Everyone has a boiling point. Even in a profession that is known for its friendliness, there’s always a point of no return. A point that once you cross the line between professionalism and crazy that there is no going back. No matter how often someone may smile in your face and provide you with peanut snacks, potato chips, and cokes; a very disturbed indvidual could be trying to break free. Even after they fluff your pillow up to the point where as soon as your head touches it, you drift off into lullaby land. Yes, your next fight attendant could be on the verge of a serious melt down and you best be warned.
Take what happened with JetBlue for example:
A JetBlue flight attendant lost his cool after his plane landed at JFK yesterday, hurled obscenities at passengers over the airliner’s PA system — then deployed the inflatable emergency chute, slid down and fled, authorities said. Attendant-turned-wing-nut Steven Slater’s meltdown was preceded by an argument with a passenger who had told the 39-year-old airline employee from Queens “to f – – k off” after Slater asked him not to remove his baggage from the overhead compartment until the plane had fully stopped, sources said. The passenger wound up opening his overhead compartment anyway — striking the seething Slater on the head with the door as it dropped down.
After the plane, which arrived from Pittsburgh, pulled up to Gate 3 at the JetBlue terminal and the Jetway was put in place, passengers began moving to the door. Suddenly, Slater commandeered the public-address system and launched into a tirade, officials said. “To the f – – king asshole that told me to f – – k off, it’s been a good 28 years!” Slater bellowed incoherently, according to law-enforcement sources. But that wasn’t the end of it. In a move fitting for an action flick, Slater then grabbed his two bags — and a can of beer from the galley — and popped the lever for the airliner’s inflatable chute before sliding to the tarmac outside the terminal door.
The plane’s first officer, Scott Bienz — who had heard Slater’s rant from a restroom — told investigators that he tried to block the enraged flight attendant from getting to the emergency chute, but was unable to hold him back. Once on the tarmac, Slater boarded the AirTrain to pick up his silver Jeep Wrangler and raced home to Belle Harbor, where he hopped into bed with his boyfriend, a source said. Cops nabbed him at home. He was charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
Passenger Phil Catelinet said the flight was unremarkable — until Slater went bonkers. On his Facebook page, Slater lists “fashion, interior decorating, spirituality and recovery among [his] interests.” The only book he references is “Alcoholics Anonymous, Twelve and Twelve.” His LinkedIn profile indicates that he started with Business Express Airlines in 1994 before moving on to TWA and Delta. He left aviation for a “daily grind 9-5 ‘real job’ ” in the Burberry shop at Bloomingdale’s before joining JetBlue in January 2008, according to his My Space page. “I am enjoying being back in the skies,” he wrote. “Beating alcoholism and substance abuse one day at a time.” [Source]
I can understand the flight attendant getting upset with this one, but whatever happened to taking “it” outside instead of getting the entire flight involved? Whatever happened to him making that call to baggage claim and having one of his baggage claim buddies remove a “suspicious” piece of luggage so that dude would’ve been waiting forever for his luggage? Whatever happened to just getting even instead of quitting your job? It’s definitely crazy times out here!
