Unions representing flight attendants are upset with a House subcommittee after lawmakers failed to invite them to a hearing on airline security.

The Committee on Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Subcommittee invited various stakeholders to participate in a discussion about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “Advance Risk-Based Security.”

But the subcommittee did not ask the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions to offer their opinions, even though flight attendants often find themselves in the thick of any security matter that occurs on an airliner.

Among those who were invited to testify were representatives of the American Association of Airport Executives; the Express Association of America, which lobbies for DHL, FedEx, UPS and TNT; and Airlines for America, whose mission is to “foster a business and regulatory environment that ensures safe and secure air transportation and enables U.S. airlines to flourish.”

The flight attendant coalition, which represents 90,000 flight attendants, questioned the value of the hearing. It also used the snub to once again state that the unions objected to TSA’s decision earlier this year to allow passengers to carry small knives on board planes.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Flight Attendants Not Invited To Hill Hearings On Airplane Security (Homeland Security News Wire)

Homeland Security Subcommittee Conducts Aviation Security Hearing Without Flight Attendant Experience (Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions)

Opening Statements (House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security)

Small Knives Will Soon Be Welcome as Carry-Ons aboard U.S. Flights (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Danny Biederman, AllGov)