A practical solution for nursing cabin crew was proposed by the AFA as part of the negotiations for the PUMP Act: “Airlines can provide a privacy curtain in the galley, similar to the ones already in place on many aircraft, with a latch or sign to not enter.” But the airline lobby group did not approve this either.
Very few airlines have clear policies
Hardly any US airlines provide clear guidelines for crew who need to pump. “I’m not aware of any airline that does this voluntarily,” a spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants–CWA said in an email. But there are two airlines that have been petitioned by crew members and now have written lactation policies.
The AFA union was able to negotiate breastfeeding accommodations with Alaska Airlines. The flight attendants’ union contract states the airline will “make accommodations for lactating flight attendants on the aircraft provided it does not interfere with flight attendant duties and flight schedules. The company will also provide private areas at domiciles and training centers as long as it does not require expenditures of funds.”
Another carrier with clear policies is Frontier Airlines, which was recently sued by the ACLU in class action suits of flight attendants and pilots who alleged the airline discriminated against pregnant and lactating employees. In complaints to the court, one of the pilots described the toll a lack of pumping accommodations took on her body. “As a result of the lack of adequate breaks and sanitary facilities in which to pump, she regularly suffered from pain, engorgement, the humiliation of leaking breasts, and on two occasions, mastitis,” which is a serious infection usually caused by a blocked milk duct in the breast and is a result of not expressing milk.
Frontier settled the flight attendants’ suit in April 2022. As part of the agreement, the airline said cabin crew could utilize wearable lactation technology while working on planes. Many wearable pumps, like the Willow, are very discreet, with all the parts inserting directly into the user’s bra and allowing them to move freely. Having Frontier flight attendants use wearable breast pumps “does not jeopardize public safety,” Frontier’s VP of Labor Relations Jacalyn Peter said in a statement about the settlement. (The pilots’ case is still ongoing.)
“Future flight attendants won’t have to worry about how they are going to fit in pumping between flights or wonder where they will be able to pump safely,” Melissa Hodgkins, a Frontier flight attendant and plaintiff on the case, said after the settlement. “I gave up breastfeeding to provide for my family, and no one should have to make that choice again.”
Flight attendants, pilots, and advocacy groups are preparing for a long fight to ensure that mothers working aboard aircraft don’t have to make those difficult decisions. “Your job should not dictate your infant feeding options,” says Lebedevitch. “The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee and other health advocates remain committed to securing this important right for airline crew members.”
