JetBlue flight attendant wants his old job back

[seabeyond]

The flight attendant whose dramatic departure from a JetBlue plane at a New York City airport has transformed him into a folk hero to some wants his job back, his lawyer told reporters Thursday.

"That's his life," Steven Slater's Legal Aid defense attorney Howard Turman told reporters outside his client's home in Queens, near John F. Kennedy International Airport, where Slater's exit via an emergency slide vaulted him to national attention. "His father was a pilot; his mother was a flight attendant. That's in his blood. That's what he likes to do."

Whether Slater can regain his wings was unclear. "We're conducting an internal investigation regarding his status as an employee at JetBlue," said airline spokeswoman Jenny Dervin, who added that Slater has been removed from duty pending the outcome of that internal inquiry.

She described Slater's behavior as unlike that of the New York-based airline's other 2,300 flight attendants. "I would say this is highly unique," she said.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/12/flight.attendant/index.html?hpt=T2


_____________________

this is an unexpected turn.

[babylonsister]

1. This is also unexpected...

:shrug:

Investigators Question Attendant's Tale

By SEAN GARDINER And TAMER EL-GHOBASHY


Investigators probing the circumstances surrounding a JetBlue flight attendant's outburst and exit from a plane at Kennedy Airport are beginning to question the narrative that he was provoked by an injury suffered during a confrontation with an unruly passenger, according to Port Authority officials with knowledge of the investigation.

The officials said Steven Slater's assertion that he was hit in the head by luggage or an overhead bin door while trying to assist an abusive passenger with her oversize bag isn't being corroborated by other passengers. Investigators believe such a passenger may not exist and that he could have received the gash on his forehead before he boarded the flight in Pittsburgh.

"There's certainly a decent amount of doubt at this point," said a Port Authority official familiar with the investigation.

JetBlue is also in the dark. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a memo to employees that says, "Was there an altercation on the flight that precipitated or motivated Mr. Slater's action? It's unclear."

more...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425923145773264.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

[seabeyond]

3. oh, the life of a hero. lol. thanks. nt

[godai]

13. Going postal = going JetBlue n/t

[HopeHoops]

2. Fuck that asshole.

[seabeyond]

4. no, thank you. nt

[HopeHoops]

11. Um, well, shit. Okay, I didn't mean it THAT way, thank you.

The guy completely screws up the travel plans for an entire plane full of people and this is somehow worthy of more than a small paragraph on page 12 of the paper. Why? He's a fucking asshole and not news.

[seabeyond]

12. i was teasing

and i agree.

[HopeHoops]

14. Yeah, but I have to admit that my first post COULD have been taken the wrong way!!

D'OH!

[seabeyond]

17. yup. lol. nt

[JohnyCanuck]

5. If he still wants a career in aviation,

I'd advise maybe looking for a job loading cargo on a bush plane in Alaska or Northern Canada.

[burnsei sensei]

6. They should laugh in his face.

Consequences are necessary here.

[ipaint]

7. The banksters can do a piss poor job, sink the economy for a decade and they get bonuses.

You can set up a torture network and get a library named after you.

Funny how that rule of law comes down on the regular guy full force and hits the elite like a feather pillow.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. +10000!!!!!

[Soylent Brice]

10. !!!

:applause:

[Love Bug]

9. Uh, part of a dramatic "take this job and shove it" exit is

you have to be prepared to walk away and take the consequences.

I'll bet he fantasized for years about how great it would be to just quit and take the slide out the door. A lot of us have our own similar fantasies. The difference is we don't have the luxury of playing them out because we have bills to pay and know the momentary "fuck you" satisfaction will be just that: momentary.

I can't imagine Jetblue rehiring him unless his lawyers convince them it's cheaper for them to do so rather than deal with the endless lawsuits he's planning. It's a sure bet no other airline will touch him now.

[ipaint]

15. And they will also never be held accountable for the draconian policies

that set hard working people up. No doubt he will be used as an example, punished publicly and harshly in order to maintain the elites right not to be responsible for anything.

The elite have a million and one excuses for not doing a good job, all accepted as legitimate and swallowed whole, but let a worker walk away angry thereby diffusing a situation that could have been a whole lot worse, and most importantly "without permission" well throw the book at him.

One thing this country is not short of is right wing authoritarians to support the elite.

[Love Bug]

20. Are you calling me a "right wing authoritarian supporting the elite"? I'm confused.

BTW, I agree with you. It angers me that the ordinary guy is held to a much higher standard than the average CEO, who enjoys a golden parachute even if he lets the company fail.

Clearly, it was the last straw for this flight attendant, who has probably endured more abuse from the public than most of us ever will. Maybe if he felt more supported by management he would have been able to cope better. Where he failed is when he used profanity on the intercom and released the chute. The first was unprofessional and the second endangered the other passengers because some of them might have misinterpreted his actions and followed him. Jetblue may consider the first forgivable, but I'll bet releasing the chute costs money, and we all know that's what business cares about.

[ipaint]

24. No I'm not.

At the throw the book at him crowd, most definitely. Jet blue needs to sit down with both customers and employees and adjust their policies so they don't put good people in this kind of a situation and risk blow ups. There is a limit to what people can be expected to put up with from management and this person does not have a history of abusing customers. This baggage baloney is an ongoing, increasingly stressful situation that can only cause what has happen to happen again.

Jet blue is abusing both their employees and their customers but for some reason they get off scot free. Jet blue created an unworkable baggage policy that puts it's employees and customers under extreme stress. They need to change it.

[JVS]

16. I really think that he should try for a book deal or become a minor celebrity instead of going back

[LostinVA]

18. A "Flight Attendant Babylon" book

I agree.

[Liberal_in_LA]

26. agreed. Talk show or reality show

[BeyondGeography]

19. Bad idea

[Puglover]

21. Well NWA gave the

Capt. who flew drunk from FAR to MSP his job back. Stranger things have happened.

[WolverineDG]

22. Too bad nt

[IrishEyes]

23. No Chance

He won't get his job back. JetBlue has probably already hired someone else. Someone who won't act like an idiot. I've worked in customer service for years and I've dealt with horrible people but i never would have done want he did. It was just stupid and it didn't accomplish anything.

[Stevenmarc]

25. Buh Bye

[Edweird]

27. Doesn't sound likely to me - but these days you never know..