Flight Attendants still taught to cooperate with hijackers
Despite the events of September 11, 2001, the airlines are still training their flight attendants to cooperate with hijackers. According to Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants:
Attendants are trained to fight fires in the air, administer first aid and evacuate a plane in case of an accident, but instruction on dealing with hijackings advises flight attendants to remain complacent.
Since the airlines, as a group, are so slow on the uptake on everything else, I can't say I'm too surprised that they haven't changed their training approach. I wouldn't be surprised if the leadership at the various airlines still believe that obedience and cooperation are the best response to a hijacking.
They're wrong, of course. I'm not much of a union man, and I've heard from a few members of AFA that they do a lousy job of representing their membership in the realm of compensation negotiations, but their complaint rings true on this issue.
