Flight Attendants Say They Regularly Face Groping, Lewd Comments From Passengers

For many U.S. flight attendants, navigating lewd comments or unwanted touching by passengers is a troublesome but all too common reality of their jobs, with two out of three flight attendants saying they’ve experienced sexual harassment during their careers, according to a survey released Thursday.One out of three who responded to the survey conducted by the Association of Flight Attendants said they’d experienced verbal sexual harassment within the last year, with many reporting that they experienced lewd remarks five times or more during that time span.One in five said they’d been subject to physical harassment in the past year, including grabbing of their breasts, buttocks and crotch areas, or being cornered by passengers for unwanted hugs or kisses.In many cases, flight attendants felt they lacked formal training and support from their carriers for dealing with the harassment.The survey of 3,500 flight attendants from 29 U.S. airlines is an attempt to measure a problem that has been spoken about anecdotally for decades, dating back to an era when young, pretty and single flight attendants were a core part of many carriers’ marketing strategies.And while the days of hot pants and gogo boots may be over, sexual harassment of a workforce that is still largely female persists to this day, said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines, including American Airlines subsidiary Envoy Air.“We’ve got some unique conditions on the plane. It has been defined as a place for objectification, as a sexy mode of transportation. That has never been denounced,” Nelson said. “This survey confirms we still have a real problem here that has to be addressed in a serious way.”The survey is part of a growing push to raise awareness and take action against sexual misconduct onboard aircrafts, whether directed at flight attendants or other passengers.As the the #MeToo movement has captured national headlines, more passengers have been speaking up about their experiences of of sexual harassment and assault on planes.A separate survey by AFA published last year found that one in five flight attendants had received a report from a passenger that they were sexually harassed or assaulted during a flight. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed on planes, said it investigated 63 cases of sexual assault on aircraft in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, the fourth year in a row where investigations have increased.Passengers’ stories, along with attention called to the issue by the AFA and consumer watchdog groups, have prompted legislative efforts to require federal regulators to study the problem in more depth.Tackling harassmentUntil recently, airlines have largely avoided addressing the problem directly and many still don’t have specific training around how to deal with sexual harassment or misconduct that take place during a flight.More than two-thirds of the respondents to the AFA survey said they haven’t noticed efforts by employees to address sexual harassment at work over the past year, and just 7 percent of those who experienced abuse reported it to their employer.The most common response by flight attendants, according to the survey, is to avoid further interaction with the passenger, ignore the harassment or attempt to deflect the situation.“We’ve never been given any assurances that our reports would be taken seriously,” Nelson said. “There have to be protocols that everyone follows to make sure we’re keeping the space safe.”Airline CEOs have begun speaking more forcefully on the issue. Last month, Alaska Airlines’ CEO Brad Tilden said the carrier is adding sexual assault scenarios to its flight attendant training as well as looking at other ways to prevent and address sexual harassment through further training of all employees.“To be clear, sexual harassment and assault have absolutely no place in our workplace, on board our flights, or any place,” Tilden said.An April internal employee memo signed by American’s six top executives including CEO Doug Parker said the carrier is in the process of updating its sexual harassment training, stating “we will always look for ways to do more.”The AFA has also credited CEOs at United Airlines and Spirit Airlines for speaking out publicly on the issue.Flight attendants at American and Southwest are not represented by the AFA but were eligible to participate in the survey. The president of Southwest’s flight attendants union, Lyn Montgomery, said training needs to be developed for cabin crews “to give us the tools to handle incidents and protect the rights of victims.”“Flight attendants have had to deal with instances of sexual assault and harassment not only for themselves but also other crew and passengers without training, without clear guidelines and in the absence of appropriate policies," she said in a statement.Combating stereotypesSexual harassment of workers by customers is a pernicious aspect of many service-centric industries. While flight attendants’ primary role is ensure the safety of passengers on an aircraft, the popular conception of the profession is still influenced by the Jet Age days when airlines closely regulated stewardess’ appearances and forced them to quit when they married or got too old.“As you get to later 1950s and 1960s, you see this cheekiness creep into airline advertising. You start to get this kind of winking ‘We know you’re here for the flight attendant,’” said Kathleen Barry, a historian who wrote the 2007 book Feminity in Flight: A History of Flight Attendants. “Flight attendants do become this hyper-distillation of the importance of appearance, manners and being a gracious hostess.”Barry said as airlines sought to cater to male business travelers, uniforms became more suggestive and advertisements more overt, typified by a 1971 National Airlines ad campaign where flight attendants encouraged customers to “Fly me.”Things began to change in the 1970s, as flight attendants and their unions rode a cresting wave of civil rights and feminist movements, as well as shifting perceptions of air travel, to win greater control over their working conditions and respect as federally certified safety professionals.Nelson, president of the flight attendants union, said airlines are in the best position to combat stereotypes about flight attendants and address sexual harassment in the skies.“It’s calling out that this has no place on their planes,really setting the standard of a harassment free zone. There have to be statements from CEOs” Nelson said. “They can partner with the airports and have signs setting a standard of mutual respect in the airport and on the planes. Repeated messaging to employees, to passengers."  Continue reading...