By Darren Shiroma, Local Council President

"Flight Attendants are not airborne waitresses, next time you get onboard an aircraft, you need to pat them on the back because these guys are pros." -- Dr. Phil McGraw (1/23/09)

[02.11.09] -- The crewmembers of US Airways Flight 1549 began telling their story this week as all five crewmembers sat down with Katie Couric on "60 Minutes" this past Sunday. AFA-CWA Flight Attendants Sheila Dail, Donna Welsh, and Doreen Dent have turned into the heroes of our profession, and received well-deserved recognition in these broadcasts.

This week, the world watched the reality of our Flight Attendant profession—told through the crew's experiences—and we proudly honor their heroism.

For those who were unable to watch the interviews, we've captured highlights from "60 Minutes," "ABC's Good Morning America," "CBS' The Early Show," and "The Late Show With David Letterman." Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III has been vocal about the efforts of the ditching and evacuation as "a team effort" in many published interviews, and repeated those sentiments on each TV appearance.

From frustration to success, focusing on the Flight Attendant profession, and what each of us can do

The past month has again brought frustration for Flight Attendants as we have seen our roles as First Responders often overlooked in media reports related to the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009. One more step toward changing the perception and identity of our jobs took place three weeks after the accident. Our Flight Attendant profession was re-classified as "Essential Employees" with the U.S. Dept. of Labor after decades of advocacy from Flight Attendant activists within our Union, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

On the evening of Flight 1549's ditching, Dr. Phil was on "Larry King Live," and said, "I think he (the captain) is going to give credit to people on the ground and a lot of credit to those Flight Attendants, a lot of credit to his co-pilot." Aviation Expert Mary Schiavo said, "I would agree. Phil said a great thing. The Flight Attendants too deserve a tremendous amount of kudos. Statistics show when Flight Attendants take command and bark orders and get people out the door, people live. Kudos to them." Larry King continued, "And Dr. Sanjay, a lot of credit to the crew too, the Flight Attendants...we overlook them often." Dr. Sanjay replied, "We do. I guess people do. Then, as you point out, having the strong leadership to get people off the plane, sounded like it went really well, which is a heart-warming thing, Larry."

Dr. Phil went on to say, "I want to echo again what I said earlier and what Mary (Schiavo) talked about; these Flight Attendants are not waitresses in the sky. Their number one reason for being there is safety. To keep order in this type of situation, that is just incredible courage and leadership. Next time we get on a plane, we ought to reach over and give that Flight Attendant a pat on the back. They saved a lot of lives today."

Two weeks later, on his own "Dr. Phil Show" on January 23, 2009, Dr. Phil made the following statement: “This wasn’t just luck. Everyone had to do a good job. The Flight Attendants had to do a good job, the pilot had to do a good job, the first officer had to do a good job...this was team effort. One of the most amazing things about this is that the Flight Attendants were able to get over 150 people off the plane without one fatality. As I said on Larry King Live, Flight Attendants are not airborne waitresses, next time you get onboard an aircraft, you need to pat them on the back because these guys are pros.”

Each day, we have the opportunity to change public perception and understanding of our profession by reaching out to friends, family members, and members of the general public to remind them of our qualifications and certifications. Day by day, step by step; we further our goals to ensure we continually advance our message: Flight Attendants are First Reponders.

Capt. Sullenberger, on CBS' The Early Show, February 9, 2009: "This entire experience in my opinion so far has been entirely too much about Sully, and not enough about the team. And without our Flight Attendants Donna, Doreen, and Sheila, we would not have had the same outcome.”

The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA), at US Airways, released the following information three days after the ditching:

January 18, 2009: "(USAPA) would like to address is the way the press has emphasized the Captain of the flight, seemingly ignoring the crew. This has not gone un-noticed by any of us. It is apparent the press wanted a “hero” and Capt. Sullenberger was selected. It is ironic that Capt. Sullenberger’s prime concern throughout the entire event was the welfare of his crew as demonstrated by his remarks to President Bush and the entire crew’s inclusion of and visit to Doreen Welsh, the hospitalized B Flight Attendant.

