Flight Attendants Jittery in New Roles

By Melanie Lefkowitz | STAFF WRITER

September 22, 2001

It's a flight attendant's job not only to be calm, but to appear calm.

Smiling and patient, they comfort jittery passengers. They chat casually during turbulent takeoffs. They move easily about the airplane even during storms.

But with reminders everywhere of the deaths of 26 of their colleagues in last week's hijackings, even those practiced in the art of comfort are having trouble keeping up their game faces.

"We won't lie. We do think about it," said Mana Iwata of Kew Gardens, a flight attendant for Delta. "But we don't want to think about it."

Dozens of flight attendants gathered at a vigil in Kew Gardens earlier this week, dressed in their crisp uniforms, pinned with their golden wings; immaculately made up and determined to remain upbeat.

"I want to fly again," said Carrie Slack, who works out of LaGuardia for United Airlines. "I love my job."

But as she spoke, her voice shook and tears streamed down her face.

Flight attendants - who have long lobbied the airlines for increased security - say they must figure out how to cope with a world in which hijackers have no fear of death.

"We're dealing with a completely different type of terrorist than the flight attendants have been trained to deal with," said Dawn Deeks, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 50,000 employees. "In the 1970s, when the training tape was made, a terrorist was looking for a ride to another country. Now they're suicide bombers."

Since July of last year, Deeks said, flight attendants have sought training and certification to deal with air rage. They've added lessons in responding to hijackers to their request, she said.

Martha Deed, a psychologist for the Red Cross who has been counseling veteran flight attendants, said they are mourning not only their slain colleagues but their roles in the sky.

"There's a lot of grief among people who are in their 50s who've been flight attendants for 20 or 30 years and said, 'I didn't sign on to be a soldier. I've lost my profession,'" said Deed, who is based in western New York. "How can you go from, 'Do you want coffee or tea?' to, 'I can't take my nail file on the plane anymore?'"

So far, airline companies have reported relatively few resignations. Deeks said that while the union has heard from some flight attendants who plan to quit, she does not believe the number will be as high as it's been rumored.

Pilots and flight attendants may, however, need counseling and time off while they adjust, she said. Different airlines are offering various options for flight attendants who don't feel ready to fly, including paid sick leave.

"I haven't been afraid," said Bea Pinone of Kew Gardens, a flight attendant for Delta. "Just on the lookout. Just cautious, I guess."

Trouble is, many are no longer certain what they're on the lookout for.

"You never know," Slack said. "It could be you, it could be him, it could be anyone."

Teresa Lillie, who lives in midtown and works for American Airlines, said she is less scared than she is angry. The attacks make her determined to continue on.

But she acknowledges that may not be possible.

"You're so suspicious where you never were before, and that's bad, because that's not us," she said. "I know a few flight attendants who have used the code to call in sick. I know a flight attendant who got to work and then she left. She said, 'I can't do this.'"