News and notes from around the interweb:
- AFA flight attendants union is big mad that they didn’t get a say in TSA eliminating the requirement to remove your shoes even though they are a flight attendant union, not security experts, and the policy has been clearly stupid for years.
In an internal memo, the union, which counts crew members at Alaska, Spirit, and United Airlines amongst their members, said it was “deeply concerned” that the policy update “was made without consulting our union or any other frontline labor organizations.”
“We are actively addressing this oversight with the TSA and DHS and coordinating with our union partners to ensure we are included in future policy changes that impact safety, operations, and our fellow flight attendants,” the memo continued.
- Hyatt Hotels Shift Toward A More Brand-Focused Organization
- Can’t say DEI anymore. Southwest did something similar.
Jetblue "VP of CSR & DEI" is now "VP of CSR & Impact"
(CSR=Corporate Social Responsibility, aka Community Relations)
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 9, 2025
- Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Connecticut just opened a movie theater.
- London Heathrow airport to pipe in airport sounds to… sound more like an airport.
- Her speech almost makes me sad that Southwest’s boarding system will be retired as the airline remakes themselves into a clone of its competitors.
SOUTHWEST:
Meet “Arhonda” who works at ✈️Southwest Airlines in Norfolk. This woman luvs her job & more importantly knows her job. I couldn’t resist recording her instruction to passengers prior to boarding which she knew by ❤️heart. @SouthwestAir @CityOfNorfolkHR @NorfolkA pic.twitter.com/UDthfFhPMf— Scoop Jefferson (@scoopjefferson) July 9, 2025
I say make all those FA from that union take off their shoes evey time
I say make all those FA from that union take off their shoes evey time.
Yeah, the regime doesn’t care, and resents the idea of ‘oversight.’ Praise Dear Leader!
@Tomri — Could you say it a third time, please?
Where’s @Craig Jones when you need him? ‘Look for…’
I hope foreign airports give up their shoe fetishes too.
First of all it is a joke FAs think they should have any input into a security policy that doesn’t in any way change their jobs. After all people have their shoes on when they board, this is just about screening and the policy has been a joke for years. Frankly it was a knee jerk solution that has had zero impact on security.
Also read the Hyatt branding article. All marketing fluff “selling” the brands. Sigh
Hilarious. Did they run that by the pilot’s union as well? Now stop playing Candy Crush and fetch me a drink. 1990 in 3, 2, 1.
How dare they not consult with the FA Union leaders? It’s insulting to pull back security theater requirements from a group of people who don’t have to take their shoes off to go through security. I bet they didn’t ask them when they did away with this for TSA Pre Check either.
The government could put a rule into place that all FA’s get at least $200,000 a year in salary, and they would still complain that no one consulted with them first.
Flight crews, especially FAs are rather entitled idiots at times. We had an issue with them going through security at Heathrow. We had passes (flying first or maybe business class) to go through the “special” security line (this was about 10 years ago so I can’t remember what it was called).
We were stuck behind this flight crew whose passes didn’t work, we went around them and they were not happy when our passes allowed us to get through the gate. Then in the security line the FA wouldn’t listen to security and he had to keep telling her to remove stuff from her luggage.
Obviously most are fine but a few too many have issues. They should do their jobs and stop thinking they know security.
Sara Nelson continues to try to remain relevant. Yet most of her members don’t even go thru security where there’s a Known Crew Member line.
Please show me how many FAs even know what an AOSSP is….
@DaninMCI — Nice straw man. For $200,000/year, matched to inflation, I think most workers (not just flight attendants) would allow a whole lot. In exchange for ‘not consulting’ on shoes? Deal!
@haolenate — Ugh, here we go again with the overuse of acronyms as a sign of superiority. You know that folks do not need to read the entire program, or appreciate the nuances between FAA Part 121 and 125 certificate holders, to do their jobs. C’mon.
“Flight attendants are furious”
Yawn……about what again?
@CHRIS — Totally unrelated, but, just curious.. how much spit do you like your PDBs?
FA. Are like a dominatrix in the sky. They just need to be in charge. Since nuns were not allowed to hit kids any more they became flight attendants.
Shup up, waitress.
1990
We both know that flight attendants in the US are too lazy to do PBDs…..although I do like the insinuation that they are perfectly willing to commit the felony of food tampering.
