MUST READ: Wall Street Journal Report on Toxic Fume Events
September 19, 2025 - A new report from the Wall Street Journal details how exposure to toxic air on aircraft over the last 20 years has led to hundreds of Flight Attendants, Pilots, and passengers suffering what are described as brain injuries because of alleged exposure.
Fixing the problem of contaminated bleed air has been a priority of our union for decades. The first step in change is defining the problem. The industry sought to make victims feel crazy and define unions as hysterical and hyperbolic, but we haven’t backed down.
“Our Union has been working on this for decades and we’ve been concerned about it because of the very real life consequences that crewmembers have faced because of contaminated bleed air,” said AFA President Sara Nelson in an interview with Good Morning America.
Watch the clip below:
The Wall Street Journal’s analysis was a two-step process. First, reporters trained a statistical model using a list of classified SDRs compiled by Judith Anderson, a researcher and occupational health specialist at AFA who advised on the issue and whose work the FAA cites for its 33 fume events per million departures figure. Testing against 25% of Anderson’s data not used in the training, the model correctly identified fume events 94% of the time.
We will continue to shine a light on this issue and advocate for safer air at work. We are proud to support the Safe Air on Airplanes Act, introduced earlier this year, which would work to phase out the bleed air systems that currently exist on almost all commercial aircraft.
Visit the AFA website for general advice and practical documents relating to fume events, including printable resources to keep with you onboard and steps to follow if you are exposed to air supply system fumes.
Read more. Watch AFA on FOX, CBS, and NBC News.
