Folk musician and noted union activist John McCutcheon just gave me a call from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport. He tells me that the US Airways flight attendants are picketing, and intend to go on strike in eleven days. The Association of Flight Attendants have been negotiating with Piedmont Airlines (a corporation wholly owned by US Airways, serving the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport) for 15 months in an attempt to even up their pay and work hours with US Airways flight attendants. The AFA has been warning that strikes are possible anytime after 12:01am on September 16th. Piedmont Airlines provides the bulk of the flights in and out of CHO, including the daily nonstop runs to Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Philadelphia and New York. A strike would likely severely cripple CHO’s ability to function. For more information, see the AFA’s recent press release.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Uhhh… I flew from CHO once and I never even noticed the flight attendant. She just sort of sat at the front of the plane. I’m sure they could continue to operate without flight attendants.
Yes, I can stand up and get my own beverages.
I’m a big boy :)
Except that I believe it is a federal law (via the FAA) that someone has to explain safety procedures to passengers before they take flight. The pilot and co-pilot are too busy preparing the plane for flight to do this, and the only other crew members on those little planes are the flight attendants. So if the attendant is gone, the airline will have to get very creative in order to continue flights, and they haven’t done so with past attendant strikes.
I don’t even know if they’re allowed to operate without flight attendants. Anybody know?
I think so, at least on smaller aircraft. If you fly out of here on one of the micro airliners (such as the Colgan Air flight to LaGuardia on a Beechcraft 1900C, which is actually a fun flight), there are definitely no flight attendants, and there are only 19 seats. There’s probably a passenger count threshold involved here.
Also, even on larger commercial aircraft, they’re now using those video safety presentations in many cases. The flight attendants still sometimes stand there and go through the motions, but nobody really watches them (of course, nobody really watches the video, either).
I checked the FARs, and here’s what they had to say:
135.107 Flight attendant crewmember requirement
So far as I know, USAir’s service to KCHO is entirely on Dash-8’s, which have more than 19 seats (United Express flies some of the smaller aircraft, which do not in fact have flight attendants), so this would effectively shut down their service.
-rpl
Ah…that would explain the 19-seat capacity common on so many commuter aircraft.
Thanks for the research!