We Americans love to root for the underdog. I suppose it’s because the whole concept of the American Way and the American Dream started out as a small group of underdogs fighting against the status quo of what was then Mother England, and for all intents and purposes, the odds were against the rebel-rousers.

We are fascinated with stories of the ‘anti-hero:’ Bonnie and Clyde, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Thelma and Louise. I don’t know why that is, but it’s a fact of our culture today. Unfortunately, while we tend to glorify these folks in our minds, we forget the problems they either have caused, or had the potential to cause and that is what frustrates me the most.

Last summer, a flight attendant was at the end of their proverbial rope. He was unhappy with everything and everybody. No one around him knew how very fragile his breaking point was. During the course of his final flight, Steven Slater had allegedly been aggravated by a female passenger’s attitude and remarks made to him during the boarding process in Pittsburg regarding her carry-on bag. As the flight pulled away from the gate and the crew began their safety briefing, Slater allegedly threw down his demo oxygen mask and demo life vest, conveying an air of irritation to the passengers around him. Then during the beverage service, he simply stopped his service midway through the cabin and retired to the aft section of the plane. Passengers had later reported that Slater looked unkempt and unprofessional in his appearance and attitude.

Shortly after landing, but still taxiing to the gate, this same female passenger apparently got up from her seat to retrieve her bag, while the plane was still in motion. Mr. Slater got up to notify her that she had to return to her seat until the plane came to a stop. According to eye witnesses however, he had already had previous issues with this passenger at boarding and they commenced into a verbal altercation. He claims she smacked his head with the overhead bin door and that was what finally set him off. The rest is history.[1]

For days and weeks following that incident, there was a lot of talk (mostly adoration) for a guy who was so fed up with people, the system and the rules he was bound by, they he just snapped and let loose. The infamous resignation of dropping F-bombs over the PA system, grabbing some beer and deploying the emergency slide to exit the plane originally got him three felony charges, including reckless endangerment.

Courtesy Anthony Lanzilote - NY Daily News

Earlier this week, Slater stood before a NY Supreme Court Judge and received one year probation and, according to one reported, got a ‘standing ovation’ from the Judge and the gallery of the courtroom. The story goes on to quote him as saying, “I’ve been a divisive character in the airline industry but 95% of the crews are behind me.”[2]

Well Mr. Slater that is where we vehemently disagree.

I have discussed at length with my co-workers the incident that took place that day, and while most everyone agrees that they might secretly like to do the same thing were they as fed up and under as much duress as he, very few people admire or support his actions. From our perspective, not only was what he did irresponsible and “over-the-top” it was also quite potentially dangerous – not necessarily for him, but for the ramp and ground workers servicing the aircraft underneath it!

As an aside, emergency slides/rafts that are attached to an aircraft door are required by FAA regulations to be fullyoperational and usable within 6 seconds of the door actuating the deployment.[3] Unfortunately that is not nearly enough time for someone underneath on to react in time to move fully out of its way.

I am reminded of a customer service friend of mine who actually had a slide inadvertently deploy right on top of him while he was in the jetway of a recently arrived aircraft. When the door opened with the slide still engaged on the door, the force of that slide deployment was so great that it threw him up against the jetway ramp access door and injured him quite severely. He lost many months of work because of this incident. Would we in society be as gleeful and supportive of Slater had he injured or worse yet killed someone because he decided to give his passengers, his employers and the world the middle finger?

As I said, my colleagues and I did not support his choice to vacate the plane in that fashion in the least. And many of us feel that the reaction by the judge and courtroom the other day, as well as the adoration and apparent support he has gotten then and now from the media completely sends the wrong message. We may feel bad for him, perhaps empathetic to his frustrations at the time. And we are certainly glad that he successfully completed his required mental health and substance abuse programs.

But a “working class hero” he isn’t.

_____________________________

[1] ABC News: U.S. Section, “Angry JetBlue Flight Attendant Flees Plane at JFK Airport via Emergency Slide,” Scott Mayerowitz, August 9, 2010: http://abcn.ws/nws6i6

[2] NY Daily News, National Section, “Steven Slater, ex-JetBlue flight attendant, gets one year of probation after finishing treatment,” Thomas Zambito, October 19, 2011: http://nydn.us/qB1dY1

[3] Air & Space Smithsonian Magazine, Flight Today, “How Things Work: Evacuation Slides,” Mark Huber, November 1, 2007: http://bit.ly/nwIpZ6

I’ll take a beer and a slide, to go please!

It has been one hell of a week for Flight Attendants.  The “Steven Slater Incident” has the news media, the blog-o-sphere, and nearly every crew briefing and hair salon abuzz!

I’m amazed as the story unfolded how everyone seems to be an expert on every aspect of this story, from psychologists who can somehow miraculously tell us WHY he did what he did, to airline industry consultants who have condemned his actions with a level of disgust that’s laughable to me.

