A 51-year-old man's quest to be Israel's first hard-of-hearing flight attendant fell on deaf hears this week after the Civil Aviation Authority refused to intervene.
Deaf drama teacher Shuki Assouline has been engaged in active talks with El Al for the past two years to convince the airline to hire him as flight attendant. However, the airline determined that it could not employ him as an attendant due to safety concerns.
The CAA declined a request to weigh in on the matter this week, saying that according to regulations a deaf person could not serve as a pilot, but that it does not maintain any medical guidelines for flight attendants. Instead, the CAA said commercial airlines were free to set their own standards and that Assouline should contact the airlines directly.
"I want to make history and become Israel's first deaf flight attendant," Assouline said in an interview conducted by email. "For 51 years I have known that I am meant to be an El Al flight attendant."
He added further down in the email, "I am trying to prove to [El Al] that this breakthrough can be made, but they are afraid to employ me because of safety concerns. I understand this, but I am ready to do everything it requested to overcome the problem — to practice safety and emergency exercises. All I am asking for is for a chance. Deaf people aren't disabled. Unfortunately, it is people who can hear that are disabling us."
El Al acknowledged that for a long time it had been engaged in addressing Assouline's request to find a way to employ him as a flight attendant. The airline said attempts were made to help Assouline achieve his dream, but that the primary difficulty in employing him would be his inability to hear announcements or instructions to evacuate the plane in the event of an emergency. El Al also said that it had made inquiries with American airlines to see if they employed hard-of-hearing flight attendants and found none that did so.
"We would be happy to include Shuki Assouline at El Al in suitable roles," the company said in a statement.
Assouline, who has worked as a drama teacher for 32 years, says that he has been able to work in a teaching position due to his ability to express himself visually through facial expressions, and to communicate by reading lips.
Under Israel’s Equal Rights for People with Disabilities Law, it is not permitted to discriminate against a person with disabilities in offering employment as long as they are capable of performing the job tasks. However, Assouline's case is complicated because it is not clear if he is capable of a working as a flight attendant, who is supposed to listen and communicate with passengers.
The Justice Ministry said that it was not familiar with the specifics of Assouline's case or the demands of being a flight attendant. However, a ministry spokesman said that usually in employment cases involving disabled individuals the ministry checks to see whether the job candidate would be capable of fulfilling the role after necessary accommodations are made.
