FAA CARRY-ON BAG POLICY FAILS TO PROTECT FLIGHT ATTENDANT AND PASSENGER SAFETY, CHARGES FLIGHT ATTENDANT UNION

July 30, 1998 WASHINGTON, DC - The Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, blasted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for failing in its responsibility to protect flight attendant and passenger safety in the agency's new Advisory Circular on Carry-On Baggage (AC 121-29A), released July 22.

"The new advisory circular will do little to reduce the excess amount of baggage flowing into the cabin. Nor will it likely reduce the number of injuries that carry-ons are causing to passengers and flight attendants," International AFA President Patricia A. Friend wrote in a July 29 letter to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey. The union leader said that the FAA's advisory circular would be of little assistance to airline passengers, stating that they "will continue to remain confused over what is allowed to be carried into the cabin."

Friend told Garvey that she reacted with "disbelief" and "extreme disappointment" to the agency's second advisory circular on carry-on bags in a decade. The document "offers nothing more than the status quo to flight attendants who are concerned about the safety problems and injuries that carry-on bags are creating in our workplace, the aircraft cabin," Friend stated.

Airlines are required to have an FAA-approved carry-on bag program in force, but the size and the number of bags allowed, as well as other program specifics, are left entirely to each individual carrier. The FAA's advisory circular is just that, advisory, containing recommendations or guidelines that carriers may follow. AFA said the lack of a coherent and uniform federal policy on carry-on bags has enabled the carry-on bag situation to get out of control; even during aircraft emergencies. During evacuations, passengers stopping to retrieve their carry-on items have delayed or blocked passengers from exiting the aircraft.

The AFA leader, a flight attendant for more than 30 years, said the FAA's advisory circular would enable airlines to continue to design carry-on bag programs based on marketplace concerns instead of safety. "Some carriers will continue to design their carry-on bag policies with factors relating to competition ('How will this policy enable our airline to sell more tickets?') carrying more weight than factors to improve cabin safety," she said.

Friend said that the FAA's advisory circular leaves the job of carry-on bag enforcement "squarely on the backs of flight attendants," which she said was "unacceptable." Friend pointed out that flight attendants' on the job safety is not protected by OSHA, but is dependent upon action from the FAA. "Your agency has failed to take responsibility for adequately protecting [flight attendants'] occupational safety and health," she charged.

The AFA president said the union would petition the agency to issue a mandatory rule on carry-on bags and stated that flight attendants would take action "in the coming months. . .to voice their displeasure over the FAA's failure to act and to bring this important cabin safety issue. . . to the attention of air travelers and the public."

Carry-on bags are one of the leading causes of on-the-job injury to flight attendants. AFA hosted a conference on carry-on bags last November to draw attention to the issue. Aviation experts at the conference estimated that 4,500 passengers are injured each year in incidents involving carry-on bags.

The Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, is the world's largest flight attendant union, representing 43,000 flight attendants at 27 airlines. For more information, visit AFA's website at www.afanet.org.