Latest news with #SaraNelson
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
As United Flight Attendants Vote, A.I. And Blog Falsehoods Intrude
Flight attendants from United and other carriers demonstrate at IAH in February 2024. (Photo by ... More Brett Coomer) Houston Chronicle via Getty Images United Airlines flight attendants began voting Monday on a tentative contract agreement that raises average salaries about 27%, improves the grievance procedure, and offers boarding pay for the first time, but social media and some internet postings make the deal sound unfavorable. 'What's been very disheartening in this ratification has been the onset of A.I. and Chat GPC and the explosion of blogs that just report things that A.I. is incorrectly reporting and do not check with the union for accuracy,' said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents about 50,000 flight attendants including 29,000 at United. Voting ends July 29. 'There have been posts that are entirely wrong,' Nelson said, citing posts on hotel policy, which has in fact improved; union strategy in talks, which has been misinterpreted; airline surveillance of flight attendant texts, which has never been considered and others. 'These blogs have perpetuated misinformation, making it difficult for flight attendants to make an informed decision,' she said. 'A.I. spits out whatever you want,' Nelson said. 'You ask a question, 'What's wrong with the United contract?' and it will look for all of the bad comments anyone has made. It has no ability to have a human filter of the nuances.' Often, the false posts on the blogs are picked up by A.I. 'Typically you don't see a lot of reporting by news outlets during the course of a vote, unless there is something newsworthy to report,' Nelson said. But in covering the airline industry, newspapers – with their patterns of coverage and their standards for reporting -- have largely been replaced by bloggers and influencers with different patterns and standards. Ken Diaz, president of the United AFA chapter, said he has discussed the tentative agreement in meetings at seven United hubs as well as in several virtual meetings, some with as many as 5,000 flight attendants. (Diaz arrived at the Guam base on Monday after 25 hours of flying.) 'There is so much misinformation from bloggers, but once we have the conversation and clarify, people understand it is not factual,' he said. 'Some bloggers say we made many concessions,' Diaz said. 'But we didn't give up any of our work rules.' On June 10, June the blog 'Live and Let's Fly' posted a story entitled '6 Clauses That Could Derail United's New Flight Attendant Contract. It listed five undesirable contract changes that it said were in the contract. On June 12, after AFA reached out, the blog added notes in red print in which the union responded 'false' or 'entirely false' to each of the clauses. In an update, the blog said 'The info in my original story was shared by a reliable inside source' and asked 'What motive, beyond sabotage, would someone have in deliberately sharing such detailed false information?' As an example, one of the erroneously cited changes was that ''Tech-based monitoring' via apps and cameras may be used for surveillance and discipline without union approval.' AFA called that one 'entirely false.' But Nelson said that contractual hotel policy is the area where posting 'has been the most significantly incorrect.' The twitter account 'JonNYC' posted in June that hotels for flight attendant contracts had been downgraded, and the blog 'One Mile At a Time' rewrote the post under the headline 'United Flight Attendants Stay At Worst Layover Hotels.' However, 'there is significantly improved hotel language,' Nelson said. 'It requires the company to involve the union in the entire procurement policy, with a clear set of requirements for hotel in the contract that enforces the hotel quality we have always experienced and gives us more teeth. So it's Hilton, Weston, Marriott quality.' The contract now ensures that flight attendants with quicker turnarounds of 17 hours or less are housed close to the airfield, while longer turnarounds are ensured downtown hotels. Also, under the contract, quicker turnaround time has been reduced to 17 hours from 19 hours. 'Short layovers cannot be more than ten minutes away,' Nelson said. JonNYC did not respond to a twitter message. In 'View From the Wing,' veteran airline blogger Gary Leff wrote that flight attendants unhappy with the contract were claiming that union leaders were getting a pay raise. Leff said Tuesday he expects to clarify the post after discussion with AFA. (Diaz said it is not true that leaders are getting pay raises.) He also posted what others had incorrectly written incorrectly about hotel policy. Leff has written about pros and cons of the contract and the union strategy. He wrote that 'the union made a strategic blunder in slow-walking contract negotiations, letting American Airlines go first' but also noted that 'Many concerns with the tentative agreement are misreadings.' Leff said Tuesday, 'It seemed like a reasonable strategy to have American go first," especially with Biden as president. However, AFA "seemingly lost leverage with the change in administrations," he said. 'Given the current environment, though, AFA's judgment that this is the best top line they can do is likely correct - and so the question to cabin crew is whether it reflects the right priorities in allocating those dollars," Leff said. Nelson said United flight attendants did not wait for the completion of American flight attendant talks before negotiating. 'We weren't waiting for anything,' she said. Rather, after the pandemic, most airline unions had open contracts to negotiate. 'What's significant about this round is that it really was pattern bargaining, all of the flight attendants with common demands, on the heels of the same thing happening with pilots,' she said. The United contract is 'one step above all the contracts that were negotiated' earlier,' including Alaska, American and Southwest, and has some benefits that non-union Delta lacks, she said.
