(The New York Times online posted the following Reuters article on April 3.)
WASHINGTON — The union for U.S. airline flight attendants on Thursday demanded immediate precautions be taken to protect flight attendants from the deadly SARS pneumonia virus, including distribution of latex gloves and masks.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) said it sent a letter asking the Federal Aviation Administration to issue an emergency order requiring airlines to provide the gloves and masks to the flight attendants, or at least allow them to wear their own.
The union also wants airlines to develop passenger-screening methods and provide guidance to flight attendants when a passenger exhibits symptoms during a flight.
A flight attendant on a Singapore Airlines flight between New York and Frankfurt on March 14 was infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the union said in its letter to Dr. Jon Jordan, Federal Air Surgeon at the FAA.
Some 72 cases of confirmed or probable SARS have been reported in the United States, the union said, citing figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization has reported additional cases in Canada, Taiwan, Italy, Singapore, and Thailand, it added.
“SARS has left many more unanswered questions than it has answered, but given the reports of disease transmission on aircraft, the evidence that minimal contact can be sufficient to spread the disease, and the potential for close contact if flight attendants must isolate potentially infected passengers, we ask that you will carefully consider this proposal,” said Christopher Witkowski, the AFA’s director of air safety, health and security.
The association represents more than 50,000 flight attendants at 26 airlines, the largest of which is No. 2 United, a unit of UAL Corp.