JetBlue Flight Attendant Quits Spectacularly After Fight with Passenger

Titlu: JetBlue Flight Attendant Quits Spectacularly After Fight with Passenger
Sursa: http://nycaviation.com/2010/08/09/jetblue-flight-attendant-quits-spectacularly-after-fight-with-passenger/
Autor: Matt Molnar
Data: 09.08.2010

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Flight attendant Steven Slater on Monday all but guaranteed that he’ll never have to deal with a disgruntled passenger again.

While JetBlue Flight 1052 was taxiing to the gate at New York-JFK after a flight, a passenger reportedly attempted to remove his bag from the overhead bin. A heated argument ensued when Slater told the passenger to wait until the plane had reached the terminal and stopped moving.

According to the Daily News, Slater then got on the PA to make a very special announcement:

“To the passenger who called me a m—f–er, f— you,” flight attendant Steven Slater ranted over the intercom, passengers said.

“I’ve been in the business 28 years. I’ve had it. That’s it.”

When the plane made it to the gate, Slater allegedly grabbed two beers from the galley, deployed one of the Embraer E190’s emergency escape slides, glided down to the tarmac and walked through Terminal 5 to the AirTrain, where he was seen throwing his jetBlue uniform tie to the ground. He rode the train to the long-term parking lot and drove home.

Though jetBlue says passengers were never in any danger, deploying an emergency slide is no laughing matter: They can cost around $10,000 to replace, not including losses incurred from the plane being out of service while the work is done. As a result, Port Authority Police arrested Slater at his home in Queens. He awaits indictment on reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges.

priceless.
ce n-as fi dat sa fiu pe cursa aia. rad in hohote

Titlu: Insotitor de bord, arestat dupa ce si-a dat demisia injurand pasagerii
Sursa: http://www.ziare.com/funny/de-rasul-lumii/insotitor-de-bord-arestat-dupa-ce-si-a-dat-demisia-injurand-pasagerii-1034419
Autor: Livia Stroie
Data: 10.08.2010

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Un insotitor de bord din Statele Unite a fost arestat luni, dupa ce si-a dat demisia in mod spectaculos, injurand pasagerii si folosind toboganul de urgenta al avionului.

Steven Slater se afla intr-un avion apartinand companiei Jet Blue, care a aterizat pe aeroportul JFK. Inainte de aterizare, Slater a avut o altercatie cu un pasager care incerca sa-si scoata bagajele din compartiment, desi avionul inca rula pe pista si nu avea voie sa faca acest lucru, informeaza CNN.

Probabil adus la exasperare de astfel de situatii, Slater a ridicat interfonul prin care se transmit mesaje pasagerilor si a inceput sa injure pe toata lumea din avion.

Cand aeronava a ajuns la terminal, Slater a activat toboganul pentru situatii de urgenta si a coborat pe el din avion, nu inainte insa sa fure o bere din compartimentul cu bauturi.

Politistii sustin ca omul a ales o metoda bizara de a-si da demisia, dupa 20 de ani de munca, si nu cred ca isi va mai putea recapata postul.

Titlu: Steward Who Fled Via Emergency Chute Gets Bail
Sursa: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1281528424.html
Autor: Reuters
Data: 11.08.2010

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A JetBlue flight attendant who became an Internet hero after storming out of a plane with an expletive-filled intercom address and an escape down the emergency chute had bail set at USD$2,500 on Tuesday.

Steven Slater, 39, captured the sympathy of frustrated travellers and airline industry workers on Monday with his theatrical departure that was provoked by an altercation with a passenger aboard a jet that had just arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy airport.

He had yet to post bail on Tuesday afternoon.

Slater, a 20-year veteran of the airline industry, cursed at the passenger on the plane's public address, announced he was leaving, grabbed a couple of beers from the galley and slid down the emergency chute that he had deployed, officials and news reports said.

Police arrested him at his home and charged him with felony criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.

