Flight Attendants • Volume Five • Issue One • 2002
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the official publication of the association of professional flight attendants • volume five • issue one • 2002 Dedicated to the Crew of Flight 587 • Special Edition Death is nothing at all … I have only slipped away into the next room … I am I and you are you … what- ever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name; speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put no difference into your tone; wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect, without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was; there is absolutely unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you for an interval somewhere very near just around the corner … all is well. – Canon Henry Scott Holland (1847 – 1918) 587 memorial issue special edition tableofcontents John Ward President Skyword Editorial Policy • Submissions to Skyword are due by Jeff Bott Vice President the first day of each month for publi- cation on the following month. The APFA reserves the right to edit any Linda Lanning Secretary submissions that are received for the purpose of publication in Skyword. Juan Johnson Treasurer Submissions will not be considered if they are too long, libelous, defamato- ry, not factual, in bad taste or are contractually incorrect. Letters to the Editor may not be considered if the length of the submission exceeds volume 5 • issue 1 100 words. All letters must include your name, signature, address, base, employee number and telephone number. Use the Communique Card in the tear-out section or submit your letter to APFA Communications thoughts from ... Department. Copyright 2001 by the APFA. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced 4 the President in any form without written permission of the APFA. The views expressed in Skyword do not necessarily represent 5 the Vice President those of the APFA. APFA does not endorse any medical procedure, medical practice, product or service 8 the Secretary that may be mentioned or advertised in Skyword. Skyword is published ten times a year by APFA, 1004 West 9 the Treasurer Euless Bvd., Euless, Texas 76040. Postage paid at Dallas, Texas. 28 the JFK Base Chair APFA Headquarters 29 the Editor 1004 West Euless Boulevard Euless, Texas 76040 Toll-Free (800) 395-APFA or Local Metro (817) 540-0108 those we lost ... Fax (817) 540-2077 Chicago Office 10 In Memory of Flight 587 8410 Bryn Mawr Ave., Suite 400 Chicago, Illinois 60631 12 Deborah Fontakis (773) 380-1202 14 Barbara Giannasca Los Angeles Office 8639 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 200 16 Wilmer Gonzales Los Angeles, California 90045 (310) 649-2818 18 Joe Lopes Dallas/Ft. Worth Office 222 W. Las Colinas Blvd., 20 Michele Mills Suite 1650 Irving, Texas 75039 (972) 444-2500 22 Carol Palm HotLine Information Tape Leslie Mayo Editor 24 William Valdespino 800.399.APFA Tape Updated Weekly Skylar Turner Graphic Designer 26 Edward States Internet Address 27 Sten Molin www.apfa.org E-Mail Address [email protected] The Reaper The Flowers plunged into the despair and disbe- lief of confronting the deaths of still There is a Reaper, whose name is Death, more of our colleagues. And, with his sickle keen, He reaps the bearded grain at a breath, This edition of Skyword is dedicated And the flowers that grow between. to our friends and colleagues who died that day aboard Flight 587. “Shall I have naught that is fair?” saith he; “Have naught but the bearded grain? I, like probably most of you, didn't Though the breath of these flowers is sweet to me, know the Flight Attendants or Pilots I will give them all back again.” whose lives were lost that day. I wish I had. Fortunately, I learned quite a He gazed at the flowers with the tearful eyes, by John Ward, bit about each of them from those He kissed their drooping leaves; APFA President who knew them best at the memori- It was for the Lord of Paradise, al service held in New York on He bound them in his sheaves. December 10th. It was such a mov- ing and memorable service - if only “My Lord has need of these flowerets gay,” ovember 12, 2001. It was it were possible for all 23,000 The Reaper said, and smiled; N only two months since the American Airlines Flight Attendants Dear tokens of the earth are they, horrific events of September - to have been present. Where he was once a child. too soon for normalcy to return - but the signs of our routine As you'll discover in this issue, they “They shall all bloom in fields of light, lives had begun to return. We were a very diverse group, a true Transplanted by my care, were flying again; doing our job. microcosm of the entire APFA And saints, upon their garments white, The holidays were approaching membership. They were vibrant, car- These sacred blossoms wear.” and the airports and airplanes ing, wonderful individuals. We were were, once again, full. honored to have had them grace our And the mother gave, in tears and pain, ranks, however, far too briefly. The flowers she most did love; But what we had hoped and She knew she should find them all again prayed would never, ever happen Following a tragedy such as this, In the fields of light above. again, in fact, did. On the morn- words are difficult to find. How is ing of November 12, 2001, one to make sense of it all? O, not in cruelty, not in wrath, American Airlines Flight 587, an The Reaper came that day; A-300 en route to Santo I find comfort in the following poem 'T was an angel visited the green earth, Domingo, crashed shortly after by the great American poet Henry And took the flowers away. takeoff from JFK airport, killing Wadsworth Longfellow; I hope you all aboard. We were once again will, too. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Flight 587, the JFK crew – I knew Attendants and Pilots for exem- what I’m going to talk about, and each and every one of them. plifying these qualities. you’ll see why. Some for a longer period of time or better than others, but each The media has focused solely, or CAROL Carol was my one, and I had spent time more heavily at least, on the loss Professional Standards Rep for together with them either flying of firefighters and police. Not years when I was the JFK or working out issues or that I begrudge the firefighters Cor Chairperson. For those of you problems. police one minute for their hero- who don’t know what ism. They deserve this honor. Professional Standards Reps are, Five I had known since I came to But I do feel that the Flight they try to resolve Crew dis- JFK 13 years ago, or I came to Crews have been forgotten or agreements or job issues with know them shortly thereafter. reduced to a back-burner status. each other outside of manage- by Jeff Bott, Two others I met later. Many people, however, have ment. (Yes, believe it or not, we APFA Vice President opened their eyes to what many do sometimes have disagreements The crew on Flight 587, and all of us who do this job have and issues.) Being a Professional Flight Attendants at American known and struggled to promote Standards Representative is not a Airlines and throughout the for years. The fact is we are a fun job, but the work these Reps industry, came to work that day critical part of the safety front do is critical to keeping the to a job that has become increas- line, and every day we have dif- peace. It is done on personal ingly more stressful and difficult ferent, ever-changing hurdles that time, with no pay – yet Carol vol- Editor’s Note: The following in light of the horrible disaster pop up as we go from point A to unteered. I would call her with all memorial speech was given by Jeff on September 11th. And still, point B. Doing this job well of my toughest cases, because I Bott at New York’s Memorial after the September 11 and requires seasoned veterans who knew she could handle them, Service on December 10, 2001. November 12 tragedies, Flight can analyze a problem and and handle them she did. Carol Attendants and Pilots put on quickly make a reasonable deci- had a gift of strength. If you got any of you who know me their uniforms, boarded airplanes sion or direction for resolution. a call from Carol, you best listen. M find that I spend a lot of and consequently brought back We are the front line, those who After I would describe the prob- time talking from my head our national transportation sys- arrive first, triage the situation lem, she would say, “No prob- regarding legalities, Contract lan- tem. They also carry the very and then stabilize it until it is lem, baby – I got it. I’ll take care guage interpretation, work rules heavy burden of calming a jittery turned over to someone else. of it.” I always got the same quote and analytical problems.