Take LCC To Task For Innuendo-Laden Ads, Alcohol Promotion
Flight attendants with low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines say
management recently launched a series of "degrading and demeaning"
advertisements... and they've had enough.
Past Spirit ad campaigns include the 'Many Islands, Low
Fares' campaign. The "MILF" campaign was originally introduced in
2007; the company claimed that it was unaware MILF could be an
off-color term for an attractive mother. Despite this backlash (or
perhaps because of the media storm it created) Spirit brought
back the campaign earlier this month.
Other campaigns include "We’re having a threesome" or the
"We’re proud of our DDs" e-mails.
"I feel as though I have entered a time warp and am reliving the
battles for respect and justice for women that we fought for 40
years ago," said Patricia Friend, President of the Association of
Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA). "Several promotional fare ads,
with their not very subtle innuendoes, are demeaning not to just
the hardworking flight attendants at Spirit Airlines but to all of
America's professional flight attendants. They offend not just the
female population of this country but the male members of humanity
who admire and respect women."
It gets worse... or, at least, weirder. Recently, management
introduced a proposal which would require Spirit flight attendants
to wear inflight aprons adorned with an alcoholic beverage
logo.
"Turning flight
attendants into walking billboards is unacceptable," said Deborah
Crowley, AFA-CWA Spirit President. "The proposed aprons diminish
the primary and federally mandated role of flight attendants as
safety professionals and our role as first responders onboard."
The AFA-CWA notes flight attendants have a statutory obligation
to enforce Federal Aviation Administration regulations regarding
intoxicated passengers. Inflight aprons that prominently display a
logo from an alcoholic beverage company send the wrong signal to
passengers and diminish the ability of flight attendants to enforce
vital safety and security regulations and procedures onboard.
AFA-CWA has formally requested that Spirit management withdraw
the demeaning advertising campaigns and replace them with
professional and respectful messaging. They've been joined in that
effort by the airline's pilots.
"The recent US Airways accident in New York again proved that
flight attendants are definitely not 'waitresses in the sky,' no
matter what Spirit management may think," said Capt. Sean Creed,
chair of the Spirit Airlines branch of the Air Line Pilots
Association.
"They are responsible for the safety of millions of passengers
each day, and they are the first responders should any incident
occur. The pilots join them in demanding that this management stop
these campaigns and run this company more like an airline and less
like a frat house."
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