There have been articles written about how flight attendants are abused, mistreated, disrespected and ignored.  There are some that describe how the airlines (in general) mistreat passengers, which in turn justify mistreatment of crew.  There are those that are still banging that drum about Passenger’s Bill of Rights and even Donald Trump is quoted as saying, “I think, as an employee, he’s horrible…I think he’s a wacko!”

Quite frankly, I think the “15 minutes” has just about come to an end, but there is an underlying issue that is nagging at me.  Whether or not what he did appropriate or not (and in this author’s viewpoint, I do not), what would cause anyone to go to these lengths to make a point?

There are hundreds of thousands of flights that begin and end each year without incident.  There has been a growing problem in airline travel that seems to be showing its ugly head through incidents such as this one: Airline Travel Stress Disorder or “ATSD.”  (Disclaimer: I am NOT a physician and ATSD is NOT a clinically recognized ailment – I just made it up, but it sounds good for this article!).

ATSD is the manifestation of a culmination of a huge number of stressors that is starting to create a sort of “perfect storm” among passengers, airline crew and employees all around.  Passengers are forced to undergo additional screenings at checkpoints, are forced to comply with restrictive security rules, pay additional fees for checked bags, changed itineraries, food, pillows and blankets, headsets, in-flight entertainment, upgraded seating…the list seems to get longer each month.

Airline personnel find themselves on the other side of that line.  Their employer begins to charge for bags, reservation changes, seat upgrades, cancellations and the like, plus are put under increasing pressure to get planes boarded on-time while dealing with the passengers who are making additional demands of their limited time by requesting information, directions, lodging complaints, wanting to make changes to their seat assignments and so on.  Crews must deal with getting carry-on luggage stowed, keeping passengers in check with a whole laundry list of Federal Air Regulations, like exit row qualifications, electronic device restrictions, alcohol regulations, seat belt compliance, and dealing with medical and mechanical emergencies, plus the added burden of selling food, or in-flight entertainment while looking out for their own safety.  And as if that weren’t enough, they are required to enforce a slew of Federal Air Regulations (FARs) but are given no means by which someone who is in violation of those FARs are doled out any sort of consequence, either by the airlines or by the Federal government who drafted the regulations in the first place.

In the end, it seems like two freight trains that are hurling towards each other at a high rate of speed on a singular track.  We can see it happening, but does anyone know how to avoid the inevitable? Is MORE governmental regulation required?  Should there be an Airline Employees Bill of Rights?

As a veteran flight attendant, I can tell you that, although 99% of all my flight segments transpire without so much as a mild complaint, there I times when the stars seem to be aligned just right and everything falls apart, no matter how hard I work to avoid disaster.  Most of my passengers are either mildly satisfied or slightly irritated, and most of it I have ZERO control over either.

Some people come aboard ready to spit nails…but then they are probably like that at the office to, and just as ‘pleasant’ I can imagine.  Others are in decent sprits, no matter what challenges are put in their way – this is all just common human nature.

ATSD is something new…something difficult to diagnose and most definitely impossible to predict.  Anyone can have it, be it passenger or airline personnel.  I’ve seen pilots lose their cool over the smallest thing.  I’ve seen seemingly rational businessmen suddenly lash out at the sweetest flight attendant you’ve ever met.  Who knows what triggers ATSD?

The point is that ATSD is a symptom of a much larger societal problem.  We are finding it increasingly difficult to manage and control the stress in our lives.  The recent recession has brought about levels of stress that many people have never before encountered.  With the massive cuts and reductions in staffing and compensation that airline personnel have had to endure over the past decade, the underlying anxiety and frustration is beginning to wear quite thin.

I have no idea what triggered Steven Slater to lose it on his flight the other day.  His choice of “exit” from his beloved career is one that many have fantasized and dreamed about for years.  It could have gone so much worse for him had someone on the ground been injured or worse from the emergency slide that he deployed.  Was it worth it, really?

Only Slater can answer the nagging question: Why’d you do it?  Everything else is speculation.  I suppose we’ll soon see the slew of television interviews and guest host appearances by Slater soon enough.  People are writing songs about him and offering to pay for his legal defense (he’s being charged with felony reckless endangerment, along with the violation of several Federal Air Regulations).

The passenger with whom he had the scuffle with will not be charged, but should that be the case?  From witness accounts, she was in violation of a few FARs herself and yet nothing is being done about it.  Add to that her alleged rudeness and disregard for another human being, let alone a flight attendant and it’s no wonder the outcome.

For the most part, we flight attendants are a resilient bunch.  We grin and bear it when someone ignores our greeting aboard the plane, or when we just don’t have any more tomato juice and we’re thrown a crusty look or an under-the-breath comment.  It’s part of the territory of working with the public.

How much is too much?  Who knows.

Perhaps in the near future, we’ll see ads for medication developed for the treatment of ATSD!  If you do, remember you saw it here first!

I’m gonna trade in that beer for a nice crisp glass of wine…care to join me?