Airplane safety is back in the news after a door plug flew off the cabin of an Alaska Airlines plane during takeoff. It’s brought into sharp focus the role that flight attendants have during flights; it’s a job that’s gotten increasingly more difficult with crews still feeling the effects of the pandemic.

To hear how it really is in the air for flight attendants, Marketplace’s Nancy Marshall-Genzer spoke with Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which is part of the AFL-CIO. Her union represents 50,000 flight attendants in the U.S. Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Nancy Marshall-Genzer: So, first of all, are you hearing from members who are worried about their own safety after that Alaska Airlines incident when, of course, that 737 Max 9 door plug panel blew off?

Sara Nelson: Yes, flight attendants are very concerned. They’re first and foremost focused on the event at hand — that everyone’s safe. In this case, we’re very, very proud of the way that that crew represented all of us. But yes, then there is follow-on concern, and a lot of relief that the FAA acted very decisively and quickly to get those planes on the ground.

Marshall-Genzer: Are the flight attendants getting the support they need from the airlines right now, Sara?

Nelson: We have contracts that support pay protections. We have a program in our own union, AFA EAP. We’re getting around the flight attendants who were immediately involved in the event and also very much on the lookout. And our AFA EAP has been very busy in supporting people who maybe have had an incident before and are having a strong reaction or their families are very concerned about them. We’re getting our arms around them as much as we can, and our contract really makes the airlines have to work with us on that and have to work with us on the protections for the flight attendants who are losing work with hundreds of planes on the ground.

Marshall-Genzer: I mean, flight attendants really are first responders, right? They’re essential. Tell me about their role in an emergency.

Nelson: Flight attendants are first responders. We are essential. The airlines also know that when there’s a strange sound on the plane, people jerk their heads and look to flight attendants. Boeing knows this, the industry knows this, the FAA knows this. The crews have to be very confident about the leadership that they’re providing in that cabin for air travelers to have confidence in aviation.

Marshall-Genzer: Yeah, I mean, they have such a leadership role, which starts as you say, you know, before the plane even takes off with those safety demonstrations — which, Sara, I have to admit, I don’t always pay the most attention to that, but I will now. What is the most important thing we should watch for? I mean, I always look for the nearest exit.

Nelson: If you are a passenger, some of the things that you can do — in addition to giving that two and a half, three-minute focus, putting your phone down, putting things aside, stopping your conversations and listening to those instructions; that’s the best thing you can do — but in addition to that, you can take a look around and see where your nearest exit is. Count the number of seat rows to get to that. Be very aware that, if you need to move quickly, you’ve got to leave everything behind. So, you’ve got to have everything on your body. And that leads to understanding that an incident is most likely going to happen either during takeoff or landing. That’s most often when there’s going to be a critical incident. And having your shoes on so that you can react quickly is a really important thing to do. Having good shoes that can lace up is even better.

Nancy: I hadn’t thought about that. Sara, the last time you were on Marketplace, you talked about the staffing shortages at various airlines and how that’s affecting flight attendants. So where do things stand on that now? I mean has that gotten any better?

Nelson: The staffing for flight attendants, especially domestically, is at FAA minimums. These were minimums that were set in the 1950s, specifically for safely evacuating passengers from planes. And those minimum standards will continue to apply, but they apply to the evacuation standards when those aircraft are being certified for evacuation. Our role has changed so much. We are aviation’s last line of defense in aviation security. We’re looking for security threats. We’re looking to respond when there is a decompression or an explosive decompression, like this Alaska plane. We are responding to medical emergencies. And all of that is a lot more duties with a lot more passengers and fewer of us. So, our jobs are harder than they’ve ever been. Which is also why you’re seeing flight attendants across the country demand that our pay be commensurate with our duties. And we haven’t seen pay raises in a very long time, partially because of COVID and partially because none of the airlines want to go first, because they’re going to have to pay significantly more to catch up for all the lost pay raises that we’ve had in the last few years and the years of austerity following 9/11.

Marshall-Genzer: And Sara, thinking about all this, maybe people could be a little nicer to their flight attendants on their next flight.

Nelson: I appreciate that so much, Nancy. Yep, that would be great.