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Galley Gossip: Flight attendant fights with a passenger, escapes down the emergency slide and then drives home
When dealing with unruly passengers, flight attendants are taught a few different techniques to diffuse a situation, one of which is to separate yourself from the passenger and let another coworker step in and try to handle it. A new face is new energy. This alone can calm passengers down. While most flight attendants will simply escape to the galley, one flight attendant actually opened an emergency door, popped the slide, grabbed two beers, and slid down the chute. Once on the tarmac he ran into the terminal and eventually made his way to his car. He drove home to his residence in Queens where I imagine he left his crew bags beside the front door, loosened his tie, and popped open one of the beers and chugged it down. (Burp!) All this after a JetBlue passenger refused to apologize after accidentally striking him with luggage.
I have to admit that if a passenger had hit me with luggage I would have liked an apology, too. Though I don't think I would have demanded one. That said, if that same passenger had told me to F-Off! I, too, might have been tempted to pick up the PA and direct the same obscenity to the dude with the potty mouth over the intercom system for all to hear. But never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought to pop a slide and make a run for it. Probably because I'd have no idea which way to go! Flight attendants don't spend a lot of time walking around on the tarmac.
This is the kind of thing a flight attendant can only do once in their career. That's because they would no longer have a job to go back to. Certainly this JetBlue flight attendant knew that before making his dramatic escape. Which got me thinking, is there a better way to go?
When I mentioned this to Shannon, an ex flight attendant friend, she said she wishes she had thought of it first. "Seriously, why didn't I do that on my last flight! Blow the slide, throw out my bags, a few bottles of wine from first class, leave my badge behind and walk across the tarmac waving goodbye on my way to the parking shuttle. Oh well."
After a long pause, Shannon added, "It would be extra classy and fun to pop open some champagne and drink it straight from the bottle as you wave to the plane."
That's a flight attendant fantasy if I ever heard one. My friend Jane agreed. She's not a flight attendant but she now wishes her job had an emergency chute at work.
As much as we'd all might like to go out in a blaze of glory, the reality is this flight attendant cost the airline a lot of money. Not just because it costs $25,000 to repack a slide, but because now the airplane has to be taken out of service and who knows how many flights will now have to be canceled. After drinking those two beers, I wonder if the flight attendant will realize he will now go down in aviation history as the guy who abandoned ship because he got hit in the head with a handbag? Now it's buh-bye job, buh-bye 401K, hello criminal record. Where the heck does one go from there?
Photo courtesy of WexDub
Filed under: Airlines, Galley Gossip
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Jason Aug 10th 2010 9:01PM
Heather --- I for one appreciate the service you perform. You put up with way too much crap from us passengers. Keep up the good work and I only wish I traveled more (only 7-8 trip a yr) so that I could have you as a flight attendant. Truthfully - I have never been on a flight where the flight attendant was rude but I'm sure it occurs.
kt Aug 11th 2010 1:53AM
has the passenger been arrested yet? isnt it federal law that passengers must obey FA's?
Joe Aug 11th 2010 4:32AM
I don't think the passenger was arrested and I don't think he ever will be. I read the article in CNN first. They never mentioned the FA getting hit with a bag, cursed at or pushed. In fact, according to them, the passenger was an innocent victim instead of the instigator. It looked like the story was FA goes off meds, roughs up passenger, and deploys slide.
Greg M Aug 11th 2010 11:24AM
Its unfortunate that any story about a flight attendant always ends up on this blog as a FA Bashing. Not all of us are bad guys... come on.
I have been a FA for 2.5 years now with Republic Airlines, and I love my job. I am always nice and pleasant to my passengers. Most of the time, they are laughing and enjoying themselves with me on their flight. I set their mood for the flights. We have even set through a 3 hour delay, and still my passengers thanked me for my service on the flight.
Granted, I do find the occassional rude customer. I am amazed when someone expects someone to be nice to them when they themselves are rude to me. I am never rude to someone, but that rude passenger is going to get only what I have to do for them, no more and no less. I was taught from a very young age, you will only get that which you give.
I know what my job is... to provide the best service I can to my passengers. If you find that you are getting rude and unpleasant FA's, look to yourself and see if you are projecting what you want to receive.
