‘GET SERIOUS’

Flight Attendants’ Union Demands No-Fly List for Unruly Passengers

“This is not about ‘masks,’” the Association of Flight Attendants said in a letter. “...You’re either for protecting crew and passengers from these attacks or you’re against.”

The union representing 50,000 of the United States’ flight attendants has called for a plan to ground an increasing number of disruptive and violent passengers. Just two days after an out-of-control passenger tried to wrench open an airplane’s door mid-flight, the Association of Flight Attendants issued a statement that began with a simple demand: “Get serious. Homeland security is homeland security. Our flights are under attack by a small number of people and it has to stop.” Union President Sara Nelson called the current “gap in aviation safety and security” unconscionable, explaining that crew members had been “punched, kicked, spit on, and sexually assaulted.” Saying that the attacks weren’t about masks, and that the worst attacks “have nothing to do with masks,” Nelson said the union wanted “the creation of a centralized list of passengers who may not fly for a period of time after being fined or convicted of a serious incident.” The letter ended with a plea to the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, and Department of Justice to come up with “clear and consistent rules” with “strict consequences.”