An air stewardess' responsibilities include catering to the needs of the passenger, bringing them food, drinks and always on beck and call to make sure their passengers are in comfort. But that doesn't stop there. In their training, air stewardesses are also trained to be observant and be on the lookout for potential human trafficking victims.
Shelia Frederick, an Alaskan Airlines flight attendant, had an experience that put her training to good use. It was on a 2011 flight from Seattle to San Francisco that changed her life.
She became suspicious of a passenger, a well-dressed male, and his teenage girl companion. The girl looked unwell, sporting ragged clothes and seemed very uncomfortable. The girl wouldn't answer Shelia's questions, and only the guy she was with did all the talking. That's when Shelia knew something is not right.
Shelia managed to tell the girl quietly that she should go to the bathroom. The girl hesitated at first but managed to get up and go inside the comfort room. In there, Shelia left a note in which the girl wrote that she needed help.
Upon reading the note, Shelia immediately went into action and told the pilot about the situation. Upon landing on their destination, the man was immediately arrested.
On how she immediately spotted that something was wrong, Shelia said: "Something in the back of my mind said something is not right. He was well dressed, that's what kind of got me because why is he well dressed and she is looking disheveled and out of sorts."
Shelia's story was shared in part of Airlines Ambassadors mission to train more airline crew on how to spot and prevent human trafficking. If it weren't for Shelia's quick response, the girl might have been put through hell. Now, according to Shelia, the girl calls her every now and then and is now in college.
"I've been a flight attendant for ten years and it's like I am going all the way back to when I was in training and I was like I could have seen these young girls and young boys and didn't even know," Shelia said. And for her fellow airline staffs, her only tip is, "If you see something, say something."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
