KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Flight attendants are not “bodyguards” and cannot be expected to stand guard at the cockpit under new Malaysia Airlines (MAS) security measures, the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) said.

Nufam president Ismail Nasaruddin objected to the airline’s new measure of putting a flight attendant on guard outside the cockpit door when food is given to the pilots, suggesting that air marshals be asked to do the job instead, The Star daily reported today.

Explaining that flight attendants are trained to ensure safety during emergencies including evacuation of passengers, Ismail insisted that acting as bodyguards to pilots was not their “main” priority.

“But standing guard at the cockpit door is not one of our main priorities. If safety (of the pilots) is the concern, I suggest MAS tell the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), or that the DCA comes up with a policy to assign air marshals on board,” he was quoted as saying.

Ismail also indicated that there may not be enough flight attendants to serve passengers adequately if they had to take on this new duty.

On March 31, The Star reported that MAS issued a new circular to all its cabin crew members, making it compulsory for a flight attendant to be in the cockpit when either the pilot or co-pilot steps out for a toilet break.

But Ismail disagreed with the national airlines’ directive, which also requires the cabin crew members to look out for “suspicious-looking” passengers entering the plane’s toilet with hand luggage, the paper reported today.

Ismail claimed that MAS did not consult the union before announcing the new directive, alleging that no formal notification was given.

“Consultation should have been done before this was imposed. Do not hastily carry out something without prior engagement with the union or the crew members themselves,” he said.

Nufam previously said it represents 800 out of the flag carrier’s estimated 3,500 cabin crew members.

“And if it is necessary, then it must be implemented across all airlines, not just MAS,” Ismail was quoted saying by The Star today.

MAS had issued the new directive to tighten flight security after its MH370 plane went missing together with 239 people on board on March 8.

Recently, experts interviewed by The Malay Mail Online suggested that armed air marshals could help heighten security on flights, but others have pointed to the high cost to implement it and the availability of other options.

Former US air marshal Marcus Wynne had told The Malay Mail Online that the duties of an air marshal—depending on country and whether their deployment is overt or covert—includes profiling passengers pre-boarding; inspecting the plane pre-boarding for explosives; surveilling suspicious individuals as well as stopping hijackers from taking control of an aircraft.