In 1988, a frightened 6-year-old fled tumult in Iran and boarded a jetliner on a journey to France and later America.
The kindness of strangers — flight attendants — provided some solace for Artemis Bayandor, who was leaving the world she knew behind.
The Naperville resident paid it forward 33 years later, on a United Airlines plane empathizing in Farsi with shellshocked families escaping Afghanistan.
On Aug. 22, the U.S. Department of Defense activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to help move Americans and Afghans evacuating the country after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops Aug. 31. While the military handled flights in and out of Kabul, other carriers including United took passengers from bases in the Middle East and Europe to U.S. destinations.
Chicago’s hometown airline has flown 13 international Afghan-related missions in the last week alone, carrying hundreds of citizens and Afghan evacuees with help from more than 8,000 employee volunteers ranging from pilots to medics to translators.
Watching media coverage of the American evacuation and Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, “I felt super-helpless until United sent out a communication asking if anybody who speaks either Farsi, Dari or Pashto could help,” said Bayandor, a former UA flight attendant who works in corporate safety.