8 ways flight attendants are trained to spot victims of human trafficking

Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images

About 460,000 victims of human trafficking were identified between 2012 and 2018, according to the US State Department.

To combat this issue, airlines in 2016 began training flight attendants to identify signs that a person may be a victim of human trafficking.

Of course, it's important that flight attendants not profile certain kinds of passengers or put themselves in danger, Brady Byrnes, the managing director of flight-service recruitment, training, and administration for American Airlines, told Business Insider.

"We don't want to put our flight attendants in any harm whatsoever," he said.

If they suspect a passenger may be a victim of human trafficking, American Airlines flight attendants are trained to report their concerns to the flight's captain, who can contact the airline's system-operations-control employees to find out more about the backgrounds of the potential victim and his or her companion, like if they have one-way tickets, Byrnes said.

Byrnes and five flight attendants described to Business Insider eight ways they're trained to spot victims of human trafficking. Three of the flight attendants asked for anonymity because of a fear of reprisal from their employers.

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, you can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.