On speaking to the subject, Media Sub-Committee Chairman, Capt. James Ray, stated that we all share the frustration about the press omitting, to a large degree, the efforts of F/O Jeff Skiles and the three Flight Attendants. In talking to countless reporters over the last several days Capt. Ray attempted to stress the point and educate them on the matter of crew concept. For whatever reason, they generally chose not to mention this in many of their reports. Capt. Ray believes we will have opportunities to educate the public on this issue in the near future. All of that said, we want to re-emphasize the phenomenal experience of the remainder of this crew which, without a doubt, contributed to the successful outcome of this event:

• F/O Jeffrey B. Skiles, joined US Airways in 1986. 15,643 flight hours and previously flew as Captain with US Airways.
• F/A Sheila Dail joined US Airways (Piedmont Airlines) in 1980 and has more than 28 years experience.
• F/A Doreen Welsh joined US Airways (Allegheny Airlines) in 1970 and has more than 38 years experience.
• F/A Donna Dent joined US Airways (Piedmont Airlines) in 1982 and has more than 26 years experience.

Capt. Sullenberger, on CBS' The Early Show, February 9, 2009: “I’ve said it many times. All of us share a bond that was forged that day ... with the First Responders. This was a team effort on the part of the crew, on the part of the passengers ... we’re all linked.”

Here are some of the comments made regarding our AFA-CWA Flight Attendants from US Aiways Flight 1549:

Lucille Palmer was a wheelchair passenger traveling with her daughter, and upon evacuation, she said, "just leave me." Her daughter Diane replied, "I'm not leaving you, mom." Lucille Palmer said, "She's younger than me, I wanted her to get out because she has children and grandchildren..."

CBS' Harry Smith said during the broadcast, “That story, of you saying to your daughter, ‘leave me’…are you glad she didn’t leave you?” Lucille Palmer replied, “I am,” and continued, “Well, she is more important than me, but I’m glad she didn’t.” Smith asked her, “What is it like to look at these people (the crew)?” Lucille responded emotionally as she looked at the crewmembers, “I think of (Flight Attendant) Donna (Dent) gripping my hand and going down that aisle. She got me into the raft….and that was Donna, and she did it....all by herself.” 

"Now, I do listen to the Flight Attendants on every flight..."

CBS' Harry Smith asked passenger Dave Sanderson (who was seated in 15A), “Take me inside the plane as it impacts the water.” Passenger Dave Sanderson said, “It was extremely calm, like they said. It was stone quiet in there, which was amazing to me, and I think that was a saving grace.” As he looked to the five crewmembers, he said, “I just want to say, I admire your skills, and I honor what you managed to state. Now, I do listen to the Flight Attendants on every flight. I know exactly where everything is, and I know exactly where the exits are…” These statements drew applause from Capt. Sully and the two dozen survivors and family members in the studio with the crew.

Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer told the Flight Attendants, “The chanting that the captain heard, apparently was so reassuring to him. That you were in charge of this plane. Tell us again what you were chanting to the passengers.” Flight Attendant Donna Dent stated, “Brace, brace, heads down, stay down.” Diane Sawyer asked, “You’ve practiced for this moment. Brace, brace, heads down?" To which all three Flight Attendants responded, “Yes.”

"You've trained for this....what do you do?"

CBS Maggie Rodriguez asked, “You hear the words, Brace for impact. Had that ever happened in your career?” Flight Attendant Donna Dent replied, “No.” “So what do you do? You’ve trained for this, but here’s the moment…what do you do?” Flight Attendant Donna Dent said, “You immediately start yelling your commands, ‘brace, brace, heads down stay down.’” “So now you’re in the water and you have to get everyone out. How do you do it, Sheila?” Flight Attendant Sheila Dail replied, "You go to your door, and you assess outside to make sure it’s safe to open the door. Once you know it is safe, you open the door and command people ‘come this way’ and ‘don your life vests’ and ‘leave belongings.’”

CBS Maggie Rodriguez turned to Flight Attendant Doreen Welsh, who was seated at the rear of the aircraft and said, “Except you had one experience, Doreen...someone who tried to open the door and you had to force her to (move) and close it?” Flight Attendant Doreen Welsh replied, “She did open the door….” Maggie Rodriguez said, “And the water started to come in….wow.” Welsh told the story of how she repeatedly attempted to close the door opened by the passenger, but her attempts were unsuccessful due to the rush of the frigid waters of the Hudson. She also spoke about coffee pots and trash bins floating around her in chest-high water.

Flight Attendant Doreen Welsh also recalled, “I did not know I was injured until I got into the raft with Sheila at the front door. I made it all the way up there. I got up there, I felt real dizzy and looked down and went, ‘whoa,’ so it must have happened under the ice-cold water where I wouldn’t have felt it, or the adrenaline….I don’t know.”

