On August 22,
1945, in response to the degrading treatment of
flight attendents (such as forced
retirement at age 32, no-
marriage policies, and weight, height, and appearance requirements) a group of flight attendents formed the
Air Line Stewardesses Association, the first
labor union ever to represent flight attendants.
In
1949 in order to increase their influence the ALSA merged with the
Airline Pilots Association affliate, the
Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association (ALSSA). And in
1973 the modern AFA is born when ALPA’s S&S Division became the Association of Flight Attendants.
AFA has won many victories for flight attendants both
female and
male. It managed to get rid of all of the policies listed in the first paragraph as well as increasing
airline safety standards (such as requiring floor-level
exit lights and less flammable
cabin interiors). AFA has also fought to increase job security and equalize
wages between both
genders.
Today the AFA represents over 49,000 flight attendants at 27 airlines making it the largest union that solely represents flight attendents.
AFA is affiliated with the AFL-CIO
Most information gathered from http://www.flightattendant-afa.org