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Flight attendants: Airlines skimp on security training

From Beth Lewandowski
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Flight attendants at some regional airlines say they need more training and time to conduct pre-takeoff searches of aircraft, as required by new government regulations.

More than a dozen of them flew to Washington's Reagan National Airport on Thursday to call attention to what they say could be a deadly lapse in security.

After September 11, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to regularly search cabins for bombs, weapons and other items that might be used by terrorists. Most airlines have used specially trained personnel to conduct the searches, but some regional carriers have asked flight attendants to do them, according to the Association of Flight Attendants.

PSA Airlines flight attendant Debra Dahl said that on average she is given 25 to 30 minutes to do the cabin security check, in addition to other safety checks of emergency equipment that were required before the terrorist attacks.

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"You do feel rushed, because while you are trying to perform your search, you definitely have gate agents and others coming on board and saying are you ready to board, because they want to bring the passengers on to get the plane out on time," she explained.

Lora Bertnsen, an Atlanta-based flight attendant with Atlantic Southeast Airlines, said that without training she has no idea what she should be looking for -- especially since terrorists have gotten much more sophisticated in the type of weapons and bombs at their disposal.

"They say anything out of the ordinary, but what is that?" she told CNN.

But a spokesman for Atlantic Southeast Airlines said its flight attendants already have the qualifications they need and are "uniquely qualified to observe unusual circumstances in the airplanes and are highly trained professionals who know appropriate procedures."

Patricia Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said the management of certain regional carriers who are requiring flight attendants to do cabin searches have refused to change their policy requiring flight attendants to conduct the searches despite union attempts to work with them.

The carriers are Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a Delta Connection carrier; Atlantic Coast Airlines/ACJet, a United Express and Delta Connection carrier; Air Wisconsin, a United Express carrier; and Allegheny, Piedmont and PSA, US Airways Express carriers.

The Association of Flight Attendants said that Air Tran and Horizon Airlines also require their flight attendants to do cabin security searches, and while training policies have not yet changed, the carriers are responding to the attendants' concerns.

Friend also noted that the Department of Transportation Rapid Response Team on aircraft security, appointed by Secretary Norman Mineta after the terrorist attacks, recommended that airlines not use flight or cabin crews to conduct the cabin searches, and that sufficient time and training be provided to the personnel conducting the searches.

FAA spokesman Rebecca Trexler said the flight attendants should be properly trained; however, she was not aware of anyone who has not been properly trained.

"We have security agents out everywhere monitoring all security -- including searches," she told CNN. "If we found they were not being done properly, we would take immediate action."