Our mission is to inform our loyal

Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter readers on today’s issues that shape the
corporate flight attendant. Customer
satisfaction is our focus in our ongoing
Educating the community one news issue at a time. quest to exceed the goals for market,
professional and personal growth.
Each electronic publication is free to
corporate flight attendants and aviation
Volume 3, Issue 5 OCTOBER 2008 ISSN 1932-4464 personnel throughout the world.

Gaining Rapport: Comfort and Efficiency

By Shari Frisinger, Corner Stone Strategies, LLC
I NSIDE THIS
As we have experienced, quickly gaining rapport can be a daunting, seemingly insurmountable
task, or by picking up on the signals we are sent, we can more easily relate to the other person ISSUE :
and build upon our existing relationship.
Understanding why someone speaks faster or slower gives us
insight into what they need to make decisions — are they the
50,000 foot person, or does the minutia bore them? Does Gaining
adventure and risk drive their motivations, or do they prefer
the status quo and following the structure? Rapport:
Will they be offended if you ask clarifying questions, or do Comfort and
they welcome the opportunity to share the step-by-step
process? Do they willingly give you more information than Efficiency
what you thought you requested? Do they talk objectively:
facts, figures, behaviors? Or do they talk about feelings, SUSHI
intuition, perceptions?

Delicious and
When you listen, do you listen for the right reasons? Is the
person trying to solve a problem and wants your help? Or do
they just need to sound off to an objective third party? When
it’s your turn to speak, how do you respond to what you’ve Potentially
heard … hostile? Defensive? Caring? Open?
When you listen, do you Dangerous!
It takes more energy for us to converse with someone that is
opposite of our own style. Think about it … for someone listen for the right
who makes decisions, on the spot, and moves on to the next
issue can easily get frustrated with those that need to ponder
reasons? Page 2
all ramifications of a decision before they commit. Similarly, those people that enjoy
discussing non-business topics before getting down to business appear to be wasting time to
those that prefer to jump right into the business at hand.
Life saving
Think of a clock … at 12 are those people that like to or need to be in control. At 6 are those equipment –
that more easily adapt to situations. At 3 are people that enjoy the social interaction. At 9 are Do you actually know…
the people that put up a wall between themselves and others. People move around the circle,
depending on the situation and who else is involved. The closer someone moves away from
12 and towards the 6, the more important it is for them to adapt and the less important it is for
Page 4
them to be in control. The closer someone moves towards the 12 and away from the 6, the
more authoritative they will become. The closer someone moves toward the 3 and away from
the 6, the more they lean towards sharing information about themselves and less about keeping
their distance. The more someone moves towards the 9 and away from the 3, the more factual
and objective they will become. People close to the 3 can be seen as “warm and friendly” or
“emotional”. People close to the 9 have been referred to as “fair” or “cold-hearted”. It’s all in
your perception.
If you are a person that prefers to be in control [and makes decisions quickly], you can best
create effectiveness with those that are more likely to adapt to situations. If you are one who
adapts readily to situations, you may not have the assertiveness to make things happen, and
you are best managed by someone who is. To create effectiveness, we need to interact with
(Continued on page 10)

1 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5

 SUSHI

Delicious and Potentially Dangerous!

About the Author: Jean Dible earned a BS degree from the University of Puget Sound,
(Tacoma, WA) in foods & nutrition. Jean's career in foods/nutrition has expanded over
30-years, and has just about gone full circle from teaching adult education classes through
Washington State University & The University of Arizona to using her food/nutrition knowledge in the business world and then back
again to teaching. Jean resides in the Atlanta area and has had her own business for over 5-year teaching food safety certification
classes in four different languages, with the help of translators. Over the past year, Jean has expanded her food safety training from
the ground to the air for the General Aviation Industry. Jean’s company website: www.aviation-foodsafety-training.com

