JetBlue's Famous Fed-Up Flight Attendant

[David Paul Appell]

Quite a story about Monday's JetBlue incident at JFK (quick summary from NYT
below). Part of Steven Slater's training was or should have been keeping cool,
calm, and professional even under tough circumstances such as a crash or other
emergency -- and a difficult passenger, no matter how much of a schmuck,
ain't nearly as tough a circumstance as a crash. But having said that, I am
often horrified by the boorish and even abusive behavoir I witness on flights
these days -- much of it directed at flight attendants -- and if I had been on
that flight I probably would've applauded the guy.

What do you all think?

 

Fed-Up Flight Attendant Makes Sliding Exit

 

"On Monday, on the tarmac at Kennedy International Airport, a JetBlue attendant named Steven Slater decided he had had enough, the authorities said.

After a dispute with a passenger who stood to fetch luggage too soon on a full flight just in from Pittsburgh, Mr. Slater, 38 and a career flight attendant, got on the public-address intercom and let loose a string of invective.

Then, the authorities said, he pulled the lever that activates the emergency-evacuation chute and slid down, making a dramatic exit not only from the plane but, one imagines, also from his airline career.

On his way out the door, he paused to grab a beer from the beverage cart. Then he ran to the employee parking lot and drove off, the authorities said.

...According to his online profiles, Mr. Slater has been the leader of JetBlue’s uniform redesign committee and a member of the airline’s in-flight values committee. Neighbors in California, where Mr. Slater grew up, said he had recently been caring for his dying mother, a retired flight attendant, and had done the same for his father, a pilot.

...One passenger stood up to retrieve belongings from the overhead compartment before the crew had given permission. Mr. Slater instructed the person to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Mr. Slater reached the passenger just as the person was pulling down the luggage, which struck Mr. Slater in the head.

Mr. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger instead cursed at him. Mr. Slater got on the plane’s public-address system and cursed out the passenger for all to hear. Then, after declaring that 20 years in the airline industry was enough, he blurted out, “It’s been great!” He activated the inflatable evacuation slide at a service exit and left the world of flight attending behind."

[Allan Lynch]

I was on a flight a few years ago in South Africa. They allowed passengers to make calls while in flight. As we came into Cape Town, one man wouldn't stop talking. The attendant kept saying, "Sir, you have to end your call now. Telephones can interfere with communications during the landing process."

He kept on talking. And talking. And talking.

After about the fifth request and with the plane going down, the attendant grabbed the phone from the man's hand and broke it!

That's how I felt in the business class lounge at JFK waiting for our flight to J'Burg. One man was talking so loudly into his phone that lounge staff had to ask him to speak more quietly or leave the lounge. He turned out to be in our group. But I was ready to smash his phone.

I really don't know how most airline employees keep their cool. Some are just nuts (in Boston an American desk agent drew a line in the carpet with the toe of her shoe and yelled that any passenger who crossed it wouldn't fly today), but the behaviour of passengers is extraordinarily bad and offensive. Ever watch that reality show about Southwest (Airline?). Unbelievable!

Thankfully, he lost it on the ground and not in the air.

I blame multi-tasking. We're too busy to relax and simply be in the time and place we're at/in.

[Donna M. Airoldi]

Agreed, and surprised more attendants haven't snapped sooner. After having been on several flights the past few weeks, I have witnessed far too much rude behavior by fellow passengers. Not all, or even most, clearly, but those few who act as if they are the only ones that matter and who blatantly flaunt rules and regs can get under the skin quite quickly. They're worse than children, refusing to turn off their electronic devises even when an attendant is standing next to them and insisting they do so, bringing three carry-ons and putting them all in the overhead bins, refusing to pull up their seats for takeoff and landing, standing up to get their overhead bags early, deciding to go to the bathroom just as we're about to takeoff or land, directly defying the attendants and pilots orders. Granted, the airlines have been tough on passengers too lately, nickle-and-diming them for anything they think they can get away with. But even if you can argue that some of the flight rules are useless, so what? Make it easy on everyone and just play by them in order to get on and off the plane as efficiently as possible, which is what everyone wants.

[Michael Luongo]

I have seen bad behavior on both ends, and to be honest, I don't know how some flight attendants can handle it....there are plenty of flyers I would love to tell to be quiet, to not get up when the plane lands, etc........in the long run, this is a funny story.....I think the guy should get a travel show..............

[David Paul Appell]

You said it, Mike. Next stop, Larry King! And then, who knows?

