‘We want to work’: Furloughed flight attendants rallied in Boston this week
The flight attendants want a payroll support program extension.
Two Boston-based flight attendants who were furloughed this month organized a rally in Boston Monday to fight for their jobs.
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United Airlines flight attendants Julie Gilbert and Rebecca Frechette, both furloughed when the CARES ACT payroll support program expired on Sept. 30, gathered nearly two dozen flight attendants and supporters outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Building on Monday to urge Congress for a payroll support program extension. Gilbert said the rally was facilitated by Sen. Ed Markey, who has supported the extension.
“Right now I have time and all I can do is be a voice and be heard and organize other people to do it,” said Gilbert, 53, from Maine. “I feel that’s what I can do.”
Tens of thousands of U.S. airline employees have been furloughed this month, with more expected in the weeks ahead, aviation unions and airline industry groups wrote in a letter to congressional leadership asking for the extension. The airline industry, devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, received $50 billion in cash and loans from Congress in March under the condition that employees would be paid through Sept. 30. Airlines are now seeking $25 billion to pay employees for the next six months.
“We didn’t ask for this,” said Gilbert, a flight attendant for five years. “We didn’t make this happen. We want to work.”
Gilbert, a mother of two, said she has not been able to pay her mortgage.
“It’s hard because my kids have been through so much and our home is like our little peaceful habitat where we are consistent and we know it’s there,” Gilbert said.
“Basically, we lost all our benefits,” said Frechette, 35, a flight attendant for four years. “We have medical for 90 days and that’s it. We’re kind of left high and dry there in the middle of a pandemic with no health insurance. It’s scary.”
At the rally, someone asked Gilbert if she feels safe flying.
“I said I feel safer now than I ever have,” Gilbert said, pointing to increased cleaning procedures on planes that include electrostatic spraying and vigorous cleaning of high-touch surfaces, as well as the mandated mask policy.
Gilbert said she was encouraged by several mostly full flights out of Logan International Airport that she worked during the month of September.
On Sunday, the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 1 million passengers for the first time since March 17, though there were still 60 percent fewer travelers than a year ago.
“We were all very excited,” Gilbert said. “And it makes us even more hopeful.”
Frechette said she can’t wait to get back to what she calls “the best job in the world.”
“You get to change someone’s day,” she said. “You get to make an impact on strangers’ lives.”
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