Flight Attendant Curses out Passengers, Jumps Ship

[3113]

....the incident came as the aircraft used on a Pittsburgh-to-New York JFK flight was taxiing to the gate on Monday around noon ET.... "one of the passengers apparently got out of his seat to grab a bag from an overhead compartment. The flight attendant walked over to tell him he had to sit down. The two reportedly got into an argument and somehow the flight attendant got hit in the head with either the bag or the compartment door."

That's when things got interesting, according to the various media reports.

The Wall Street Journal writes the attendant -- Steve Slater -- "demanded an apology from the passenger, but the passenger refused to give one. The two argued back and forth before the passenger directed an expletive at Mr. Slater, [an airport] official said. Mr. Slater then got on the plane's PA system and directed the same obscenity at all the passengers, and added that he especially meant it for the man who refused to apologize, the official said."

"Then," The New York Times writes in its City Room blog, Slater "activated the inflatable evacuation slide at service exit R1; launched himself off the plane, an Embraer 190; ran to the employee parking lot; and left the airport in a car he had parked there." Additionally, the newspaper notes that "on his way out the door, he paused to grab a beer from the beverage cart."

Full story here.

I know there's a plot bunny in this somewhere...maybe he and the passenger reconnect and realize the argument was about their powerful sexual attraction to each other?

 

[Austin8]

Full story here.

I know there's a plot bunny in this somewhere...maybe he and the passenger reconnect and realize the argument was about their powerful sexual attraction to each other?

Lol, he got konked in the head! and not as much as a sorry! Id be pissed too! Lol

 

[Huckleman2000]

I read that he was having sex with his boyfriend when they picked him up.

 

[Stella_Omega]

A friend of mine commented;

"Weary workers the world over salute him."

 

[R. Richard]

I have little synmpathy for the airline steward.

I was working, as a computer programmer. No one was allowed into the computer room except the operators and the control desk people. The door to the computer room was kept closed and locked. One day there was a problem with the AC and the door was blocked open so that the AC repair people could go in and out. This tourist then wanders into the computer room. Asshole Andy, a big, dumb computer operator tells the tourist, "Get the hell out, you aint supposed to be in here." The other computer programmer, a lady named Karen asks, "Can I help you?" The tourist says, "I'm looking for the control desk." Karen tells him, "Back out the door, turn right and walk to the next bay." The tourist thanks her and does as directed.

It turns out that the tourist is the corporate attorney and he wanbts to talk to Ann at the control desk, because she filed a complaint after someone called her a 'dumb bitch.' (Ann wasn't dumb, she had a college degree and was good at setup work. She was a bitch.)

After resolving the issue, or whatever, the corporate attorney went back to mahogany row. That Friday, Asshole Andy departed the company with "Fuck you!" ringing in his ears. I don't think that the firing was justified. Burning at the stake, yes. Firing no.

(Oh yeah, Karen was then named Employee of the Month.)

 

[sr71plt]

I don't see where your example has any similarity with the airline example cited. The air passenger was out of his seat hauling luggage out of the overhead bin before the plane was stopped. That's prohibited . . . for a very good reason. Someone can (and, in this case, did) get bonked. It was the passenger who was in the wrong from the get go.

 

[jomar]

Yeah, the passenger was wrong, but the attendant sure snapped.

 

[Liar]

Additionally, the newspaper notes that "on his way out the door, he paused to grab a beer from the beverage cart."

That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a pièce de résistance.

 

[R. Richard]

The passenger was what the call in the trade, 'A customer.' Perhaps you have heard, 'The customer is always right.'

In the example I gave, the person who was in the computer room was in the wrong, although he wasn't aware of being in the wrong. When told to get his ass out, he got angry. When dealt with politely, he got out. Although I don't know, I suspect that the airline steward tried the, 'I'm in charge' bit, instead of asking politely. My opinion is based upon the further action taken by the airline steward.

 

[sr71plt]

The passenger was what the call in the trade, 'A customer.' Perhaps you have heard, 'The customer is always right.'

In the example I gave, the person who was in the computer room was in the wrong, although he wasn't aware of being in the wrong. When told to get his ass out, he got angry. When dealt with politely, he got out. Although I don't know, I suspect that the airline steward tried the, 'I'm in charge' bit, instead of asking politely. My opinion is based upon the further action taken by the airline steward.

Sorry. The "stay in your seat until the plane stops, dummy" is not customer-business issue. It's a federal regulation.

And, as nice as "the customer is always right" sounds to the customer, it's a load of bullshit.

Your explanation of your example doesn't make it any more similar to the airline example.

 

[Guest]

. . . .

 

[sr71plt]

Yeah, the passenger was wrong, but the attendant sure snapped.

Have you ever been on a loaded airplane taxiing to the terminal and seen what passengers do en masse before the plane comes to a stop? And have you done this twice a day for two years?

Sure, he shouldn't have snapped--but he shouldn't have been given cause to. It's the increasingly boorish public that set it up.

 

[DorlaMoorehouse]

Best.quitting.ever

I mean, he shouldn't have deployed that ramp and all, but what a HILARIOUS way to leave. As someone who has worked far-less-aggravating customer service jobs, I know exactly how this guy must have felt.

I . . . I kind of hope he doesn't actually get convicted. Yeah, what he did was wrong - but it was AWESOME.

 

[jomar]

Have you ever been on a loaded airplane taxiing to the terminal and seen what passengers do en masse before the plane comes to a stop? And have you done this twice a day for two years?

Sure, he shouldn't have snapped--but he shouldn't have been given cause to. It's the increasingly boorish public that set it up.

Oh yeah, awful...I didn't see where he was a flight attendant for two years, he'd been in the industry for 20, though.

I like his flair...

He was smiling when arrested...sort of like he was still in lalaland.

 

[sr71plt]

Oh yeah, awful...I didn't see where he was a flight attendant for two years, he'd been in the industry for 20, though.

I like his flair...

He was smiling when arrested...sort of like he was still in lalaland.

I didn't see how long he'd been at it. My two years was a hypothetical. I see red at what airline passengers do as soon as the plane's wheels hit the ground--and I only fly for or five times a year--and have no responsibility to try to get them to act civilized.

 

[Loring2]

No ..no

Oh yeah, awful...I didn't see where he was a flight attendant for two years, he'd been in the industry for 20, though.

I like his flair...

He was smiling when arrested...sort of like he was still in lalaland.

I saw that smile too, no lala land there; that smile said "fuck you all, I did it my way". Sayonara.

 

[TE999]

That passenger was an asshole and violating federal flight regs. I've seen dummies go after their stuff in the overhead before the plane reaches the gate.

The ex-flight attendant's already become a folk hero to all the pissed off workers out there in cyberspace.