Creation and Purpose

The Story of FAAC

Back in April 1997, I was sitting in business class on a non-stop flight from San Francisco to London. Five other passengers also occupied the business class cabin. Therefore, there was an abundance of flight attendants in relationship to passengers. Everyone was in a good mood and joking around. The comment was made that each passenger could have their own flight attendant. The attendants picked up on this comment and each one began focusing on a particular passenger or two. It was one of my most enjoyable flights. I had a couple of boxes of Sees chocolates (candy) that I was taking to London. I retrieved one of the boxes and handed it to the crew. The crew was ecstatic. I realized that flight attendants were rarely thanked for their efforts. They were not slaves of the "air", but people dedicated to taking care of sometimes grumpy, irritable passengers.

During the next couple of months, I often gave candy to the flight crew. I would scribble something on the box to thank them for a great flight. This was very well received. I didn't mind the special attention that I might receive from the attendants, but my focus was to let the attendants know that they were appreciated. There is nothing better than being able to brighten up someone's day. I have many autographed napkins, menus, etc. from many of my flights. These are all displayed on the wall in my office.

The next event came while I was waiting for the plane to arrive at Boston to take me home to SFO. This was in 1998. A group of policemen arrived at the gate. All of them were broadcasting an essence of seriousness. Something had happened on the flight that was coming in. Being a little on the nosey side, I found out that one of the flight attendants had been in an altercation with a passenger. When the flight arrived, one of the policemen escorted the flight attendant to an area where he could question her. I just happened to be close enough to hear what she was telling the officer. She had been kicked in the calf (back side of her leg). I saw the large red welt on her leg. This was a serious kick. She ended up not pressing charges because the attacker was a "Southern Lawyer" and she believed that he would somehow get out of any charges that she brought against him. This was the point that I decided that I would never step on a plane without a box of Sees (my preference) candy. That jerk's face is etched in my memory - such a smug bastard! He said she must have bumped into something. How do you bump the back of your leg into something? What is it with some people - the world does not revolve around them!

The official creation of FAAC was the next step. I was traveling with Stephen Ciullo (co-worker at HP). After I gave the box of Sees to the flight crew, I explained to Stephen about my little project to thank flight attendants. He and I discussed the idea and came up with FAAC. We created the FAAC stickers and agreed that anytime we stepped on a plane, we would deliver a box of chocolates to the flight crew. This had to be done on EVERY flight. The other requirement was that the candy had to be Sees (at least every effort made). We also set forth the requirement that membership into FAAC would be strictly controlled. See Becoming a Member for the details.

All members are firmly committed to the guiding principles of FAAC. This is an important undertaking. I have often carried 6 boxes (4 to 6 pounds) of Sees chocolates during a multi-leg trip. It has to be done and it has to be done right! So thanks to all of the flight attendants that we have flown with and to all of the others, it is just a matter of time until we catch up with you.

-Craig-