Help End the Carry-On Crunch!
For Immediate Release: March 15, 2010
Contact: Corey Caldwell 202-434-0586
Carry-On Baggage Endangers Crew and Passengers, Flight Attendants
Say
AFA-CWA Launches Public Campaign to End Carry-On Crunch
Washington, DC - The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA)
today released the results of a recent membership survey in which
one out of two flight attendants witnessed carry-on items falling
from overhead bins in the previous 60 days. The survey validated
anecdotal reports that carry-on baggage is out of control, mostly
due to recent fees to check luggage.
"We now have compelling evidence that flight attendants and
passengers are being injured by excess amounts of oversized carry-on
items," said Patricia Friend, AFA-CWA International President. "AFA-CWA
has been urging Congress, government agencies, and carriers to
establish reasonable carry-on limitations that will improve the
overall safety, health and security of crew and passengers inside
the aircraft cabin. These limits will reduce injuries and
distractions caused by carry-ons and allow flight attendants to
devote more attention to the critical task of ensuring the safest
and most secure flight possible."
According to the survey, over 80 percent of flight attendants
sustained injuries over the past year due to dealing with carry-ons
in overhead bins. The most common injury being strained and pulled
muscles in the neck, arms and upper back. The survey was compiled
from a representative sample of the 50,000 AFA-CWA members at 22
U.S. airlines.
AFA-CWA today also launched a new website,
www.EndCarryonCrunch.org
, dedicated to encouraging the traveling public to write to
Congress, urging them to pass legislation that would ease the
carry-on situation.
Currently, there is a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that
offers to set one standard for all bags carried on board U.S.
commercial aircraft. The Securing Carry-On Baggage Act, H.R. 2870,
would create a universal size for carry-on bags, instead of allowing
each carrier to determine its own size requirements and requires the
Transportation Security Administration to enforce the rules.
For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been
serving as the voice for flight attendants in the workplace, in the
aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. More than
50,000 flight attendants at 22 airlines come together to form AFA-CWA,
the world's largest flight attendant union. AFA is part of the
700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA),
AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afanet.org.