Condé Nast Traveler
02-07-2025
- Business
- Condé Nast Traveler
Business Travel Is Evolving Faster Than Ever. We'll Help You Navigate It
This story is part of The New Era of Work Travel, a collaboration between the editors of Condé Nast Traveler and WIRED to help you navigate the perks and pitfalls of the modern business trip. It might feel like a distant memory, but in 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic radically transformed how people lived, and specifically how they worked. At the time, plenty of health experts, CEOs, and publications (including WIRED) predicted that Covid would grind business travel to a halt indefinitely. If our day-to-day tasks and meetings could happen using Zoom, Slack, and other online tools, the logic went, then why not apply that same digital-first philosophy to work trips? But near the end of that year, Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, and a career United Airlines flight attendant, offered a prediction that proved prescient. 'The virtual meetings have connected people in a new way,' she said, 'but what we have seen in the travel industry is that the more people are connected by technology, the more they want to travel—because people naturally want to be together. And if you think businesses are going to say 'Oh, we don't have to pay those expenses, we don't have to pay for those plane tickets and hotel rooms'—the first time somebody gets a deal because they went personally, it all snaps back again.' Sure enough, once vaccines became widely available and the threat subsided, company executives started calling workers back to the office in droves. They also began shelling out for those employees to get back into the air. According to a 2024 report from the World Travel & Tourism Council, global business travel has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels and was estimated to account for $1.5 trillion in spending last year alone. That's why airlines now find themselves in an apparent arms race to offer the most glittering airport lounges (see, for instance, the first-ever Delta One lounge, which opened last year at JFK) and new business-class in-flight amenities (privacy doors; hyper-personalized service). At the same time, experience-craving millennials, eager to flex their spending power, created a boom in 'bleisure' travel—extended trips that combine business and leisure. With that comes an increasing awareness that business travel can also be a social pursuit and conduit for personal growth. Business travel's bounce-back also brings with it unprecedented technological innovation. Airplane Wi-Fi, once more of an unreliable punch line than an actual service, now works remarkably well. (Whether you use it to catch up on work or stream TikToks for hours, as one of us may have done on a recent business trip, is ultimately up to you). Airlines and tech companies are also taking advantage of advances in generative AI, supplementing everything from customer service to expense report software with tools that can provide faster answers or automate some of the drudgery inherent in a business trip. One day in the near future, AI may even book and manage your entire itinerary, tailoring its decisions based on your personal preferences and keeping you apprised of any last-minute changes. Consider this package a primer on where you can expect business travel to take you in the years to come. The teams of WIRED and Condé Nast Traveler have pooled their collective expertise to bring you thoughtful, deeply reported stories on everything from multiday commutes to the tech that keeps planes in the air on the world's longest flights. We also answer all your questions about how to do business travel better, from maximizing your hotel points to managing your expenses and, of course, the best luggage and gear to buy before your next trip. Business travel, like the world itself, might be moving fast, but a little well-curated information from the teams who know it best is all you need to be a master of the skies. A version of this story originally appeared on WIRED.
