We've Come a Long Way

From the early days of “Sky Girls” and stewardesses, the Flight Attendants of AFA have carved out a career as safety professionals, becoming the “go to” organization for information about Flight Attendants. As a result of our advocacy on Capitol Hill, and negotiations with our employers, we’ve won a lot of important legislation and work rules, including:

• Duty day and crew rest protections
• Minimum staffing on aircraft
• Elimination of height, age and genderrestrictions
• Women’s right to lead Flight Attendant positions
• Domestic partner benefits
• Improved cabin safety, including floor-level exits and less flammability of aircraft
• Improved cabin air quality, including the ban on smoking
• Whistleblower protection
• Equal Access to Family and Medical Leave
• Defined OSHA standards in the cabin
• Known Crewmember (KCM) for Flight Attendants
• No Knives on Planes
• No Calls on Planes
• Certification as Safety Professionals
• 10 hours minimum rest under the law
• Much more...

“We came to work for the adventure but after a while it became clear that we wanted to make it our career. When we organized (what became AFA), we put ourselves on equal footing with the pilots. We were more than Sky Girls. We were partners in the cabin.” - Ada Brown, AFA Founder