The US box-office smash stars Foster, who wakes up on a flight to realise the plane has been hijacked by terrorists and one of the air hostesses and a US Air Marshal is involved in the terrorist plot.
Three US flight attendant unions, representing more than 80,000 staff on 23 airlines, are said to be appalled that attendants are portrayed so negatively in the Walt Disney film.
In one scene, a flight attendant is seen being rude and unsympathetic to Foster's character when she wakes up to find her daughter missing.
Patricia Friend, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said: "This depiction of flight attendants is an outrage. Flight attendants continue to be the first line of defence on an aircraft and put their lives on the line day after day for the safety of passengers."
The groups said the film will breed distrust of their members among real airline passengers.
"Should there be another 9/11, it would be critical for the cabin crew to have the support of their passengers, not the distrust that this movie may engender," Tommie Hutto-Blake, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said.
In addition to the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the Southwest Airlines flight attendant's union and the Associaton of Flight Attendants are calling for a full-on boycott of the film.
Disney said it regrets the reaction to the film, saying: "There was absolutely no intention by the studio or filmmakers to create anything other than an action thriller."
The film debuted in the US last week and made it to the number-one spot with takings of $24.6m.
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