With air travel still not fully off the ground, flight attendants beg for federal aid

BOSTON — TSA says it is seeing some of the highest volume of passengers since the pandemic began earlier this year.

More than a million people passed through U.S. airports, including Logan, on Sunday for the first time since late March. But it still isn’t enough to get airline workers back to work.

A group of flight attendants with United Airlines rallied outside Senator Ed Markey’s Boston in office Monday, demanding help from Washington to get them back to work.

"This is our career, so now we are having to start over and find any work that we can. We are applying for jobs. But there really are no jobs,” Kacy Lunceford, a United flight attendant, told us.

Lunceford is one of thousands furloughed this month while a COVID-19 relief package to help struggling airline workers awaits a vote.

“We are not going to let up,” she said. "We are going to continue and tell congress we need relief.”

Their fight comes the day after TSA reported the highest volume of travelers since the pandemic hit. Over 1.3 million travelers were screened on Sunday nationwide. That’s about 60 percent lower than usual, but it’s a clear sign airline travel is on the way back up as the holiday season begins.

One unidentified traveler at Logan told us, “I feel pretty good about it.” Travelers say they generally feel safe flying, but they still question if airlines can stick to the protocols when everyone flies for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A staffer for Senator Markey talked to the flight attendants.

The Senator himself told us in a written statement, “Congress must immediately extend the payroll support program to save tens of thousands of jobs and roll back the cuts that have already taken place. We cannot wait any longer to protect our frontline workers in the sky.”

Sydney Hanken, another flight attendant at United, says she had to take a job at a grocery store to help make ends meet. She hopes relief comes from Washington or from the travel industry quickly rebounding.

“It is hard to plan your life when you have no idea when it is going to change again,” she said.

The flight attendants are banking on the relief package vote happening in the coming days.

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Cox Media Group