Sushi is one of those ethnic foods that you either love at first
taste, or it is very intimidating to even consider trying. Eating raw
fish and cold rice, encased in smelly seaweed wrappers, usually
does not appeal to a timid eater.
But, love it or leave it, sushi is the new culture food spreading
across the United States like a fire out of control. Not only are
ethnic restaurants cashing in on the new trendy food, but grocery
stores, employee cafeterias, and airport kiosks are also offering
sushi for those who are “Hooked” on this delicious, but
potentially dangerous food.
Sushi, pronounced “zushi,” actually began as a way to preserve
fish hundreds of years ago. Fresh fish was placed between large
amounts of cooked rice and salt to prevent spoilage of the fish.
The word “sushi” actually refers to the rice and vinegar mixture,
which was used to preserve fish. It is
interesting to note how the present-
day Sushi came about through trial
and error of trying to preserve fish by
the Japanese. Rice and vinegar were
put into containers until the rice
acidified, and then the fresh fish was
added to the acidified rice. Fish was
allowed to ferment in jars with the
rice mixture for up to a year. The fish
was then removed from the rice mix-
ture to eat, and the rice was discarded.
After long years of using this method
to preserve fish, fermentation methods changed and the Japanese
discovered vinegar rice had a sweet and nutty flavor, so it was
eventually saved and served with the fish. Sushi evolved through-
out the years in many of the Asia countries and finally became a
popular ethnic food about a decade ago in the United States.
There are basically six different types of sushi available in the
United States:
Nigiri sushi: Little fingers of acidified rice, with a small
amount of wasabi or Japanese horseradish (topped with a
small finger shaped raw fish fillet).
Maki sushi: This is the most common type sushi sold in
America and consists of combinations of raw fish, vegeta-
bles, and rice rolled in a seaweed wrapper.
California Roll: This sushi is the same as the Maki sushi,
except the rice is on the outside of the fish and vegetables.
Inari sushi: Is a small fried tofu pouch stuffed with sushi
rice.
Temaki sushi: Is a coned shaped seaweed roll of sushi rice,
vegetables, and raw fish.
Chirashi Sushi: Is a bowl of cold, but not acidified rice,
topped with an assorted selection of thin raw strips of fish,
which is called (sashimi).
∞ What makes sushi potentially dangerous food for serving
passengers and/or crew for a General Aviation meal?
In all fairness, there have only been 17-sushi foodborne outbreaks
in this country between 1994 and 2005, but considering that sushi
is only eaten by a small segment of the population, this is
substantial. In the 17-outbreaks, 216
diners became ill from sushi, and
eleven of those outbreaks were from
restaurants. The remaining locations
were from religious and social clubs.
The pathogens in the sushi causing
the foodborne outbreaks were:
Norovirus, Hepatitis A, Staphylococ-
cus aureus, Salmonella Enteritidis,
Scombroid toxin, Vibrio bacteria,
Anisakis parasites, Ciguatera toxin,
and Bacillus cereus.
The pathogens involved in the sushi outbreaks between 1994 and
2005 that were related to poor personal hygiene or ill
employees involved in making the sushi:
⌦ Staphylococcus aureus - bacteria
⌦ Hepatitis A virus - virus
⌦ Norovirus - virus
Staphylococcus aureus is on the skin, in the hair, nose and
mouth of about 50% of the population. All it takes is for a food
handler to touch his/her body with bare hands and then handle
food without wearing gloves to transfer the staphylococcus
bacteria to the food. This bacterium produces a toxin in the food,
which is a poison. It is not a killer, but can put a person in bed for
several days.
Hepatitis A virus is very contagious, and Asian countries,
Mexico and Central to South America have very high rates of
Hepatitis A infections. Due to food handlers in restaurants

(Continued on page 8)