WIRED
02-07-2025
- Business
- WIRED
Business Travel Is Evolving Faster Than Ever. We'll Help You Navigate It
By Katie Drummond and Jesse Ashlock Jul 2, 2025 9:00 AM Five years ago, work trips looked nothing like they do today. WIRED and Condé Nast Traveler have teamed up to tell you all you need to know to actually enjoy working on the go. Photograph: IPEV/PNRA/ESA - S. Thoolen It might feel like a distant memory, but in 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic radically transformed how people lived, and specifically how they worked. At the time, plenty of health experts, CEOs, and publications (including WIRED) predicted that Covid would grind business travel to a halt indefinitely. If our day-to-day tasks and meetings could happen using Zoom, Slack, and other online tools, the logic went, then why not apply that same digital-first philosophy to work trips? But near the end of that year, Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, and a career United Airlines flight attendant, offered a prediction that proved prescient. 'The virtual meetings have connected people in a new way,' she said, 'but what we have seen in the travel industry is that the more people are connected by technology, the more they want to travel—because people naturally want to be together. And if you think businesses are going to say 'Oh, we don't have to pay those expenses, we don't have to pay for those plane tickets and hotel rooms'—the first time somebody gets a deal because they went personally, it all snaps back again.' Sure enough, once vaccines became widely available and the threat subsided, company executives started calling workers back to the office in droves. They also began shelling out for those employees to get back into the air. According to a 2024 report from the World Travel & Tourism Council, global business travel has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels and was estimated to account for $1.5 trillion in spending last year alone. That's why airlines now find themselves in an apparent arms race to offer the most glittering airport lounges (see, for instance, the first-ever Delta One lounge, which opened last year at JFK) and new business-class in-flight amenities (privacy doors; hyper-personalized service). At the same time, experience-craving millennials, eager to flex their spending power, created a boom in 'bleisure' travel—extended trips that combine business and leisure. With that comes an increasing awareness that business travel can also be a social pursuit and conduit for personal growth. Business travel's bounce-back also brings with it unprecedented technological innovation. Airplane Wi-Fi, once more of an unreliable punch line than an actual service, now works remarkably well. (Whether you use it to catch up on work or stream TikToks for hours, as one of us may have done on a recent business trip, is ultimately up to you). Airlines and tech companies are also taking advantage of advances in generative AI, supplementing everything from customer service to expense report software with tools that can provide faster answers or automate some of the drudgery inherent in a business trip. One day in the near future, AI may even book and manage your entire itinerary, tailoring its decisions based on your personal preferences and keeping you apprised of any last-minute changes. Consider this package a primer on where you can expect business travel to take you in the years to come. The teams of WIRED and Condé Nast Traveler have pooled their collective expertise to bring you thoughtful, deeply reported stories on everything from multiday commutes to the tech that keeps planes in the air on the world's longest flights. We also answer all your questions about how to do business travel better, from maximizing your hotel points to managing your expenses and, of course, the best luggage and gear to buy before your next trip. Business travel, like the world itself, might be moving fast, but a little well-curated information from the teams who know it best is all you need to be a master of the skies.
USA Today
02-07-2025
- Automotive
- USA Today
Why your flight sometimes feels too hot or too cold
If you fly enough (or you're unlucky), you're eventually bound to wind up on a plane that, at some point, is either way too hot or way too cold. Especially as we head into the hottest part of the summer, experts warn it's likely that airplanes can become uncomfortably warm inside, especially while they're on the ground. 'It's like sitting in the car in the parking lot and the whole family is going, 'Turn the car on! Turn the car on!' to get the air conditioner going,' Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, told me. Nelson's organization has long advocated federal standards for airplane cabin temperatures, but so far, she said, no such regulations exist. While some airlines have their own policies, they're not always followed. In the meantime, Nelson said, there are some things travelers can do to minimize their own risks in an overheated cabin, and to help advocate for safer standards across the industry. How climate control works on an airplane In general, airplane climate control is very similar to the heating and cooling system in a car, but the power source can vary by phase of flight. 'The thing to keep in mind is the power source that's used to do that can vary depending on if the engines are running,' Laurie Garrow, a civil engineering professor specializing in aviation at Georgia Tech, told me. She said that during flight and while taxiing, airplanes typically use power from their engines to run systems onboard, including the climate control system, but while at the gate, they may rely on a less powerful auxiliary power unit or an external air supply for climate control. Similarly, while taxiing, airplanes may only use one engine to conserve fuel, which limits how much power is available for other systems. When you get in a situation where you're running on one engine and trying to do all that ... you're putting it under more strenuous situations to try to keep the cabin cool,' Garrow said. Why can planes be so hot, or so cold? Nelson said that external factors play a big role in the temperature onboard an airplane. 'Especially in the summer, especially with delays, being out on the hot tarmac, if the APU's not running or the engine's not running, the cabin can get very hot very quickly,' she said. It's part of the reason flight attendants typically tell passengers, especially in warm weather, to lower their shades and open their air vents once the plane is parked at the gate. Nelson added that cold weather can affect planes, too, and it can be a challenge to keep things comfortable onboard on the ground during the winter. Last week's Cruising Altitude: After the fatal Concorde crash, could supersonic flight return? On top of that, she said, different parts of the cabin can be a different temperature, and often the climate controls are in the cockpit, which is separate from the passenger cabin anyway. 'The temperature can range as much as 10 degrees throughout the cabin," she said. Factors like galley and exit locations and even whether or not the plane has onboard screens can affect the temperature. What to do if your plane's temperature isn't comfortable Nelson said that extreme temperatures onboard can pose a safety risk. During the summer, an overheated airplane cabin can give passengers heat stroke or can exacerbate other medical conditions they may have. She said on a recent flight she was seated next to a cardiologist. When the plane began to overheat during a delay, the doctor strongly advocated that the flight return to the gate, because he worried about the risk of a passenger having a heart attack due to the extreme temperature. Nelson said it's important for passengers to advocate for themselves if they're not comfortable on the plane. 'It is important to let the crew know what your experience is,' she said. While flight attendants don't always have direct control over the cabin temperature, they can coordinate with the pilots to adjust the thermostat, or return to the gate if it's really getting dangerous. The Association of Flight Attendants also has an app, available on Apple and Android devices, called 2Hot2Cold, which allows passengers and crews to file reports about extreme cabin temperatures. Nelson said AFA uses data from those reports to advocate for cabin temperature standards. While the 2024 Federal Aviation Reauthorization required further research of aircraft cabin temperature standards, Nelson said the agency has not moved forward since a study was conducted. In the meantime, she said, it's important for travelers to dress in layers and to make sure to have water available to them on the plane in case it starts to overheat. Garrow said that she has been on flights that were too hot herself, and that she tries not to get too overwhelmed, because it's not something she can control directly. 'I try to stay hydrated and try to focus not on the heat,' she said. 'I focus on meditating on something else.'
