Good morning, everybody! Here's the latest from the world's airplane cabins and theme park lines.
* AFTER FACEBOOK FLAP, DELTA AIR LINES CHANGES POLICY FOR HANDLING MEDICAL EMERGENCIES (Detroit Free Press)
Responding to public pressure, Delta Air Lines has announced a policy change in how flight crews deal with medical emergencies.
As of this month, flight attendants are no longer required to verify the credentials of physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals who volunteer to help passengers having sudden health problems in the cabin.
The move comes two months after a Delta-related Facebook post by Dr. Tamika Cross went viral. In the posting, Cross, who is black, alleges that when she raised her hand to assist an ill passenger on a Delta flight from Detroit to Houston, she was rebuffed by a flight attendant who doubted that she was a doctor. But according to Cross, when a white male came forward and presented his credentials, he was allowed to help.
Wrote Cross: "Whether this was race, age, gender discrimination, it's not right."
The post has gotten more than 20,000 comments and 150,000 likes—and has now resulted in a significant change at the airline.
"Delta found that there is no legal or regulatory requirement to view medical professional credentials," the company said in its statement. "And, as it becomes more and more common for medical licenses to be verified online, physicians and nurses often do not carry a license with them and some states no longer issue wallet versions."
And in other news relating to flight attendants . . .
* FLIGHT ATTENDANTS UNION FILES GRIEVANCE OVER NEW AMERICAN AIRLINES UNIFORMS (Travel Weekly)
At least 300 American Airlines flight attendants say that their new uniforms—issued by the carrier in September—are making them sick.
The flight attendants' union filed a grievance letter with the company last week, asserting that the new duds, which have been rolled out to 70,000 employees, have caused health problems ranging from skin irritation to headaches. The union wants American to stop issuing the uniforms or let employees go back to wearing the old ones.
Responding to the grievance, officials at the airline say the company will run another safety test on the garments, which have passed three earlier in-house trials.
Additionally, American has set up a call center to take complaints from flight attendants, and vows that any employee who has a reaction to the new uniforms will be allowed to wear the former set.
* DISNEY WORLD NOW LETS ANNUAL PASS HOLDERS CUT IN LINE (TravelPulse)
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is giving certain devoted fans a big thank-you gift to kick off the new year.
The company has announced that guests who've purchased an annual pass will be allowed to circumvent the normal entrance line and get into the resort through an excusive gateway.
A special entrance for annual pass holders will be available at all four Disney World parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Which raises the question: Why on earth are there lines to get into Epcot?
No expiration date on the new perk has been announced yet, but those with annual passes can expect to get cutsies at least through January. They will, however, still have to go through the security checkpoint with everybody else.
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