengers to the front of the aircraft to move them away from the fire and smoke, and passing out towels for passengers to cover their nose and mouths with while the cabin was filling with smoke.

Notable flight attendants

Flight attendants in Pop-culture Portrayals

Trivia

  • The oldest active flight attendant, Iris Peterson, is still flying for United Airlines at the age of 85, having been born in 1921 and joining the company in 1944.
  • Stewardesses is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand on a QWERTY keyboard.
  • A term used in popular psychology is "Pan American (or Pan Am) Smile." Named after the greeting flight attendants (or at least actresses playing flight attendants on TV ads) of that airline supposedly gave to passengers, it consists of a perfunctory mouth movement without the activity of facial muscles around the eyes that characterizes a genuine smile.
  • Vesna Vulovic, a former flight attendant from Yugoslavia, survived a fall from 10,160 m (33,330 ft) when JAT Yugoslav Flight 364 blew up over Czechoslovakia on January 26, 1972, after a bomb exploded on board.

References

  1. ^ From Skygirl to Flight Attendant, Women and the Making of a Union by Georgia Panter Nielsen, ILR Press/Cornell, Ithaca, NY (1982)ISBN 978-0875460932
  2. ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/living/chi-0703050190mar07,1,4563381.story?coll=chi-living-hed, Skies Often Overly Friendly, Early Flight Attendants Faced Sexism, by Dawn Klingensmith, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, Lifestyle Section, March 7, 2007.]
  3. ^ eg., http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5DD113AF932A25754C0A960948260, United Settles Sex-Bias Case, New York Times, July 11, 1986.
  4. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F0CE1DD163AF935A25756C0A965958260, Public & Private; In Thin Air, by Anna Quindlen, New York Times, May 16, 1993.
  5. ^ eg., http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE3D6173BF933A0575BC0A967958260, Accord on Flight Attendants' Weight, New York Times, August 30, 1991.

Flight Attendant Labor Unions:

Miscellaneous

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