Put Your Mask on First
Hi Friends,
I think it’s time we had ourselves a giant crew briefing. Some of us have been off for months, so we may have forgotten how to work together. As a crew, we need to be on the same page. We have to work together.
One crew concept.
This is something that has been ingrained in us since initial training through the practice of Crew Resource Management.
We all know that flight preparation is crucial for success. We conduct pre-flight checks to ensure that our equipment is present and up to maintenance standards, and we participate in a mandatory briefing for a reason as well.
We work in a highly dynamic environment, and a briefing helps us to transition into a role that requires a break from the regular complacent and mundane nature of everyday life.
Briefings are an essential part of flight preparation because of what they represent: a critical moment for team building, leadership establishment, and an opportunity to review operational information pertinent to the flight.
For those who may not be aware, the purpose of CRM is to prepare the crew, and to heighten their awareness of human factors that could cause or exacerbate an incident onboard. The main objective of CRM is to improve the working environment for crew members in order to eliminate, or at least reduce, the human factors that could lead to disaster.
The hope is that once the crew is aware of potential hazards and trained in their response, their knowledge, aligned with appropriate attitudes, could literally save an aircraft from an accident or incident.
We are the first line of defense.
By the end of the briefing, the crew should have a shared mental model of the flight plan, and the potential issues that could arise in the course of normal operations. The crew should also agree upon the procedures to be used in case of unexpected events.
CRM training focuses on:
Situational awareness
Communication skills
Teamwork
Task Allocation
Decision Making
We will look at all of these areas in greater detail in the future, for now, I would like to keep this briefing as short as possible, and to draw attention to the issue at hand: Masks.
YOU HAVE TO WEAR A MASK
Whether you want to or not, whether you’re Republican or Democrat. Whether or not you believe there is a virus, whether you think the numbers are inflated, whether you believe that black lives or all lives matter, whether you go to a protest or a rally - WEAR A MASK
The reason for you as a crew member is simple: It is a Standard Operating Procedure, and you have to lead by example. You are also a loving and considerate person, are you not?
Having said that, we have to acknowledge in our briefing that we could have a situation on our hands, and the potential for mismanagement is real. You can easily imagine a situation where a passenger becomes unruly due to his, or his neighbor’s mask.
The reason for this problem is obvious: It’s hard to breathe with a mask on. The difference between this mask and the one that drops, is that the one provides oxygen and the other takes it away. You have to understand something: Human beings respond to incentives, and there is no incentive more important to a human being than oxygen.
There are two opposite extremes here. The guy who wears his as an eye-mask, and the other who wears it while jogging at the park. Both of these guys fly with us, and they are both probably on your flight. Considerate, loving, and logical people are somewhere in the middle. I think they mostly stay at home.
I’ve heard it said that “wearing a mask is not a political statement, not wearing a mask is.” I think this is true, but the statement actually makes it political. We are dealing with a virus that is not well understood, and it keeps mutating. We work in an environment that is high-risk for spread. All precautions need to be taken, so we all should wear a mask.
This is situational awareness.
Some of my flight attendant friends are very worried. The lack of consensus on masks is something that affects all people, even crew members can be seen arguing about it online. Some of my friends have quit flying altogether, others don’t want to go back. The ones who are going back are not happy about it.
I’m here to tell you to relax.
Don’t judge or fear the situation based entirely on what you read on the internet. The internet is not real life. Real-life is far more manageable.
When you’re discussing this on the internet, or even out in the real world, don’t give people a hard time. If you’re wearing your mask in public and someone else isn’t, what’s the problem? You’re wearing a mask, so you should be fine. You don’t know the other person’s story, maybe they have asthma, maybe they’ve been wearing it for ten hours straight, maybe they’re actually crazy. Try to refrain from judging or hating someone based on a single thought.
When you’re getting ready for your flight, do your pre-flight checks, and make sure to touch on this important issue in your briefing. As a crew, discuss how you would handle the situation if you saw a passenger not wearing his mask. The aim is not to see who is wrong and who is right, to get into a conspiratorial or political debate. The goal is to build rapport, and the kind of relationship with your crew that is necessary in order to work together as One Crew.
We’ll have to take turns breathing in the galley.
So...take a deep breath.
How would you handle a passenger who refuses to wear his mask?
What about a crew member?
Have you experienced any difficulties on your flight?
Let us know in the comments, or email us at: editor@onecrew.blog
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