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."
Replies
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.
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