MIA’s Admirals Club is closed. American Airlines workers have turned it into mask factory
With frequent fliers largely grounded, American Airlines employees have transformed Miami International’s premium passenger’s lounge into a makeshift sewing factory.
In the Admirals Club by Gate 30, airline workers are cranking out face masks for fellow employees.
Instead of snack buffets and avocado toast stations, the club is now filled with fabric cutting stations, ironing boards and sewing machines.
The mask-making operation was the brainchild of Suzanne Peters, the senior manager of Premium Services at the airline. Peters normally oversees the clubs, but they are all closed during the coronavirus crisis. So she offered to round up workers to cut, iron and sew masks made of old American Airlines uniform shirts and other donated cotton shirts. They have since begun using donated bedsheets and pillowcases, as they seem to work better.
Someone from the facilities-maintenance department came up with the idea of cutting up air conditioning filters and using sheets of those inside each mask.
“We were in a staff meeting a few weeks ago, and were told that the CDC was probably going to start requiring masks. They are very difficult to get, and we want to be respectful to healthcare workers and not take from them, but we have to figure this out for our local employees,” Peters said. “I sat there and thought, `I’ve got a team full of doers, we have the clubs empty, and I know how to sew, so I can teach them.’ “
She put out a message to gate agents, ticket agents, ramp workers and other departments calling for volunteers. She asked them to bring in old uniform shirts, irons, ironing boards and sewing machines. The response was overwhelming.
“We just switched to new uniforms, so we asked everyone, `If you have your old uniform shirts, it’s 100 percent cotton and that’s what we need, so bring them in. We’ll wash them and dry them in the club, cut them up and turn them into masks,” Peters said. “We didn’t know how to make them, but the mom of one of the women here did. So she did a Facetime tutorial for us and we were off to the races.”
Within a day, the operation was running from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. with about 25 workers per shift. By Thursday afternoon, they had sewn and delivered 600 masks. Their goal is 10,000 — almost enough for each of the 13,000 Miami-based American Airlines workers. All are volunteers.
They have even taken a few custom orders, including one from a worker who is a New York Yankees fan. He brought in his Yankees bandanna and asked if they could make his mask from that.
Workers are set up on a production line with social distancing. Some are assigned to cutting, some ironing, some pinning pieces together, some stitching and some delivering. Employees in every department are receiving the masks.
“The reality is, we come to the airport every day. We’re dealing with the public and we really want to make sure our team members feel safe,” Peters said. “We need to take care of one another, and if we do that, we can take care of our customers. We’re getting better at making the masks, and we’re getting more volunteers, so I’m hoping we can make more than 100 a day.”
As of early this week, about 100 American Airlines crew members had tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents the airline’s 27,000 cabin crew employees.
Some American Airlines workers have chosen to take voluntary time off during the crisis. For the ones still working, there is extra time these days as passenger numbers have dropped to record lows. This week, airport traffic across the country was about 5 percent of what it was a year ago, according to TSA statistics.
The mask-making operation has helped with employee morale during these tough times.
“In addition to the fact that we’re providing a safe option to our colleagues, we are keeping our team busy and that helps morale,” Peters said. “It’s been tremendous. Because we’ve asked for volunteers from different areas, it helps to reinforce our relationships. We’re at a time when the industry is taking a big hit with what’s going on. I’ve been at American Airlines for 25 years, so I’ve seen us go through a lot of ups and downs and the one thing I’ll say is that our employees pull together when the chips are down.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "MIA’s Admirals Club is closed. American Airlines workers have turned it into mask factory."