2 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5

3 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5
 Life saving equipment – Now for the tough part. You carefully pull on one end of the
raft to find the location of the mooring/ inflation line being very
Do you actually know what is in that bag? careful to not pull on any cords/ straps. You make note of the
location of the line and then find the inspection tag for its
Randall B. Wood
inspection due date…again making sure that it is within the
Inflight Training Solutions, Inc.
time frame of your scheduled trip.
randallwood@rcn.com
You find all the same
It’s early in the evening and you’re getting ready for ‘red-eye’
information on the other
trip across the ‘pond’ to Europe from the east coast. It’s strange
raft and then lean back
to be getting to work late in the day and an afternoon nap
and formulate a plan
would have been great had the circumstances worked out that
should their use be
way.
required. How many passengers on this leg versus how many
As you go about getting ready, you start looking into the seats? What seats would I use to locate the rafts on a planned
emergency equipment preflights. You flew this aircraft a ditching? You even remember how to attach the life raft to the
couple of weeks ago but of course, you can’t remember where seat using the seat belt and placing the mooring/ inflation line
everything is so, once again, you look at the passenger briefing within that attachment! Good. Could I actually get the raft from
card to find the emergency equipment the compartment if needed?
locations. You make note of the rafts and
(Writer’s Note: sometimes the raft will expand slightly at
since this is an over-water routing, you need
higher cabin altitudes. Because of this and the fact that many
to thoroughly check the location of the raft.
times the compartment that lodges the rafts were actually built
So you end up on your knees looking under to the raft specifications, it may not be possible to remove the
each seat to find the life vests. The knees raft until the cabin is at a lower
used to bend so easily years ago but you cabin altitude, thereby not allowing
know that this is important and you check raft retrieval until after the aircraft
each compartment under the seats. Of comes to a stop.)
Life vest double strap
course, you have no idea what type of life
Noting that most of your overwater
vest each is. That is a frustrating note that was made during
trips have not been with a plane full
your last emergency training….the semi-opaque bag that
of passengers, you make note of the fact that both couches most
houses the life vest also eliminates that ability to determine
likely will be unoccupied and therefore if you can retrieve the
whether the life vest is a single strap, double detachable straps,
rafts prior to that actual ditch, you can always secure the raft to
or double non-detachable straps vests.
the couch after taking off the cushions. Ok, you got the plan.
It would be great to know since the single strap vest is pretty
Now you begin to push the rafts back into their compartments
easy to get into from the water level…the worse case scenario
noting the weight of each. Whoa….these are heavy! You
and the double non-detachable vest is very difficult if not
carefully place them back to their original location and secure
impossible while treading water. Of course, the passenger
the cover plates to the compartments. First of all, you hope you
briefing card might be a good
never have to actually pull them out for a ditch or even a land
indication of the type of vests but
evacuation (great survival equipment!) and secondly you do
unfortunately the vest type and the
hope they float!
pictures don’t always correlate.
You make sure that each compartment
has its vest and that the vest package is Randall Wood has a vast amount of experience in the
in good condition with the inspection education field relating to the aviation industry. He has over 27
due date within the time frame of your years of teaching aviation subjects ranging from the most basic
scheduled trip. With a grin, you of pilot skills to Part 135 Operations. In the latter, he has been
remember the last ‘wet drills’ exercise the Director of Operations and/or the Chief Pilot for several
when you took your last emergency Part 135 companies and has enjoyed teaching all aspects of
Life vest w/Single Strap
training class. 135 operations from both a pilot and flight attendant
standpoint. He specializes in 135 Operations Specifications and
The ‘pool party’ was dreaded for weeks prior but actually doing
Emergency Training using current computer technology in all
them was a lot of fun. You remember donning the vest from the
presentations and "hands-on" for emergency drills.
water level and relishing the fact that you got the single strap
vest thrown to you instead of one of the double strap vests
making the donning process much easier while treading water.
All the vests are accounted for and you move to find the life
rafts. Again, on your knees, (creaking noises included) you pull
down the cover from under the couch to find that indeed there
are two large rafts located there.

4 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5

 Products found at the
NBAA
National Convention

Editor’s Corner
Healthcare ! While I would like to jump on the national health benefits bandwagon for the independent flight
attendant we need to take a step back and think this through. Instead of trying to get a group started,
How can I get it? why not take a different approach? There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
Many companies such as AirCare Crews, JPI, Flight Crews Unlimited offer health benefits to their full
time employees but not to their independently contracted or part time flight attendants. Would it be
possible for these companies to offer benefits to these sectors if they are willing to pay their own
premiums? While there may be a slight bump in the cost of doing business, a worker who is healthy
works faster and harder, thus helping to balance out the increase.
I am a prime example of this. I participated in the COBRA program when I left my last full time job.
When the time came for the plan to end, I asked my previous company if I could pay my own premiums
and remain on the program. Three years later, I am still insured with a great health program. And in return,
I am helping a small flight department with getting the best possible plan for the company itself.
So instead of creating a new program, let’s see if plans already in place can be better, more efficiently
utilized.

