Sep 7, 2010

The Flight Attendant Family | By Darren Shiroma | November 2005 

Many issues have brought our Flight Attendant career to where it is today. Since 2001, influences beyond our control have had a large impact on what our profession has endured. The events of 9/11, tumultuous times in the aviation industry, our fight for our Contract, the fight for our pensions, the roller-coaster ride of the bankruptcy process, mass furloughs, and the barrage of discipline we face while at work.

The greater impact of these issues continue to surface when we fail to address them - the emotional toll.

Last-minute schedule changes, long duty days, shorter rest periods, red-eye turns, mechanicals, IROPS and reassignments - you name it. Many pressures and stresses that take us to the place where we've all been before - the breaking point. There have even been occasions when we find ourselves in crew-related disagreement, miscommunication or dissention. One thing must always be clear:

WE MUST CONTINUE TO STAND TOGETHER, STAND STRONG, SUPPORT EACH OTHER....

The Flight Attendant Family is one that must never be compromised. Our work life and the experiences we share are what make us unique....and special. The unspoken language we communicate in. The selflessness we display when one of our own is in time of need. The resourceful nature we innately display every day we step aboard the aircraft.

We are the ones who we turn to in an evacuation or inflight emergency - we are the first responders onboard. Flight Attendants save lives, provide medical attention and care, and perform impeccably to dozens of Safety & Security issues aboard our aircraft without fail. No one else is there to "take care of things." We are the ones who make up the cabin crew - our family when we're away from home. When our own LAX-based flight attendant Leslie Cutts found herself in the path of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she picked up her family and extended herself to the community. She worked with the LAX AFA office to get aid to the people of her community even when she was suffering herself.

The overwhelming support from LAX-based flight attendants was amazing. Boxes upon boxes were sent to Leslie from flight attendants to help families recover from the disaster. The mayor of the small town of Moss Point, Alabama and many people in her community were in awe of what Leslie personally called her other "family." The outpouring of compassion and concern for her safety brought Leslie to the realization that her "family" from so far away in LAX cared, just because she was one of their own.

In September 2005, we lost one of our flying partners to a house fire. Diane Siebel was fatally injured in her home in Redondo Beach, and left her husband and three children behind. LAX-based Flight Attendants stepped up once again and lifted Diane's family up with emotional support, comforting phone calls, home-cooked meals, and monetary donations. Her husband noted that they were touched by the overwhelming support from what he called Diane's "Flight Attendant Family."  He and his family were comforted by Diane's flying partners - some of whom they'd never met before.

When one of our flying partners falls ill enroute or on a layover, fellow crew members rush to their side and stay with them. They take the place our loved ones at home would take. The place by our side...

"Betty used to tell me that her colleagues were like her second family away from home.." -- Cathie Ong-Herrera, sister of Betty Ong, AA 11 Flight Attendant

Again and again, F/As do what we do best; WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN.

Our EAP/Professional Standards Committee steps up as well - to ensure that our fellow flying partners are taken care of. They are from within our ranks - they volunteer their own time. They do it because they care. Why? Because they come from within the family. They are Flight Attendants...they are our own.

Remember, when we step aboard the plane - who we are, what we do, why we do it. This is the essence of what makes us Flight Attendants. This can never be taken away. Pride in our job, pride in our flying partners, and pride in our roles as Certified Safety Professionals.

The simple pleasures we share with each other are worth their weight in GOLD. Despite the continued attacks from external sources and influences, we must never forget what brought our career to where it is today - and never forget to continue taking care of our own.

© November 2005 AFA-CWA Council 12 Los Angeles. All Rights Reserved

EAP/PS: Employee Assistance Program/Professional Standards

Your EAP/Professional Standards Committee here at LAX is comprised of specially-trained flight attendant peers who dedicate their time in assisting co-workers. They give of their time to support us in so many ways.....

Our EAP/Professional Standards Committee assist with:

• Assessment, support & resource referrals
• Advancement of Professional Standards through conflict/dispute resolution
• Response to critical & traumatic incidents
• Emotional concerns & Family issues
• Work-related Issues & Physical health concerns
• Chemical dependency/Alcohol & other addictions
• Financial/Legal matters
• Workplace trauma/Critical incidents

Professional Standards addresses concerns that are within our peer group. Never place another flying partner in the hands of a supervisor by turning them in to the company. Doing so may potentially involve you in the disciplinary process as well. It is also important to remember that our LAX EAP/Professional Standards Committee also works with ALPA EAP/Professional Standards (F/O employees), and IAM EAP (Customer Service and Ramp employees).

The EAP/PS Committee addresses issues within our F/A community.

AFA's objective in providing EAP/PS services is to enhance the health, safety and well-being of its Union family with the highest quality of peer support available within the EAP industry. Our LAX EAP/PS Committee are:

Connie Fueyo Kolette O'Keefe

Nicole Johnson Lori Wilson

To join our LAX-based flying partners who are on the committee -- and help us in supporting our coworkers, please send us an email through the "Contact Us" page. To contact the committee, use the "Committee Roster" page. You may also contact AFA-CWA International EAP Helpline at: 800-424-2406

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