A New York Daily News columnist called him a modern folk hero. After his court hearing was over, a Facebook page about him was "liked" by some 30,000 people.

"He's in a lot less trouble if he gets a jury of regular flyers," Fordham Law Professor Jim Cohen said.

His lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse that Slater acted in part out of frustration with the chaos of air travel and said he was under stress because his mother was suffering from lung cancer.

"People just don't have courtesy for one another. He's been in the airline industry since he's 19 and people just aren't polite. I don't know if you travel, aren't you aware of how rude people are?" defence lawyer Howard Turman said.

"I think in this case more importantly is about the level of civility among us that is missing in the airline industry," he said.

The problems aboard JetBlue 1052 began before takeoff in Pittsburgh, when a woman verbally abused Slater as he intervened in her squabble with another passenger for space in the overhead luggage bin.

The woman slammed the overhead bin into his forehead, opening a cut, Turman said. Tensions flared anew on the ground in New York when the woman attempted to retrieve her bag before the plane came to a complete stop, the lawyer said.

After that Slater grabbed the intercom -- reports vary on the exact vulgarities he unleashed -- and departed down the slide.

Titlu: Flight Attendant's Angry Exit Wins Fans
Sursa: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1281715158.html
Autor: Reuters
Data: 13.08.2010

Citat :

JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who stormed off his job this week with some profanities and a dramatic exit down an inflated emergency chute, has struck a chord with nearly everyone who has dreamed of quitting a job in anger.

"Free Steven Slater" T-shirts are on sale, an animated re-enactment of Monday's exchange between Slater and a passenger at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport has become an online hit, and musicians are writing ballads in homage to the fed-up flight attendant.

Websites are soliciting "I quit" stories, and bloggers are rhapsodising about the new folk hero, the focus of more than a dozen fan pages on the Facebook social media site.

Friday, August 13, has been declared Steve Slater Day according to one Facebook page that encourages celebrants to pull a fire alarm or "tell a schmuck at work to piss off."

But once the amusement wears off, experts caution, 'pulling a Slater,' as the new saying goes, is not a very good idea.

"Obviously he's tapped into a pretty pervasive emotion," said Jonathan Berent, author of the upcoming book "Work Makes Me Nervous."

"There's so much frustration and anger about the economic climate, the unfairness of things and dealing with stress in the workplace," Berent said.

But he added: "Unless this guy had some master game plan of how to cultivate his 15 minutes of fame, he's in big trouble."

Indeed, Slater faces charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing after the incident, in which he argued with a passenger about some overhead luggage, used the plane's intercom to spew some curses, grabbed a couple of beers, activated the exit chute and slid down to the tarmac.

"SOMEONE ELSE'S BAD BEHAVIOUR NO EXCUSE"

Some passengers are also coming forward to tell the media Slater was agitated and petulant throughout the flight, and one suggested the flight attendant started the dispute.

If convicted of the charges, he could face up to seven years in prison.

And Slater is most likely unemployed, although JetBlue says it cannot discuss the details of an ongoing investigation.

People see in Slater a daring response they might wish they had, said Barbara Pachter, an etiquette expert and author of "The Power of Positive Confrontation."

"Here's someone who's doing something, even though it's not appropriate," she said. "Someone else's bad behaviour is no excuse for your own.

It's risky business, she added. "When you meet aggression with aggression, you're just building aggression," she said. "It's rare that it leads to a positive outcome."

Almost everyone has experienced uncivil treatment on the job, said Christine Porath, co-author with Christine Pearson of "The Cost of Bad Behaviour."

Their research found all but 4 percent of the people they studied experienced incivility at work. Nearly half of those in another study said they were treated uncivilly at work at least once a week, and 12 percent left jobs because they were treated uncivilly, she said.

So she said she was not surprised people empathised with Slater.

"But I am surprised that people think his response was completely appropriate," Porath said. "You hope they don't get to this breaking point. It's not exactly ideal."