Did you hear the one about the Jet Blue flight attendant?
Celeste Blackburn SPHR
248 Posts
According to [URL="http://abcnews.go.com/US/jetblue-flight-attendant-steven-slater-arrested-flight-jfk/story?id=11361298"]ABC News[/URL] :
[INDENT]At that point, the flight attendant got on the loud speaker, told those aboard to "go f*** themselves," grabbed a beer from the galley, deployed the [emergency] chute and ran into the terminal. His car was parked at an employee lot and he drove home.
[/INDENT]Apparently, this all happened at the end of a flight where the flight attendant had several bad encounters with people over overhead bags -- he had been cursed at several times, got caught in a shouting match between passengers, and then was hit in the head with a bag.
From what I am reading, it seems that one of the passengers was really upset about having to gate check their bag. I'm guessing this is somehow directly related to checked bag fees and people trying to avoid them.
Obviously, this behavior is unacceptable (even if it is kind of hilarious). But if the checked bag fee is resulting in people pushing the limits, getting angry, and being abusive, should Jet Blue reexamine their policies or procedures?
I keep waiting for the You Tube. Surely someone whipped out their fancy phone and recorded this.
[INDENT]At that point, the flight attendant got on the loud speaker, told those aboard to "go f*** themselves," grabbed a beer from the galley, deployed the [emergency] chute and ran into the terminal. His car was parked at an employee lot and he drove home.
[/INDENT]Apparently, this all happened at the end of a flight where the flight attendant had several bad encounters with people over overhead bags -- he had been cursed at several times, got caught in a shouting match between passengers, and then was hit in the head with a bag.
From what I am reading, it seems that one of the passengers was really upset about having to gate check their bag. I'm guessing this is somehow directly related to checked bag fees and people trying to avoid them.
Obviously, this behavior is unacceptable (even if it is kind of hilarious). But if the checked bag fee is resulting in people pushing the limits, getting angry, and being abusive, should Jet Blue reexamine their policies or procedures?
I keep waiting for the You Tube. Surely someone whipped out their fancy phone and recorded this.
Comments
[URL]http://bit.ly/b6E2DY[/URL]
However, I can vouch for its profanity. Fasten your seatbelts, and be forewarned that the flight attendant's alleged offensive language ::angryface:: hasn't been blocked out. tk
And Paul, I'm with you -- taking the beer and going down the emergency slide is a grand exit.
He should be making the rounds of the day and night talk shows soon . . .
If the worst reports of the passenger are true, should he face charges also?
I would be interested in seeing what sort of training on handling abusive customers JetBlue (or any airline) gives employees.
Yesterday, there was an excellent (imo) post on the situation on Jet Blue Corp's blog. Read the post at [URL]http://bit.ly/a3Vioj[/URL]
There is another insightful blog post here[URL="http://bit.ly/cSM6Yb"] http://bit.ly/cSM6Yb[/URL]
One of the attorneys who responded was actually on a plane at the time and had an interesting and humorous take on the situation. To see the blog post, visit [URL="http://bit.ly/bcPj9b"]http://bit.ly/bcPj9b[/URL].
Flight attendants are there for our safety and are representatives of the airline they work for, but that doesn't mean that they should have to take abuse. It seems like sometimes they are in a no-win situation. I have been threatened by one (implied that I would be arrested) when I tried to ask a question. I wasn't giving them attitude either, but they were clearly having a bad day and I assume felt too busy to waste time on me. My hubby and I sat in shock the entire flight at such abuse of power. It makes me wonder if mixed messages from JB had been going out to their attendants: Keep order, keep them happy, don't upset them, let them misbehave.
Perhaps it is time to provide videos for proper passenger behavior (to go along with the safety videos). They could have them running on the TV's in the waiting area or on the screens on the plane before the flight. They could remind us that flying is stressful for some so we should all work on patience and respect for each other. Actually, we should have those kinds of videos running all the time everywhere, but airports are defintely a good place to start.
[URL]http://bit.ly/bCErpA[/URL]
I read today (ok, it was a blog....so sue me!) a discussion on whether or not you would hire this guy after he gets his legal difficulties worked out. What about anyone who applied with you who had left their previous employer in a very noticable way?
Do automatically put them all out of the running, automatically pull them in for being so bold, or is it a case of 'it depends?'
The thing I find most interesting is tucked down at the bottom of the story where they are conceding that Slater's behavior "might" "perhaps" has something to do with alcohol consumption that day. So the guy who was partially responsible for the safety of all these passengers was drinking while they were flying (how else could alcohol affect him at the end of the flight)? Shouldn't that be a bigger deal?
I can't help but wonder how many people, some with impressionable minds, who saw the original story and hailed him as a hero have seen how this all turned out for him. Do they still believe he got away with such a display of temper?
I think it would be helpful, and perhaps prevent others from allowing themselves to self destruct, if they also were witness to him paying the penalty (light though it was) for his actions.
Just my two cents.
Sharon