CT: Do you think management doesn’t point out specifics because they want the flight attendants to have more leverage?
KH: They do! Most people don’t realize that the flight attendants ultimately make every executive decision on the aircraft when it comes to risk.
Another key incident was when Kate Penland had her 18-month-old son with her when a flight attendant asked her to drug him due to his hyperactivity. When it comes to someone’s child, when is it appropriate for a flight attendant to tell a mother to drug a child? They’re not medical professionals but they are in charge of the aircraft. So when the mother refused to drug her child the passenger was then violating a crew member’s instructions so the flight attendant said it was a risk because it violated her rules.
CT: If it doesn’t interfere with the safety of the aircraft, do you think the flight attendants should get involved?
KH: The people and the things we encounter on flights are the same as the things we encounter on the ground. You don’t normally see a transgender walking down the street in a teddy but it happens in normal life and it’s all our responsibility to show our children that there are all kinds of people we will encounter in real life. We must deal with it however we choose but when you leave these decisions up to flight attendants it becomes problematic and a legal issue for the airlines. It’s also a humiliating experience for the passengers being berated in front of hundreds of people in this confined space. A woman kissing another woman, or a man wearing a teddy, is not illegal.
When did the laws of the airlines become different than the laws of the land?