Jeanette Aug 11th 2010 3:02PM
Greg - kudos to you for doing a great job! You said it ALL when you said "I set the mood for their flights". That statement alone tells me that you are probably a delight to fly with. I'm an easy passenger - I bring one small carry on that fits perfectly beneath a seat, I don't make special requests, I don't expect the cabin crew to wait on me or solve my problems. What I *DO* expect in exchange for the price of my ticket is an occasional friendly greeting and maybe even some eye contact as they snatch the cash I'm handing over for snacks, beverages, headphones, or whatever. Geez, most of the time I sleep or read. On a flight not so long ago the gentleman sitting next to me tipped over his drink which ended up in my lap. Accidents happen - no big deal. The f/a was two rows away with the drink cart and the gentleman asked very nicely if he could get some extra napkins so that I could at least mop off my seat. The f/a bit his head off, told him she didn't have any to spare, and when she was finished with beverage service that she'd see what she could find. Needless to say I didn't bother her again, I made do with what I could find in the lavatory and sat on a damp seat to my destination. Even if she didn't have a few napkins to spare, her attitude could have made a huge difference in the situation. Wish I could clone employees like you,Greg - traveling would be a pleasure!
Lou Aug 11th 2010 2:53PM
Let me first say that I'm not a FA nor do I pretend to be an expert when it comes to "Flying the Friendly Skies to coin a phrase, but I will tell you that today's FA's have gone through way to much to be making what they make now-a-days. Yes, there are some that would argue, they're lucky to have a job, but let me ask you, we're all human and we've all had times where we believe we weren't making what we should be – it’s the same for them, so please don’t bring that to this table. There's one airline that I won't mention the name of that the FA's actually took a pay cut to save it so it wouldn't go under and of course in the mean time save their jobs.
But they were also told before they made that concession that since they were making the sacrifice for the good of the airline, the airline would down the road (in good faith) do it's best to reinstate their prior salaries and to date, the airline has not made good on that promise while the higher execs get there bonuses and think nothing of not taking care of there employees. One thing I think that most companies forget is you must do everything you can to take care of your employees. If you look into any successful company today, you see for the most part that they take care of there employees - case in point, Apple, Microsoft, etc...
I can personally attest that every time I board a plane, there is a smiling FA waiting there to greet me and welcome me aboard, and you know what, I always return the favor and greet them with a smile as well.
I think today, we live in a society of self entitlement. Today's passenger's believe (not all of them of course, but the majority) they have some sort of self entitlement that if they're having a bad day they should extend it to the FA's and let me tell you, with all the stuff they go through, most people will never have any idea of how many FA’s get yelled at, bumped into without an apology, and through it all, keep there cool. Ever hear the phrase, walk a day in my shoes? Well, it’s true, most people would talk the talk, but can most people walk it, a good guess to that answer is probably not. Most passengers have no idea the prep work that goes into preparing for a flight, the FAA Rules and Regulations they must memorize, and on top of that, always vigilant and on the look out for those that would still do this country harm – we should NEVER FORGET 9/11. There are still cells out there to this day that test our airlines, but unfortunately most people don’t realize the scope of responsibilities of today’s FAs.
In closing, I really don't think today's FA's get enough credit for all the BS they have to put up with while still doing their job while the airline keeps cutting budgets hence giving the FA's less and less to work with, and they do this with a smile on their face. Now I'm not saying there aren't some FA's that I've dealt with that I wonder about, but I think those FA's are far and few between the FA's that come to work with a smile on their face ready to give 110% to make sure us, the passengers, have a nice, safe and pleasant trip to our destination.
So next time you see a FA on your next flight, why not try to return the smile upon boarding and start saying thank you and please when they serve you your beverage or provide a service - you just might make their day.
Thank you to all those FA's that bring it everyday. Your effort and certainly your smile is very much appreciated.
Folks, this is your Captain speaking…Thank you for Flying the Friendly Skies (and no, I’m not a pilot either)
Crissy Aug 11th 2010 5:12PM
I think we all dream about the day when we can quit in dramatic fashion. But most of us have the sense that it wouldn't be in our best interest and instead do things the dignified way. While I appreciate the drama that Slater created and sticking it to the man (or the customer). I don't condone it and I think deep down most people don't, it's just a dream.
I doubt Slater woke up that morning and said, "the first person who pisses me off, I'm leaving the plane via the slide." More like he'd been dreaming about it for so long and when he got hit in the head something snapped.
Heather Poole Aug 11th 2010 3:12PM
Wow - thanks Lou! That really means a lot.
