DEFENSIVE FLYING

	November 15, 2001
	Tom Bearden examines how flight attendants are reacting to new aviation security measures.

WOMAN: No, no, no. TOM BEARDEN: Joyce Sorensen has just joined the war on terrorism. WOMAN: No, no, no. WOMAN: I'm sorry. (Laughs) WOMAN: No. TOM BEARDEN: A polite and petite woman, aggression doesn't come easily. SPOKESPERSON: Let's go! WOMAN: No, no, no! TOM BEARDEN: Sorensen is a 19- year veteran flight attendant with Untied Airlines. She says the September 11 terrorist attacks sent her searching for ways to defend herself against hijackers. JOYCE SORENSEN, United Flight Attendant: It's a necessity now. Unfortunately, it is a necessity. I... I don't think I could ever have thought of hurting someone, you know, but it is now... It really is sad, but it is a necessity to think, and I have to change my mindset to defend myself, where before I never even thought of defending myself. WOMAN: You bump those hips straight up. TOM BEARDEN: Tae kwon do instructor Mindy Lee crafted this self-defense class in Aurora, Colorado, specifically for flight crews. Similar seminars have popped up across the country as flight attendants take defense literally into their own hands. WOMAN: (Screams) WOMAN: Good. TOM BEARDEN: Now that cockpits are being fortified to protect pilots, flight attendants fear they are now the first line of defense against would-be terrorists. JOYCE SORENSEN: When I set up the cart, I always have a ice mallet right on top of the cart, whereas before, you know, you never even thought of taking an ice mallet into the aisle. I do have that. I do think about breaking the wine bottle to use it as a weapon. SPOKESPERSON: At this time, we're boarding our customers in rows 1-10. TOM BEARDEN: Even before takeoff, flight attendants now eye the passengers, sizing up who looks threatening, and who might be capable of helping the crew in an emergency. JOYCE SORENSEN: As a woman of color, I've always hated the profiling. I resented that profiling. I find myself doing that now. I'm not very proud to say this, but I do look at the people that may look like they're from Middle East much more closely than I did before. WOMAN: What is your command for a land emergency? TOM BEARDEN: For years, training for all flight attendants included advice on how to handle a hijacking. But in the past, hijackers usually wanted money, or a flight to another country. Crewmembers were told to placate the perpetrator. JOYCE SORENSEN: We were told the simple a-b-c's of hijacking: Keep the aggression out of the cockpit, watch the behavior, and "c" is for communications. So just talk to them, trying to get more information, and just keep them calm, you know? But now, all that rule, a-b-c's is out the window. You can't... You can't use that a-b-c's anymore. You have to fight, and you have to survive, where before, if you play dead, they'll leave you alone. Now, if you play dead, you are dead. TOM BEARDEN: Ken Kyle has been a flight attendant for United for 14 years. He says he understands the industry's urgent financial need to regain the trust of travelers, but says that's hard to do when he doesn't trust security himself. KEN KYLE, United Flight Attendant: We have a dual stress of we have to go out there and provide the same level of service, if not a greater level of service, to win passengers back, to make them feel confident, and yet we're working under the stress of not necessarily feeling that confident or secure or safe ourselves. TOM BEARDEN: The Flight Attendants' Union says security measures taken since September 11, such as tightening background checks on screeners, limiting carry-on bags and stationing National Guardsmen at airports amount to little more than window dressing. They point to continuing security breaches where knives and other weapons have made it past screeners. Patricia Friend is president of the Association of Flight Attendants. PATRICIA FRIEND, president, Association of Flight Attendants: They've put some procedures in place that are designed to make the traveling public feel like they're safer, when in fact, we know... Because we work behind the scenes, we know that nothing of any significance has really changed. TOM BEARDEN: The union wants all checked baggage x-rayed, that bags be matched with passengers who actually get on the plane... FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Do you want anything to drink? TOM BEARDEN: ...More training for flight attendants, and access to non-lethal weapons in the cabin. Today's compromise agreement on the aviation security bill will address some of the flight attendants' concerns, but until such security measures are in place, Joyce Sorensen has opted for a voluntary furlough. JOYCE SORENSEN: I signed up to be courteous, you know, to be nice, to smile, not to think about, "is this going to be my last day?" You know, "am I going to come back to see my... My little girl and my husband?" So, no, I... I truly resent being put in this position. I didn't ask for that. Nobody did. WOMAN: When you choke, you want to grab the neck here. TOM BEARDEN: Thousands of other flight attendants have also voluntarily stopped flying. Thousands more have been laid off as the major airlines shrink their schedules and workforces. Many of those still on the job are struggling to deal with the new realities of commercial air travel.

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