Airline Employees and Flight Attendants

Global organizations involved in aviation and transportation who are likely to come into contact with trafficking victims have established training programs. Flight attendants and airline workers within the air travel industry are in a prime facility to detect trafficking victims. Those involved in detection would include not only flight attendants but also those working in ticketing, gate agents and others who work or have interaction with passengers. Multiple reports are on record citing flight attendants and others involved within the airline industry as reporting victims of trafficking. After specific training that has been instated, those working in air travel report more knowledge and recognition in their ability to detect a trafficking victim.

On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed Public Law 115-254, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. Section 408 of the Act, Training on Human Trafficking for Certain Staff, amends 49 U.S.C. to add Section 44738. This new section expands the human trafficking training requirement to an additional employee group and requires that “each air carrier shall provide training to ticket counter agents, gate agents, and other air carrier workers whose jobs require regular interaction with passengers on recognizing and responding to potential human trafficking victims.”