Geek Wire
24-06-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Seattle council gives final OK to large digital kiosks, paving way for installation of devices on city streets
An IKE Smart City digital kiosk along a street in Baltimore. The technology is coming to downtown Seattle in time for the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament next year. (IKE Smart City Photo) The Seattle City Council approved a permit ordinance Tuesday that paves the way for the installation of large digital wayfinding kiosks around the urban core and eventually in neighborhoods across the city. By a 6-2 vote, the council granted the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) permission to install and operate the interactive media kiosks from IKE Smart City. The dual-sided, touchscreen kiosks — the first of which are expected to be in the ground within the next year — feature free Wi-Fi access and can relay information related to transportation, community events, safety, health, arts and entertainment, with advertising included. DSA plans to bring 30 of the devices to Seattle's Metropolitan Improvement District during Phase 1 of the project, in time for the FIFA World Cup and 750,000 visitors in 2026. Phase 2 would bring another 30 kiosks downtown and 20 more in Business Improvement Areas in the city, such as the SoDo, Ballard, University District and West Seattle neighborhoods. Council President Sara Nelson, sponsor of CB 120992 and chair of the Governance, Accountability & Economic Development committee, called it a 'win for Seattle.' 'These kiosks represent a near-term opportunity to enhance the pedestrian experience, improve public safety communications, and support downtown's economic and cultural revitalization — in addition to multiple public benefits including free Wi-Fi and multilingual wayfinding,' Nelson said in a statement. There is no cost to the City of Seattle for the installation or upkeep of the kiosks, which could generate, on average, $1.1 million per year via advertising revenue that would go to DSA. The organization says it would invest that money back into downtown. The city would also share in any additional revenue that exceeds an agreed-upon threshold. Concerns about the devices were raised during the proposal's move through the council. Some objected to the visual clutter of the kiosks in the city's landscape, oversaturation of advertising, and light pollution. Others were worried about potential surveillance and privacy issues. Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson discusses the need for digital wayfinding kiosks in Seattle alongside Markham McIntyre, director of the Office of Economic Development, center, and Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, at City Hall in May. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser) The kiosks are a product of Columbus, Ohio-based advertising company Orange Barrel Media. There are currently 23 U.S. cities where the IKE program has been implemented. GeekWire got an up-close look at the devices during a demonstration of the devices at City Hall in May. Each IKE (interactive kiosk experience) measures just over 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide, with a depth of about 1 foot. The screen size is 12 1/2 square feet and can be interacted with like any smart touchscreen, with users scrolling through city-specific apps and content, such as maps, nearby restaurant listings, the city's Find It, Fix It app, and more. There is also a button on the side of each kiosk which allows for 911 calls. The kiosks include a selfie camera that is part of a popular 'Photo Booth' application, where users can interact and snap pictures to send to themselves. But IKE says photos are not stored on the kiosks or retained by the company and no video cameras are included for surveillance. Seattle's IT department previously reviewed the IKE proposal and said it complies with the city's surveillance ordinance. As for other privacy and data concerns, IKE says it does not collect or sell personally identifiable information or any other data, and the kiosks collect usage analytics data only. They record which applications are opened and for how long, and an anonymous tally is kept of user visits to each kiosk. DSA President CEO Jon Scholes called the kiosks 'a smart, zero-cost solution that benefits everyone who lives, works and visits downtown.' He said the devices will 'help people navigate the city, discover local businesses and stay connected, all while generating revenue to support cleaning, beautification and events in downtown.' The legislation will now to go Mayor Bruce Harrell — a supporter of the project — for signature. 'With these tools, residents and visitors will be able to better navigate our city, discover hidden gems, and stay up-to-date on events throughout the city — building a more connected, welcoming Seattle every single day,' Harrell said in a statement.
