Flight Attendant Manual Revision and the Appearance of Sleeping
On July 8, 2015, our Flight Attendant Manual (FAM) was updated. One of the updates in “Standards” Section 7.100 page 6 regarding sleeping and the appearance of sleeping has raised a lot of concerns.
FAM Section 7.100 now states that if a Flight Attendant is in uniform, regardless of his or her on/off duty status, a FA is not allowed to sleep in the presence of customers. The only exception while in uniform is if the FA is deadheading and assigned a passenger seat.
Questions regarding commuters sleeping in uniform
AFA realizes there are looming questions regarding commuters sleeping in uniform while on board an aircraft. Management has assured AFA they will be issuing a communication addressing this concern very soon.
Flight Attendant recently terminated for the appearance of sleeping in uniform while on a sit
AFA has strong convictions about this issue in part because management recently issued a termination to a Flight Attendant who gave the appearance of sleeping while in uniform—and on sit time no less! The changes to FAM Section 7.100 were largely unaddressed in the manual revision summary: the only mention is “Revised Personal Conduct.” AFA believes that if a longtime policy is changed and that change could lead to termination on the first offense, management should address the new policy with proper notice and much more vigor than they did.
No reasonable sleeping policy
AFA made several attempts to engage management to develop a reasonable sleeping policy. Unfortunately, management chose to go in a different direction despite our concerns regarding inadequate rest facilities provided for Flight Attendants.
If you are too fatigued to fly or start to doze off while on a sit and in public view…
To date there is no official fatigue policy. If you find yourself too fatigued to fly or starting to doze off while on a sit and in public view, our recommendation is for you to call in sick on line. Additional information can be found in the AFA Alaska communication from January 8, 2015 “Too Fatigued to Fly.”
File an Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) report
This is extremely important: any time you are too fatigued to fly or if you believe you might have inadvertently nodded off (i.e. given the appearance of sleeping) while in the presence of customers, immediately file an Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) report. This is so the FAA can track Flight Attendant fatigue, which can help lead to regulatory changes. The other benefit is that if the ASAP Event Review Committee (ERC) accepts your report, you will not receive discipline for the contents of the report according to the terms of the ASAP Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the “ASAP and Discipline” Letter of Agreement from July 25, 2006.
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Questions? Contact one of your Local Executive Council officers.
In Solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Lisa Pinkston, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow and Stephen Couckuyt; MEC Grievance Committee chairperson Jennifer Wise MacColl and Grievance Committee member Stephanie Adams
