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» SAFETY/SECURITY AT THE HEART OF UNION REPRESENTATION

SAFETY AND SECURITY FIRST!

The Association of Flight Attendants - CWA has worked tirelessly to establish Flight Attendants as Inflight Safety Professionals—our primary role on flights around the world, each and every day.  It has taken 65 years of dedication to transform our careers from purely service jobs into a profession recognized as essential front line first responders, responsible for safeguarding our passengers under a myriad of circumstances and situations.


This has been made ever so clear over the past decade – from the heroic Flight Attendants on 9/11 to the “Miracle on the Hudson” to our own crew’s widely publicized actions thwarting the Christmas Day “underwear bomber.”  The traveling public, the media, and the regulators are all onboard. It remains unclear, however, whether Delta management really supports Flight Attendants in our primary safety roles, or even views our careers in this manner. In their seeming disregard for key fundamentals, it appears they would place greater emphasis on defeating that which has established us as true professionals in the first place: our Union.


As management attempts to divert our attention from the most essential elements of our work, we must NOT lose sight of our responsibility to detect, deter and defend the safety and security of our co-workers and our passengers. We continue to live in an unsettled world, as evidenced by recent news reports and intelligence information gathered worldwide. The fact remains, our security can be placed at risk on a moment’s notice.  Consider the October 3, 2010 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL ALERT.  More than ever, we must remain vigilant on the job and off, mindful of every action to secure our workplace and safeguard our personal safety.


Many will remember our Cabin Response Plan training and the 85/15 concept—hopefully, still practiced today. Use your instincts, assess passengers and surroundings, communicate with the flight deck and each other, and ensure effective teamwork, keeping everyone part of the solution and equally informed. A good crew briefing is the place to start, focusing on security procedures and protocols to ensure everyone is on the same page.


Be aware of Security Alerts, which may be shared in crew briefings and are also posted on DeltaNet (click on “Health, Safety & Security,” then “Corporate Security Bulletins”).  Know that your Union remains immersed in and dedicated to that which impacts Flight Attendant safety, security and health 24/7.  With a contractual provision mandating union “notification,” we monitor and act on incident reports involving our members on a daily basis, providing necessary follow-up and ensuring EAP support and assistance, as appropriate.


Remember, safety has been the cornerstone of AFA-CWA for 65 years.  Through collective bargaining, our Union has been able to fill in many remaining gaps between government workplace protections and those that will never be provided as a non-union carrier.  Only with a union contract and the partnerships built via collective bargaining can we further refine our critical role as Frontline Safety Professionals.  Let us build on AFA’s accomplishments to improve our workplace and our working lives.  Let us work together and keep in sight that which matters most . . . safety and security!

~ Submitted by MEC ASHS Committee Chair Jeanne Elliott

Posted by Belea on 10/04 at 08:49 PM

» Facebook Privacy and Security Tips

ATTENTION FACEBOOK USERS:  Take a few minutes to check the privacy settings on your profile and related Facebook pages. Several times during the past year, Facebook has adjusted its internal and third party marketing features, revamped its privacy policies and changed default settings. A simple permission change from sharing with “Friends Only” to “Friends of Friends” (and especially “Everyone”) can electronically hand deliver your personal information to an exponentially larger - and not always friendly - audience.  New features, such as the recently unveiled “geotagging” - adding geographical identification data to online messages or photos - may cause less-than-private default settings to expose even more information, potentially placing you in harm’s way.

The explosion of Facebook social networking has opened up a whole new world of online interaction for business and for pleasure. Thousands of our colleagues across the globe interact with family, friends and co-workers in almost real time. Flight Attendants often share personal information and slice of life snippets, including pictures, comments and posts about layover locations. Remember that travel details can also be an advertisement to criminals that you are out of town. Consider prying eyes when determining your privacy settings and application settings. Use caution in posting casual remarks about your personal or professional life, in light of the expanded audience your sharing preferences might unintentionally include. Be particularly mindful of privacy settings when revealing off-the-job personal information, especially if you choose to voluntarily participate in company-sponsored Facebook pages. Facebook’s own marketing and expansion strategies drive recommended suggestions that lean toward broader inclusion with less privacy, unless you establish your own customized settings.

Delta Air Lines announced it will start selling tickets selling tickets via Facebook. As some of our members quickly discovered, a simple search for “Delta Airlines” may also call up flight attendants belonging to various Delta Airlines groups or listing Delta as their employer, depending on personal settings. Click HERE for a detailed explanation about how you might consider adjusting your own privacy settings for greater security. Click HERE for a recent CNN piece on potential safety issues with geo-tagging.

Posted by dgrey on 09/09 at 12:45 PM

» FLIGHT #253 DEBRIEFING: A CALL FOR STRONGER SECURITY MEASURES

On January 25th, a formal security debriefing was held in ATL with the crew of NWA’s Flight #253, whose training and quick response thwarted a well-publicized Christmas Day terrorist attack. The debriefing allowed our crew an opportunity to reflect on their experience and offer recommendations for improvements to procedures and crew security training, with a focus on "lessons learned."

In that the circumstances of Flight 253 are part of an ongoing FBI investigation, a confidentiality restriction has been placed on the proceedings of Monday’s debriefing session. Our Flight 253 crew has been and will continue to be recognized for their exceptional professionalism, teamwork, and courage in the face of a very real threat to everyone onboard. We should be extremely proud of our peers! An immediate response to this attack was voiced by our Union, and most recently released as comprehensive, counter-terrorism position papers including the call for stronger counterterrorism training, and tougher legislation to protect passengers and, importantly, cabin crew, who remain the ‘last line of defense’. See AFA’s press release .

AFA-CWA’s proposed counter-terrorism strategy includes:

       
    1. Wireless Communications For Flight Attendants
      2.  
    2. Stronger Carry-On Bag Limitations
      3.  
    3. Passenger Communications Systems Restrictions
      4.  
    4. Basic and Recurrent Flight Attendant Counter terrorism Training
      5.  

Actively employed U.S. airline crew members interested in pursuing voluntary advanced self defense training classes developed by the Transportation Security Administration can find more information, including links for class schedules and online registration HERE.

 

Posted by NWA Webmaster on 02/01 at 06:34 PM

» SECURITY ADVISORY - BOM Jun 09

This ‘Security Advisory’ for BOM was just received from DL’s OCC Security Desk.  Please note that the ‘situational awareness’ validity period extends from today, June 5th, through June 30th.
Also, note that crew members are being advised that any suspicious behavior by anyone be reported to hotel security and BOM station management - and a warning extended to not share our hotel accommodations (hotel name/location) or schedule information with passengers or hotel guests without an operational need to do so.  Further, crew members need to ensure they do not travel alone while on the layover, carry NW/DL ID and remain particularly aware of entrances and exits. 
Review Security Advisory PDF Here:

Posted by NWA Webmaster on 06/10 at 12:58 PM

» SECURITY ADVISORY—MNL Jun 09

This “Security Advisory” for MNL was just received from Delta’s OCC Security Desk.  Please note that the “situational awareness” timeframe extends from June 9th through June 10th as the Filipinos protest proposed changes to their Constitution.  As noted, crewmembers are being advised to avoid the area near the planned demonstration/protest which is only 1/2 mile from the layover hotel.  Crews are also cautioned to maintain a low profile and avoid clothes or makings indicating American citizenship.
Please advise if there are questions/concerns expressed by our crews.  Base management receives these same security advisories, therefore crew members should be briefed accordingly prior to international flights departing for Manila.  Please let us know if that is not the case.
Review Security Advisory PDF Here:

Posted by NWA Webmaster on 06/09 at 12:58 PM