CUPE’s Airline Division represents 20,000 flight attendants at Air Canada, Air Transat, Calm Air, Canadian North, Flair, PAL, PASCAN, Pivot, Porter, and WestJet.

WHAT DO FLIGHT ATTENDANTS DO?

There’s more to a flight attendant’s job than drink service and the in-flight safety demo – a lot more.

Flight attendants are responsible for ensuring the safety and comfort of passengers along with the safety and security of the plane itself on the ground and at 25,000 feet.

Flight attendants must know the planes they’re working on, from the oxygen system to lighting, water and waste systems, and controlling cabin comfort. They may identify aircraft needs like de-icing and propeller abnormalities, and they carry out safety checks for windows, equipment, and potential leaks, spills or structural damage inside the aircraft.

Flight attendants are in charge of passenger safety too, ensuring safety rules and procedures are being observed, and assisting with mobility-impaired passengers, unaccompanied minors, service animals. They must know everything from emergency response protocols to first aid, from dealing with unruly passengers to putting out fires onboard. They are also trained to deal with everything from dangerous goods to a death on board.

All of this, of course, requires an extensive amount of training – and re-training annually too. Flight attendants are in a constant cycle of keeping their training up to date.

Some of these duties are paid, but many are paid at or below the federal minimum wage, and even more are not paid at all, depending on which airline you work for. Our message is simple: if a flight attendant is at work, in uniform, performing work duties – they should be getting paid!