Flight attendants working for charter companies have detailed harrowing conditions at deportation flights hired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including directions to not engage with deportees and a lack of clear instructions on how to act in case of an emergency.
Speaking to ProPublica, flight attendants who refused to reveal their names, discussed concerns about potential medical emergencies, mechanical failures, and their inability to ensure passenger safety, particularly given the shackles that restrained deportees from wrists to ankles.
"Lala" said flight attendants were initially recruited with promises of flying VIP charters for celebrities and sports teams. Instead, many found themselves operating deportation flights. One employee questioned the airline after it signed a five-year contract with ICE.
Flight attendants also reported broken air conditioning, malfunctioning bathrooms, and a lack of clear safety protocols for emergencies. Some expressed fears that, in the event of an evacuation, the shackled passengers could not be moved off the plane in time. Some tried to discreetly acknowledge detainees with small gestures, like responding to a greeting, while others recalled being discouraged from offering food to children.
The guards, in contrast, often treated flight attendants as personal staff, they said. Some flight attendants said they feared retaliation from GlobalX management if they attempted to enforce FAA safety regulations on the guards. In multiple cases, attendants who asked guards to follow seatbelt or carry-on rules were reported to supervisors and later reprimanded.
Military aircraft were initially used for deportation operations, but they largely stopped after figures showed they were much more expensive than using civilian planes. Data from Witness at the Border indicates that 85% of removal flights under the Trump administration were conducted by private charter companies.
In a 2023 earnings call, GlobalX's then-CEO Ed Wegel said that employees "essentially don't do much on the airplane" beyond responding to emergencies, as deportees are monitored by government-contracted guards. Addressing concerns about humane treatment, he acknowledged threats against flight crews but claimed, "We haven't seen any mistreatment at all."
Flight attendants said that the only guidance they ever got was from pilots, and it was an eerie one. "Just get up and leave," one was told. "That's it, save your life first." Most flight attendants have now left the company, with some doing so despite not having secured another position. "Lala" said she couldn't take it anymore.
Originally published on Latin Times
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