As usual,

Fly Safely

Daniel

5 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5

6 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5
7 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5
(Continued from page 2)
traveling back and forth to their home
countries to visit relatives, Hepatitis A is
brought back into the kitchens of America.
(HAV) is usually spread by food handler’s
dirty hands. (HAV) is found in the stool
(feces) of persons with (HAV). If the food
handler has not washed his/her hands prop-
erly, the virus is spread to food surfaces,
which then infects the person eating the
food. Hepatitis A can also be contracted
from fresh or undercooked oysters. It is not
a killer, but (HAV) can put a person in bed
from several weeks to several months.
Norovirus is highly contagious, and
according to the CDC, Center for Disease
Control in Atlanta, Norovirus are
responsible for over 57% of all foodborne
outbreaks in America and infects about 23
million victims annually
with a gastroenteritis
illness. Norovirus is
transmitted through
contaminated water, food,
or person to person
contact. An infected food
handler in a kitchen is an
outbreak just waiting to
happen, and the infected
person will shed the virus
for at least 3-days after
recovery. Some
employees may shed the
virus in food and water
for up to 2 weeks after
recovery.
⌦ Bacterium:
⌦ Salmonella (fresh vegetables)
⌦ Vibrio (oyster bacteria)
⌦ Bacillus cereus (cooked rice)
Salmonella Enteritidis occurs in many
different types of foods such as poultry,
eggs, meat, dairy foods, and fresh
vegetables. In the case of contamination in United States. Very few restaurants or
sushi, fresh veggies and ready-to-eat food sushi makers have the equipment to
would cause the infection to occur.
Vibrio bacteria is commonly associated
with fresh or partially cooked oysters.
Oysters harvested in warmer waters during for the fish. If sushi chefs are trying to
the months from April to October are
usually associated with Vibrio bacterium. sushi diners can end up with a belly full of
Vibrio, which causes Primary Septicemia, worms. The illness can be either invasive
can be fatal to people with liver disease
and diabetes and is usually deadly for 70 to may have a tingling in the throat and end
80% of this population.
8 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5
Bacillus cereus bacteria is in cooked rice
and produces a toxin in the rice unless the
rice is maintained at 400F or below, or
held at 1350F or warmer. Rice used in
sushi is acidified with vinegar, which also
prevents bacillus cereus from producing
toxins in the rice. This is a learned skill
and not for the novice in making sushi.
The pH acidity is usually around 4.1 in the
rice, but it has to be measured correctly
with a pH meter. Sushi chefs may leave
certain parts of the preparation of sushi to
novices in the kitchen, which can be a
dangerous situation. Too many hands in
the preparation of sushi increase the odds
of a foodborne illness. Bacillus cereus is
also found in many other foods,
particularly in starchy foods such as beans,
potatoes, and pasta. Bacillus is not a killer,
but will put a victim in bed for a day or
two with a gastrointestinal illness.
Fish Parasites: (Anisakis simplex), which
are round worms, are a major problem in
eating sushi anywhere in the world. In
order to rid the fresh fish of worms and
their larva, the fresh fish has to be either
cooked to a minimum temperature of
1450F for 15-seconds or frozen at -40F for
a minimum of 7-days. Unfrozen fresh fish
is never allowed to be used for sushi in the
maintain fish at these low temperatures, so
wholesalers provide this service to
restaurants, but at a higher cost per pound
save money and freeze their own fish,
or noninvasive. If noninvasive, the diner
up coughing up the parasites (worms) from
the body. If invasive, the parasite worms
can penetrate the lining of the stomach and
intestinal walls and have to be surgically
removed. Fish most commonly associated
with the Anisakis simplex parasites are:
Pacific salmon, Mackerel, Halibut, Cod,
and Herring.
Seafood Toxins: (poisons)
⌦ Ciguatera toxin
⌦ Scombroid toxin
⌦ Mercury
Ciguatera toxin in fresh or frozen fish is
caused from large fish eating smaller fish,
which have eaten certain poisonous marine
algae. Neither cooking nor freezing will
destroy the ciguatera toxin, or any other
toxin in seafood. The only way to be safe
in avoiding the ciguatera toxin is to
purchase fish from
approved suppliers that
have harvested the fish
from waters free of the
poisonous algae, which is
also called the Red Tide.
Symptoms from ciguatera
can last for months or even
years, which are; nausea,
vomiting, joint and muscle
pain, and tingling in the
fingers, lips, or toes.
Predatory reef fish from the
Pacific Ocean and the
Caribbean Sea, which are
usually associated with
ciguatera: Barracuda,
Grouper, Jacks, and Snapper.
Scombroid toxin in fresh or frozen fish is
caused from time-temperature abuse in
the handling of the fish. During the
handling of fish for sushi or any other
recipe, if the fish is allowed to remain at
room temperature too long and reaches a
temperature of 700F, a naturally occurring
bacteria on/in the fish will produce a
histamine, which is the same compound
released by the human immune system
cells during an allergic reaction. The
symptoms of scombroid toxin are:
diarrhea, vomiting, headache, sweating and
neurological symptoms. Once the toxin has
formed in/on the fish, cooking, freezing, or
canning can not destroy it. Scombroid
toxin is from human neglect and is usually
associated with the following fish: tuna
and bonito, but non-scombroid fish can
also include mackerel and mahi hahi. Most
individuals recover within a few hours
(Continued on page 9)
(Continued from page 8) should limit their intake of
fish, due to mercury poisoning.
Also, the USDA advisory for
without the aid of treatment. the same vulnerable
populations is to avoid eating
Mercury in fish is a toxic
mackerel, shark, tilefish,
poison, which gradually builds
swordfish and limit
up in the fish during their life
consumption of albacore tuna
cycles. The longer a fish lives,
to a minimum of 6 ounces or
or the larger the fish,
less per week because
the higher the Canned
those species contain
concentration of albacore tuna high levels of toxic
mercury in the flesh has as much
mercury. Canned
of the fish. Mercury mercury as
albacore tuna has as
comes out of the fresh tuna.
much mercury as fresh
earth’s crust in the
tuna. The dangers in
form of volcanoes and from
mercury build-up in the
coal burning smoke stacks
vulnerable populations listed
belching the poison into the air,
above are: childhood attention
which contaminates rain, and
and language deficits, memory
snow. Mercury eventually lands
loss, mental retardation,
in all oceans, rivers, and lakes
impaired vision and motor
where it is consumed by fish
functions, heart disease and
and builds up in their tissues. heart attacks. If a woman of
According to the USDA, child-bearing age decides to
nursing mothers, pregnant become pregnant, and is a sushi
women, women of child- eater, it will take up to a year to
bearing age, and small children get the mercury out of the
9 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5
woman’s system before she sushi chefs in supermarkets will
should allow herself to become be food safety trained.
pregnant.
Even though the sushi may be
The negative input for sushi is potentially safer from a
pretty profound, and the person supermarket, there are dangers
ordering food for a General still lurching in sushi. The sushi
Aviation flight should not even still has to be transported from
consider sushi as a menu item the supermarket to a catering
for passengers or crew. The risk company, FBO, or hangar. The
and liability is too great. sushi may or may not be
repackaged before it is
If passengers demand sushi,
transported to the aircraft. Last,
and the person ordering the
but not least, the sushi is stored
meal has no other choice, the
in the aircraft in less than
safest place to purchase sushi is
adequate cold storage
from a supermarket.
conditions. This additional
Supermarkets are chains and
traveling, repackaging, and
have more safety policies in
storage time now opens the
place than independent Asian
door for an additional round of
restaurants. Sushi chefs in
pathogen growth in sushi.
supermarkets are all
professionally trained in the art Is sushi potentially
of making sushi, as well as food
safety training. Only 17-states dangerous? Yes!
in the United States have state
requirements that an owner or
manager of a restaurant be food
safety certified; whereas all
(Continued from page 1)

