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March 16, 2001
Toxic Airline Air? - The Airlines Won't Say Airlines Refuse to Produce Information for Congressionally Mandated Study On Toxic Cabin Air WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- A Congressionally mandated study on air quality onboard aircraft has become increasingly difficult for the National Academy of Sciences to complete because the airlines have refused to provide vital information on these maintenance and flight incident reports. The information will allow the NAS to correlate reported illness with these records and to determine the origin of persistent air quality problems that have plagued the industry for years. The study was created as a part of the Aviation Investment and Reform Act (AIR-21), which was signed into law on April 5, 2000. However, despite repeated requests, to date the NAS has not received any information from any company on the hydraulic fluids and engine oils believed responsible for causing air quality problems onboard aircraft. On March 7, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) authored a letter to Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Jane Garvey urging her to ensure the airlines turn over the necessary information for the NAS to move forward with the study. "It is a shame that the airlines need to be forced by the FAA to provide this information," said Association of Flight Attendants International President Patricia Friend. "People are getting sick. Congress is trying to figure out why, but the airlines refuse to help. Meanwhile, we're losing precious time as this vital study is delayed." According to the letter from Sen. Feinstein and Rep. Nadler, the companies have cited proprietary concerns for refusing to produce their records even though they have been guaranteed confidential treatment by the NAS. The letter also notes that the committee is specifically interested in information from United Airlines, America West and Alaska Airlines given the different routes and type of aircraft these airlines operate. "The airlines seem to be valuing their business interests more than the health of their crews and passengers," Friend said. "There is no time for excuses. This information needs to be turned over immediately so the NAS committee can continue its work at its next meeting on April 17." For a copy of the letter of Sen. Feinstein and Rep. Nadler's letter to Administrator Garvey, please contact Dawn Deeks at the number above. More than 50,000 flight attendants are joined together in AFA, the world's largest flight attendant union. Visit AFA @ http://www.afanet.org .
From: PRNewswire at 16. March 2001 at 19:18:35 |
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