Fred,

I think upon reflection, you do understand what Heather does. What is interesting after reading this blog for a couple years now, is the mis-perception many people have of what the job entails. This mis-perception is nothing new, mostly because the airlines would rather people not be talking about the flight attendants. They don't come out and publicly defend their employees because that would mean reminding everyone why F/As are there in the first place; the plane could crash. It's the nature of airline management these days to let their employees take it on the chin for the failed "business" policies that infuriate their customers. Combine that with a "dumbing-down" mentality of today's consumer (cheap, really cheap fares), and the media's insatiable appetite for air rage stories (we know more about Steve Slater than the crew from the Huson River splash-down), and you can see why F/As must keep their "shields up." No one has their backs, except themselves. It's not a complaint, just reality.

Reply