people that are the opposite of where we are

[closer to 12 or closer to 6].
Efficiency is about complementary strengths. If
you feel comfortable in a leadership role, you
need to have people do what needs to be done to
ensure success. If you ‘take direction well’, you
need to be with someone that can give you that
direction in the words you need to hear it to
understand and process that. If you are not good
with details, you and the team are the most Featured Articles Community Calendar
efficient when there are team members that are
comfortable with handling the details. If you are Hijacking, Training Schedule

the type of person that can’t see the forest for the Fighting Fires, Community Events
trees, you need to partner with someone that has Aviation Vaccinations
the 50,000’ view. Look for someone whose
strengths are your weaknesses.
Creating comfort deals with the 3 and the 9
position: you should either become more talkative
about personal matters [asking how their family
is, about their own activities, etc] or sticking
strictly in the business arena. As you know one of Here is what’s happening at
the worst things you can do to lose rapport is to CorporateFAInsider.com
talk when they don’t want you to, or not talk
when they have a strong need to talk.
An example of creating comfort: when you go to
an FBO and the CRS greets you with a big smile
and an enthusiastic “welcome ! Oh I see you are
Blog by
Past
from XXXX …. I have never been there,
although I have wanted to go. Your weather/ Betsy Dwyer Issues
attractions …” when you are not the talkative
type. Conversely if you do like to talk and you
ask the CSR “Where’s a good place to get a great
steak?” and their curt response.
This is the final article in our 4 part series. Shari
started her series with “Speaking Patterns”,
“Asking Questions” and Listening with
Objections. You can find her series on our web
site under featured articles or within our past
issues. Wanted! Holiday Greetings
In addition to her writing, Shari L Frisinger is an
accomplished educator and speaker in today‘s
Yes, Our holiday issue allows you
aviation. She has written Fail: Not a Four Letter to place a greeting or well wishes
Word, So What? And Who Cares, and a
motivational quote book: Focus [on the Pinnacle
to your friends for free within our
of Your Success]. Each of them can be purchased December issue. We are now
by contacting her at
shari@cornerstonestrategiesllc.com or by going
accepting greetings up to 20
to www.cornerstonestrategiesllc.com words in length. The deadline is
December 1. Please email your
greetings to
Editor@CorproateFAInsider.com.

10 Corporate Flight Attendant News E-Letter Volume 3 Issue 5