Michael Luongo said:

I have seen bad behavior on both ends, and to be honest, I don't know how some flight attendants can handle it....there are plenty of flyers I would love to tell to be quiet, to not get up when the plane lands, etc........in the long run, this is a funny story.....I think the guy should get a travel show..............

[Jose R. Garrigo]

Hi David: I feel sorry for Steven Slater and hope that JetBlue will make an exception and let him stay in the company (even if in another position) after some retraining for customer handling. I'm not excusing the many passengers, as you say, that abuse the flight attendants and don't pay attention to instructions from the attendants, etc. It unfortunately also happens with customers in stores, Banks and other places. Have we lost the civility we learned from our parents and in school? Perhaps it's the world we live in with so much violence in the streets, on TV, road rage, etc. The travel and leisure industry is a SERVICE and I wonder how many employees are formally trained to be courteous to customers. Some are kind of rough, especially in the smaller establishments, motels, restaurants, etc. Rough handling invites rough handling. Courtesy and a smile provokes courtesy and another smile.

[Lana Bortolot]

Well, he probably "shouldn't" have, but I sure don't blame him. Even the best of us have a snapping point. I hope he's still able to collect what's due him after 20 years of service, and maybe he can find a job that's meaningful. I'd also hope that air travelers will take note and not criticize the guy, but understand their responsibility as passengers.

[Evelyn Kanter]

Remember the iconic movie Network? The signature scene is the network news anchor character played by the late Peter Finch railing on camera that "I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore". Sounds like the prequel to this story.

Haven't we all been on flights with rude, demanding, even drunk, passengers, and marveled at how cabin attendants keep their cool. And kept our own cool with overhead hogs, armrest hogs, kids behind us kicking our seats while their parents couldn't care less, etc.

A bunch of years ago, a business woman moved out of her first class seat to squeeze into the middle seat next to me in coach, just to get away from a rude, demanding, drunk seat mate in the front of the plane. She told me he would not calm down even when the pilot came out of the cockpit to talk to him. Later, the man threw dishes and silverware at cabin attendants when he was refused more liquor. We made an unscheduled landing -- not important where -- and he was escorted off the plane by federal marshals.

What frustrates me about this incident is that Mr. Slater could go to jail and/or lose his job, while the rude, offending, rule-breaking passenger just walks away. I hope JetBlue puts her on their own 'no fly' list and shares that list with other airlines.

[Lisa Codianne Fowler]

Well, he certainly made a name for himself. The story is fantastic (as in fantasy - job farewells some dream about) except, I would have really enjoyed the story had he skipped the expletives over the PA and instead employed class and grace in his farewell speech before making his grand exit. Hard to do when he was in that snapped state, I realize, but he could have put that "schmuck" to shame, and garnered applause and - who knows what else - by taking the higher, albeit "I can't take it anymore" road!!! :)

[Allan Lynch]

Speaking of farewell gestures, this arrived today:

http://thechive.com/2010/08/10/girl-quits-her-job-on-dry-erase-boar...

[Allan Lynch]

He should ask for a jury trial. The way people feel today, I'm sure they'd acquit.

[David Paul Appell]

You know, there's been an pell-mell rush to judgment on this (which I, too, shared to an extent) all over the world and the Internet based on people's justifiable dislike of the airline experience these days. But as more details start to come out about what happened on that flight, they do raise more questions about the concern I expressed in my original statement above, namely that Slater ultimately acted unprofessionally in the face of stress. Other flight attendants have endured worse and have managed to keep their cool. At the very least, I'd have to echo Lisa Fowler's comment above: "I would have really enjoyed the story had he skipped the expletives over the PA and instead employed class and grace in his farewell speech before making his grand exit."

[Lisa Codianne Fowler]

Thanks David. Prior to your comment, I was feeling a bit like the black sheep (not unusual for me). I do feel for the guy, but maintain that he could have/should have handled the situation a little (or a lot) differently.

David Paul Appell said:

You know, there's been an pell-mell rush to judgment on this (which I, too, shared to an extent) all over the world and the Internet based on people's justifiable dislike of the airline experience these days. But as more details start to come out about what happened on that flight, they do raise more questions about the concern I expressed in my original statement above, namely that Slater ultimately acted unprofessionally in the face of stress. Other flight attendants have endured worse and have managed to keep their cool. At the very least, I'd have to echo Lisa Fowler's comment above: "I would have really enjoyed the story had he skipped the expletives over the PA and instead employed class and grace in his farewell speech before making his grand exit."