JetBlue’s Steven Slater: Working Class Hero or Psycho?
August 13th, 2010. By janem
JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater is getting his 15 minutes of fame and then some, for going ballistic on passengers, grabbing a few beers from the galley (coming to a beer commercial soon) before sliding down an emergency chute, making his escape and later arrested. He has become a folk hero for many people and he’s the latest media darling. But what do those JetBlue passengers think of Slater? If airline staff yelled expletives at me I would be upset, to say the least. And I might want to sue the airline for emotional pain and suffering.
Marjorie Briskin, age 53, said that Slater was rude to a passenger over a luggage issue, and thought his behavior was totally inappropriate. Another passenger said Slater was also rude to her when she complained about a coffee stain on her seat—on the other hand, I might fly into a rage if I were told to whip out the spot remover and clean the Queen of Sheba’s seat while trying to deal with a few hundred people fighting for overhead luggage space. So is Mr. Slater a Working Class Hero or Psycho?
Slater has been charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. He most likely has lost his job. So what would happen if (a) he does time in the big house (b) he gets a slap on the wrist and community service, or (c) all charges are dropped?
(a) There will be public outrage and protests nationwide from those people relating to the working class hero. As Joanna Molloy wrote in the New York Daily News, people sympathize with Slater’s plight and he is ” part of the frustration all over the country as employees take pay cuts and have to do double the workload as they take on the responsibilities of their laid-off co-workers.”
(b) The middle of the road choice, but might set the stage for further airline rage
(c) This would surely open the door to mayhem. Whatever next, fisti-cuffs?
Apparently Steven wants his job back. Steven Slater’s legal aid attorney, Howard Turman, said at a news conference Thursday that flying “is in his blood.”, NBC New York reported. “Jet blue is a wonderful airline which he has loved working for, and wishes to continue working for,” said Turman. “He understands the problems, but it has been a fair and understanding airline.” Then Slater thanked everyone who had sent him “support and love” since his Monday meltdown.
Turman opines a plea deal with prosecutors is a possibility. “We have engaged in preliminary discussions with the District Attorney’s office, about a favorable outcome for all parties involved,” said Turman. “My client is hopeful that this will work out.”
The prosecutors may not be on the same page as Turman. “There have been no discussions with respect to a disposition. We have an ongoing investigation with many more witnesses to speak to. This is a serious case,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown to NBC New York. And in a memo to JetBlue employees, Chief Operating Officer Rob Maruster seems to concur. (They certainly aren’t seeing any humor in this: According to my pilot friend, it’ll cost the airline $10,000 to refold the chute)
Most curiously, what will the still-anonymous passenger do? Will she slap JetBlue with a lawsuit?
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Aren't you forgetting that Mr. Slater was injured on the job, and his injury result of policies and workplace procedures prescribed by his employer. In addition to a straightforward worker's compensation claim, Mr. Slater has an excellent lawsuit against his employer.
Consider that he received his injury while protecting the law-abiding passengers on the airplane from a customer who was unquestionably dissobeying a direct safety order to remain seated which directly endangered the surrounding passengers and ultimately endangered all of the passengers on the airplane.
Mr. Slater received an injury while respoinding to a dangerous situation initiated by the blatent dissregard of a passenger for his safety and the safety of everyone else on the plane. He stabilized the situation and remained at his post until the airplane was stationary and at its final destination.
As for his parting explative, it has long been held that a safety officer may match the verbal intensidy of the person they are charged to subdue. He was using the same verbal intensity as the passenger had used against him.
You cannot find a recent frequent flier who has not seen someone who has been hit by something falling from an overstuffed overhead compartment or has themselves been hit. I personally witnessed a passenger break the door on an overhead compartment while trying to insert an obviously too-large bag. The bag then fell onto the shoulder of an elderly woman. The airlines are willing to allow this situation to occur so that they can collect a few more baggage fees.
Did the airline detain, fine, or press charges against the unsafe passenger?
JetBlue should consider itself lucky if it only has to pay $10k to roll up a slide. What if Mr. Slater had been killed, dissabled, paralized?
You need to add a "d" Mr. Slater sues JetBlue, wins a monumental settlement, airlines all over the US rethink their carry on policies, domestic flight becomes safer and more enjoyable for all of us
Hi Will, Interesting point–and I do like to look at things from all angles. So, here's another: Slater admits to being out the night before the incident and being a bit "worse for the wear" claiming it was a "rough night". We've all certainly had one of those, but the point is, you're being paid to be on your game the following day at work. So you're in control of the variables that may affect just how on your game you are–particularly when it comes to being out carousing the previous night. Secondly, the reports of Slater's injury appear to be conflicting. Hey, I completely agree there are a lot of a–holes riding planes these days who don't have an once of civility or propriety or decency or just plain ol' good manners–and a flight attendant should not be on the receiving end of some idiot's baggage crashing down on him and causing undue harm, nor their barrage of insults. But why the conflicting reports? When did the injury really happen? Who knows. And, one woman reported seeing the "gash" with blood dripping on Slater's forehead and she stated that she recalled saying that 'he should really put a band-aid on that'–I may be paraphrasing, but that was the gist of her comment. Ok, so let's take this to another level–and I do not want to be alarmist here–but it's been reported that Slater is HIV-positive. What's your comfort level with the potential for coming into direct contact with HIV-positive blood? Now, I know damn well you can't suddenly get HIV by touching an infected person's blood–but given the right circumstances, who knows. And I'm not here to debate the medical science of HIV transmission. What I'm pointing out is responsibility. You're reportedly standing there with an open wound, you're HIV-positive, and gee, as passengers are boarding you just let it ride for a while? In my estimation, Slater–who understandably may have hit his last nerve given the perfect storm of circumstances–has a few holes in his story or at least some cause for seeing things from JetBlue's perspective.