A worthless union representing mostly worthless employees. There is nothing to consult. Your job is to do not to ask and you can’t even do it properly. Probably the most hated organization after your ISP is TSA. Spare us your outrage losers.
OMG, Karen up in the galley has her herself whipped up into a righteous froth again.
First of all, FAs are not aviation security experts. I wonder if they bitch when the pilots don’t consult them about how to fly the plane.
Second, if they did their own jobs right they might be in a better position to critique others.
This is like a nail salon manicurist complaining that she wasn’t consulted in advance about her client’s blood pressure medication dosage change. Stay in your lane, Karen.
FFS – it was always Security Theater and entirely meaningless. Crew never had to take shoes off so why should we have to?
Gary that is one of the most ignorant stories and comments you have ever made! For the record, I am NOT a flight attendant but to the people writing these ignorant comments… Do you have a job that you have to worry about someone potentially bringing in a bomb to your workplace? A workplace that you can not escape through a side door and take off running down the street to safety?
There have been dozens bombed and attempted bombings. How would you like it if you were one of your loved ones was on one of those planes?
And what do you think people who would like to bomb a plane or thinking right now? “ hey they’re not checking shoes anymore. Let’s put some C4 in the soles of these shoes..”
You selfish ass people can’t be disturbed for 38 seconds of your shoes being off while you walk through a metal detector. It’s first year safety as much as the flight attendant. There’s just much more of a chance of it happening to them instead of you because of the amount of flights, they are on in a year. Pathetic and selfish.
@1990 So predictable. It took mere seconds for 1990 to rush in and defend the worthless flight attendants union.
@Drrichard
WFO! I live in EU. We never take off shoes.
Maybe we should talk to the FAs about all not NOT required liquids they bring with them (like alcohol).
They’re permitted pretty much any oversized liquids with them.
Seen plenty (especially coming from Europe/Paris flights) with one whole bag full of expensive liquor.
@Bob Have you been deathly afraid of flying in other countries, where their airports don’t require shoe removal?
@Samus Aran — Bob seemed to care more about involving the flight attendants, which is admirable, because, you know, they’re there for our safety and comfort, and certainly don’t get paid enough, especially when dealing with less-than-savory passengers, like some above who vilify them needlessly. Hmm.
Wasn’t this the same union that wanted to keep Covid mask rules for basically forever?
Before they cast their stones they might wish to clean up their own act for their members who smuggle cash, guns & drugs through security violating their Know Crew Member privileges….
I’m sure there’s a plethora of rude, dumb, or insulting irrelevant comments above about FA’s, unions, or both but I haven’t read them yet to have a fresh perspective on things.
I do find the “was made without consulting our union or any other frontline labor organizations.” statement fascinating because normally labor isn’t very interested in accepting responsibility for areas outside their purview. The AFA involving itself would inherently make it partly responsible for anything that happened that they were involved in such as security or terror incidents. I’d prefer to leave that to professionals myself rather than getting involved then blamed for some awful incident.
WTF do flight attendants have to do with TSA?
@George Romey — Yeah, why not consult with us passengers, too?!
Was just on AAL391 that got canceled after 6-7 hours at gate. How about the union get maintenance to their job. How about the union have call waits shorter than 15 minutes? How about the union have working software that allows bag checkin online (seriously, it said passengers not in main cabin must check in at counter, wtf)? How about the union have working sinks (seriously, packets of disinfectant wipes was the substitute)?
@jake – Sorry to hear that, man. Severely delayed and canceled flights suck. Glad you are safe, regardless, and hope you get to Albany (or wherever you’re heading, soon enough). It is ‘easy’ to scapegoat and vilify ‘unions,’ though, I prefer to blame management, but neither really ‘helps’ when things don’t go well. As I’ve said before here, I wish we had better passenger rights protections, which would ‘compensate’ us passengers when things go wrong (when under the airlines control). Like, if we had an EU261 or APPR equivalent in the USA, your 6+ hour delay could have gotten you at least $250 in cash for your troubles. It doesn’t make it ‘right,’ but it would be ‘better.’ Even most travel insurance would limit your recovery to delays in excess of 72 hours, so 6 wouldn’t be enough. Anyway, one more time, wish things worked out better for you. We deserve better.