MEC Government Affairs

America is just months away from electing a new President. On November 8th each of us will cast ballots for President and one-third of the United States Senate, 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives, 5 Delegates (American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and one Resident Commissioner (Puerto Rico). Those who are elected will shape our laws and influence our families’ future.

As workers in an industry that is heavily regulated by the federal government, decisions that affect Flight Attendants’ daily lives and working conditions are often made in the Halls of Congress and by federal agencies. The President will appoint those who oversee the agencies governing our industry.

It is our responsibility to carefully consider for whom we will vote and how those individuals will represent Flight Attendant interests. The next President and the 115th Congress will debate and decide Flight Attendant issues. These include:

Protects US Aviation Jobs - A strong commitment to the US aviation industry that prohibits “flag of convenience business model” airline scheme and the outsourcing of US jobs,
Fatigue Risk Management Plan and Adequate Minimum Rest - Adopt recommendations from fatigue studies conducted by the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute and prevent airlines from disciplining Flight Attendants for requesting fatigue relief. As safety is our first priority, experiencing fatigue on the job can affect emergency and evacuation procedures. AFA is calling for a 10 hourminimum rest requirement and a Fatigue Risk Management Plan,
Human Trafficking Awareness Training - Mandatory training to recognize and report human trafficking as developed by the DHS Blue Lightening Initiative, and
Aircraft Evacuation Certifications - Improved full emergency evacuation test. The FAA needs to ensure that the evacuation certification process is up to date and reflective of current aircraft design and conditions.

For these reasons and many others, it is imperative we have friends in the White House and Congress that understand our unique workplace and recognize our role as First Responders and the last line of defense onboard the aircraft. They must also be willing to stand up and fight together with us. To be clear, we are not talking about supporting candidates based on political party, but rather we vigorously support candidates who are on the record supporting Flight Attendant issues.

The first, and perhaps most critical step in participating in the upcoming elections is to ensure you are registered to vote.Flight Attendants may register to vote on-line (or verify that your voter registration is up-to-date) through the links provided below. In addition, we have provided numerous websites that can assist you with voter registration and the election porcess. You can also update your information, and learn how to early and absentee vote in the event you will be unable visit a polling location on Election Day. For our Flight Attendants who reside overseas, you’ll have access to download the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). The FPCA is a voter registration and absentee request application allowing U.S. citizens who reside overseas to vote in the election. These post cards are readily available online.

We’ll have more information for you in the weeks. We encourage everyone to register and become educated and informed on which candidates support Flight Attendant issues.

Through our solidarity, we will unite behind the issues that are important to Flight Attendants and make certain our quality of life is maintained. We must vote for officials who share our values and our vision for the future in order to put in place legislation that supports working families and Flight Attendants.

We encourage everyone to register to vote (or verify that your voter registration is up-to-date), become educated and informed on which candidates support Flight Attendant issues.