On the February 11, 2009 broadcast, CNN American Morning Anchor Kiran Chetry recalled, “(First Officer) Jeff Skiles said to me, anytime you get on a flight, this is what we’re here to do. We’re not just here to serve you coffee and take you from point 'A' to point 'B'. We’re supposed to be able to do what we did.”

Crew shares laughs and lighter side of the story with David Letterman

On the February 10 episode of the “Late Show With David Letterman,” the crew were able to show a lighter side to their story by sharing smiles and laughs. As Letterman asked about the size of the aircraft, Capt. Sully described the plane as close to that of a 737. Letterman said, “And, plenty of wing space for standing passengers in the river? Not a problem there! No pushing, no shoving…plenty of space!” Letterman asked, “are you tired of going around and telling your story?” First Officer Jeff Skiles jokingly replied, “I’m more than tired of telling this story,” which drew laughter and applause from the audience. Pointing at First Officer Skiles, Letterman asked, “it’s your job to restart the engines, is that correct?” First Officer Skiles quickly replied, “I failed,” to which Capt. Sullenberger said, “it’s hard to get good help.”

Letterman went through the minute-by-minute account of the flight with both pilots, and said, “okay, so, at 3:28pm, snacks and beverages were served….oh, that’s not…I’m sorry…” Capt. Sullenberger and F/A Skiles both laughed along with the studio audience at Letterman’s constant joking of the events. Again, Letterman looked to F/O Jeff Skiles saying, “now you’re job is pretty much done…you can’t get the engines restarted. What are you doing in the right seat….what are your activities at this point?” F/O Skiles jokingly replied, “I’m pretty much just paralyzed with terror at that point.”

David Letterman then brought the Flight Attendants out from backstage to a standing ovation from the entire studio audience. After they settled in, he asked them, “How’s everybody doing? Were you in shock at the time? What was the feeling like?” Flight Attendant Doreen Walsh laughed, saying, “I’m still in shock, I’m on the David Letterman Show!” As they spoke of their experiences, Letterman asked, “What’s the first thing you hear from the cockpit?” Flight Attendant Donna Dent replied, “Brace for impact.” Letterman chided, “Ever hear that before coming out of a cockpit?” "....Or, ever hear that in any other aspect of your lives?” These statements caused Flight Attendant Donna Dent to blush, and sent the audience into laughter and applause along with the rest of the crew.

Lessons from Flight 1549 from Capt. Sullenberger & F/O Jeff Skiles

On NBC Nightly News, Aviation Expert Tom Costello asked, “What lessons can we learn from Flight 1549?” Capt. Sullenberger said, “I think our society needs to value the airline piloting profession in such a way that we can continue to attract the kind of people that are flying these airplanes now.” NBC’s Tom Costello asked, “This has been a tough business the last few years. Pilots, Flight Attendants have taken deep pay cuts across the spectrum…your argument is what? That this demonstrates the need to have professionals to be paid and are dedicated to this profession?” Capt. Sullenberger replied simply, “Obviously.”

F/O Jeff Skiles continued, “It’s certainly not the career that it once was. When I was hired in this business, whole families were working as Pilots and Flight Attendants.” “Now, I know no one that encourages their children to get into aviation of any sort.” “But also what he’s (Capt. Sullenberger) saying is true of Flight Attendants as well. A Flight Attendant is a profession.”

As F/O Jeff Skiles spoke, Capt. Sullenberger nodded in agreement with his comments. F/O Skiles continued, “And they (Flight Attendants) have taken just a large a pay cut, lost their retirements just as we have. Certainly the ability to attract the quality of individuals like the three (Flight Attendants) behind us now is diminished in the future.”

Clips conveniently compiled here for those who missed the broadcasts

If you missed the episodes of "60 Minutes," "Good Morning America," "The Early Show," and "CNN's Larry King Live," we've included direct links to clips from these broadcasts for you to view. The link to "60 Minutes" includes the entire segment, and the segmented clips from the two-hour broadcasts of "Good Morning America" and "The Early Show" show only the segments where the crewmembers were highlighted. There is also an extended 20-minute version of the interview that aired on "NBC Nightly News."

· [02.08.09] -- 60 Minutes (CBS) Entire Segment

· [02.09.09] -- Good Morning America (ABC) Clips

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