Joe G. Aug 11th 2010 4:39PM
Interesting that there is a Heather Poole who calls herself "Skydoll" who reads a lot of books about how great it is to be a bee-otch. Four stars for a book "in praise of difficult women". Pretty sure I know where you stand on customer service.
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/679004-heather-poole
GERALDO Aug 11th 2010 8:41PM
Good work, Joe G.
I can only assume with such fastidious sleuthing that G stands for G-man, as in FBI. This Good Reads interweb portal is a fascinating place. Did you also notice (you must have, you see everything) that this alleged "Heather Poole" also enjoyed something called "The Catcher in the Rye", a favorite book of communist sympathizers and serial killers, and Stephen King's On Writing (who would ever read one of his perversions, let alone take advice on the customer service side of writing? not us, Joe, that's who!).
Also, to the lovely Jeanette, I hate it when people ask for apologies too. Gosh, it's like when I make a mistake that somehow negatively affects someone else's day...suddenly, it's all "my fault." No thank you, sister. I'm with you. I'm going to not work for 20 years, and then tell people in my former industry how to do it right.
Thomas Gorton Aug 11th 2010 10:45PM
Flight attendants do a superb job overall. I've flown for 50 years and the only personality issues I've encountered have been arrogant, rude, jerk passengers of which there is an abundance. The flying public has largely forgotten why f/a's are onboard. They insure passenger's safety in the event of a survivable crash or an in flight health emergency. Pushing beverage carts around is nothing less than a perk. Be grateful and courteous. Next time you fly, thank your f/a!
Ann Aug 15th 2010 9:36PM
I find that when someone hits you and doesn't apologize, that it usually wasn't an accident. Especially when they start cussing you out after they hit you. How often do we get hit? A lot. If you think that I can't tell when you hit me with your bag or trip me in the aisles that you did it on purpose then your are wrong. Been hit by the cart or brushed by someone's hip? Then be courteous and pull yourself out of the aisle. We see you. We watch you leave your legs, shoulders, head and newspapers in the aisle even when people keep trying to get through. Try walking backwards up hill pulling 2-4 hundred pounds. When you try and push the cart forward at least you can see what's in your way, but it still doesn't help with some people. I ask and ask and they won't pull themselves in and then glare at you like what are you going to do now. Yes, every day I pray that all the rude,nasty, stupid things you do won't cause me to rip off my uniform and run through the aisles screaming. All I am asking is for you to be a little more conscious of what is going on around you. Ex. Step into your row to dig for your book out of the overhead and let others pass you by. Don't slam your seat back. Be ready to make your order when we get to your row. I should not have to ask you three times what you want to drink before you take your head phones off and ask me what. Also have your tray table down and your credit card or cash ready. Don't make me stand there holding your drink for five minutes while you finish level three on your video game. There are a couple of hundred people behind you and they are thirsty to. Don't leave the lav door open after you are done. Take you gas to the bathroom. Clean up after yourself in the bathroom. If you sprinkle when tinkle, be a sweetie and clean the seaty, the floor or anywhere else you get it. Keep up with you kids. Be responsible for yourself. Bring layers of clothes. You might want to bring your own water if you partied all night and are severely dehydrated. It never hurts to bring snacks just in case. Don't travel sick. Put your small bags under you seat and put you big bag in the overhead in a way that will make the most room for others. Don't bring a bag you can't put in the overhead. (don't ask the crew or other passengers to do it for you. No one can afford an injury for your bag.) give everyone a break. There are just too many people on a plane for you to be selfish or needy.
Mike Aug 31st 2010 7:38PM
I remember when flying was an exciting event! every one got dressed in the're finest suits & dresses, The Pilots & Stewardesses ( that was what they we're then) greeted every one with big smiles,seems the airlines treated every one as special guests & they made you feel good, Even the food was good,Back then Flying was a fantastic experiance . The pilots used to give the kids little pilot's wing pins Now sense everyone complained about "Airplane Food",later they complained because they no longer serve dinners,maby get a bag of chips if your lucky Now your better packing your own food & drink! the passengers look like they just got out of bed,are rude most of the time,and God only knows if the're really is any one behind that door actually flying the airplane. And most of all I truely feel sorry for the "Flight attendants"and what they have to put up with.My neighbor who lives inthe Caymen Islands most of the year, comes here once in a while, His Wife tells some fantastic stories when she was a Stewardess on the old Viscount Airplanes ! I think I remember when airplanes had Propellers.