Petition for a Safer Aircraft Cabin during the Coronavirus Pandemia

March 19, 2020

Pedro Fabregas
President and CEO
Envoy Air Inc.
4301 Regent Blvd.
Irving, TX 75063

Cc: Robert Barrow
President
AFA MEC
610 S. Industrial Blvd.
Euless, TX 76040

Greetings to all:

We, the signers below, tha is, Flight Attendants/Crew Members in this company, want to bring up various situations that we understand threaten our health and security. As it is known, we are currently going through a Coronavirus pandemic. Due to the nature of our job, we must continue providing services to our clients, which require face-to-face interactions. As such, we are concerned about our health and understand that the company has not taken the necessary measures to protect us from a potential infection. We will briefly list the measures that we understand should be reinforced:

1. We have not identified any attempt to reinforce the cleaning protocol for the interior of the cabin in our airplanes, more specifically, the use of disinfectants on all surfaces (retractable trays, seats, restrooms, etc.) The failure to use disinfectants puts both the employee and the passengers at risk.

2. We understand it necessary that, as a preventive measure, each flight should make available a number of gloves and masks that is equivalent to the number of passengers and crew members. Furthermore, antibacterial towels should be provided to crew members and passengers so we can wash our hands prior to gaining access to the interior of the airplane.

3. The beverage and meal services during this global emergency should be reconsidered immediately. This is the activity that exposes us the most to be infected due to direct proximity to the passengers. A system could be implemented in which, for long-duration flights, the beverage and meal services are provided in a pre-packed manner, either in the service station prior to gaining access to the interior of the plane or from an in-flight crew member.

4. CDC’s Guidance for Airlines and Airline Crew of March 4, 2020 recommends: “If symptomatic passenger(s) are identified during or immediately after the flight, routine cleaning procedures should be followed, and enhanced cleaning procedures should also be used […]”. Therefore, if there is no passenger with symptoms “routine cleaning procedures should be followed”. Nevertheless, these measures are minimal and insufficient due to the fact that asymptomatic people can spread the virus as well as those who are going through the incubation period.

The bad public policies and inefficiency of this entity during this emergency are well known. For these reasons, we argue that we should dismiss the recommendations of the CDC and request that you, the employer, take responsible health and security measures that adjust to reality in the face of this pandemic.

We would like to point out that, according to the law, health and security in the working area are the responsibility of the employer. It is not optional. We are willing to continue providing our services as long as it is done in a safe environment. Each of our lives is at risk, and protecting us is your responsibility.

Respectfully,
Employees

Gladys Melendez    Contact the author of the petition