Originally Posted by
bocastephen
Well, what about the huge collection of new FAMs who were hired immediately after 9/11? These are the 'suspect' ones, not the old timers who were serving with the FAA during the years before 2001.
The FAA never had FAMs following the same, predictable procedures...no one spotted FAA FAMs, nor did they always take FC seats. I can pretty much assure you that putting the program back under FAA control would result in considerable changes to the way FAMs work.
The only sticking point would be the pre-board issue, and the FAA could simply order the airlines to suck it up like they did during the years before 2001.
The pre-9/11 FAMs I know are underwhelming for the most part. They don't train with the FAMs in the office because they are routinely beaten in shooting, tactics and CQC. In fact the ones who even show up to train are given props for having the testicular fortitude to even do so.
As for positioning, are you kidding me? Yes they sat in FC. They flew in bigger teams, so more were dispersed throughout the cabin. And yes they did pre-board.