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Galley Gossip: Flight attendant is sent to prison for sexy texting

by Heather Poole (RSS feed) on Mar 18th 2010 at 9:30AM

Recently someone said to me, "I travel on international flights all the time to visit family and I've noticed that the women who work for the airlines are getting older. Is this okay?"

Is this okay? Is this okay! I couldn't decide whether to laugh or throw whatever was in my hand at the time. Instead I took a deep breath and replied, "Of course it's okay! Women age. So do passengers."

I mean really!

After it hit me that the man was probably a foreigner and not used to the ways of airlines in the U.S., I added, "I plan on being one of those flight attendants who use the beverage cart as a walker. Because in the United States flight attendants are allowed to age. We're also allowed to gain weight, get married, and have children."

Crazy, I know!

Wanna know what else flight attendants are allowed to do? Send sexy text messages. It's true! Not that I'm a sexy text-er or anything, but if I wanted to send a sexy text I could, and I could do so without worrying about getting sent to prison for three months. Ya see here in the good ole US of A life is pretty darn nice. Especially if you're a flight attendant.

What in the world am I talking about? In case you haven't heard, an Emirates flight attendant and supervisor were recently sent to prison for three months for sending sexy text messages to each other. MSNBC reported that "the pair were convicted of 'coercion to commit sin' over messages and were initially sentenced to six months in jail"

Gulp.

MSNBC also reported that there is grave concern about the rapid growing population of foreigners in the deeply conservative area which may be threatening their social and religious identity.

So how did the sexy texts even come to light? The husband of the flight attendant. He's been battling her for a divorce since 2007. I guess it only makes sense he would turn her in so she could be sent to jail.

Nice, eh?

Flight attendants aren't the only ones getting thrown into the slammer for sexually related activity. "a British pair caught kissing in public in Dubai is appealing a month-long jail sentence handed down after an Emirati mother complained her child had seen their indiscretion," Cynthia Johnston, the MSNBC correspondent covering the case, wrote in the article Airline workers face 3 months in jail over texts. Then she goes on to discuss three more cases involving British couples either going to prison or narrowly escaping prison for similar actions.

When I mentioned this story to Bob, the singing pilot, he asked, "What is considered a sexually explicit text in that part of the world?"

Honestly, I don't know. I'm not so sure I even want to know.

Photos courtesy of Telstar Logistics and Jrodmanjr

Filed under: Emirates, Airlines, Galley Gossip

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

frank96 Mar 18th 2010 1:05PM

Vegas Girl Jun 15th 2011 1:34PM

OMG! Frank I thought I was the only one offended by that comment - I told this guy once that that was the last thing I needed to hear - or how about this one, "Is the pilot sober enough to fly?" Really?

lookin4acity Mar 19th 2010 2:18AM

The aging flight attendant comment was a great segue into the sexy texting topic. Not that I'm into sexy texting, but gulp....Lots of times when my husband I were dating we would kiss in public. I love the land of the free! Happy to be free to age too. I'm remind of a comment from a pasenger which I'm sure was meant to be a compliment but a miserable failure of one: "You must have been goregous when you were younger."

Carrie Coada Mar 19th 2010 12:09AM

"You must have been gorgeous when you were younger."

Sir, what lovely country hams you have for hands.

Justruss Mar 20th 2010 3:30AM

Three months in jail for sexy texting would be mild here in Saudi Arabia. Witchcraft , or any black magic for that matter, still draws a death sentence here in the Magic Kingdom. No joke.

Google it if you don't believe.

frank96 Mar 21st 2010 12:57PM

The flight attendant who got me interested in this job, many years ago, flew the annual pilgrimage flights in the early 80's. I was fascinated by his photo album from the Middle East. And his stories about living there while he flew passengers to Mecca. There were strict rules while staying in this country. On the compound, where they stayed, female and males could NOT mingle poolside together. While flying, passengers would try to light their stoves inflight to make tea. Or passengers would try and get up while the plane was landing.
Interesting stories, from your side of the world.

J Mar 21st 2010 7:16PM

Having just flown recently, perhaps the man you use in your introduction wasn't making an agist statement, but was wondering about the lack of sub-30 year olds. I noticed that folks in my generation (the 20-30 year olds) were missing from all the cabin crews that I could see. There were plenty of 30+ ers (as well there should be) but seemed to be a sample that did not represent all the possible ages and so my eyebrows were raised. They would be raised the same if all the cabin crews were young, too. I'd wonder where the older folks were.

But perhaps you have an answer: where do young flight attendants get scheduled - as it seems that they are not making east coast runs between Philly and RDU? Are there many or is the current economy reducing the number of young flight attendants who are being hired, but experienced cabin crews are able to retain their jobs?

frank96 Mar 24th 2010 10:53AM

Some airlines have not hired in years. In fact, most airlines have reduced schedules to meet the reduced demand of air travel while the country experiences the current recession. Many airlines have parked aircraft. Pensions were terminated and older workers find themselves with not enough income going into retirement, hence, they continue to fly to keep an income and in some cases, medical benefits.
I just flew with someone who was in their late 60's. He gets his pension. He gets social security. He gets Medicare. AND HIS PAYCHECK. I was shocked at what he brings home, money wise.
I think we're missing a generation of "new hires".