How The JetBlue Flight Attendant Became An Internet Hero

Posted by majestic on August 10, 2010

Why we love the Internet! Story everywhere, but this is from the New York Post:

Move over Chesley Sullenberger, make room for Steven Slater.

The JetBlue flight attendant who went berserk has become an overnight Internet hero to workers everywhere after arguing with a passenger, then escaping down the plane’s inflatable emergency chute at JFK Airport clutching a beer.

A day after the attendant-turned-wing-nut had a meltdown on a flight from Pittsburgh, eight Facebook fan pages have been created overnight in Slater’s name, according to AOLNews.com.

What has made the 39-year-old Slater so heroic to many is that he quit his job after grabbing a brew from the beverage cart and, in a move fit for an action movie, deployed the plane’s emergency chutes, where he slid away to his parked car and drove off.

“Come to San Francisco and I will buy you a drink,” wrote one fan on Facebook. “You are a hero to many!”

There are even “Free Steven Slater” T-shirts available on Customink.com for fans to buy.
The administrator of another Facebook page with nearly 4,000 fans wrote today that many have inquired about helping Slater with his legal bills…

[continues in the New York Post]

Posted in: Activism, Air Travel, Internet, JetBlue, Jobs, Pop Culture, Video

justagirl

“Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor by Port Authority officials. Police sources said that when authorities found Slater he seemed to be in the midst having sexual relations.”

that's what i call getting your affairs in order… nice!
5by5

Convicted of what? Walking off the job?

The only thing I can see him perhaps getting fined for (though certainly not imprisoned for) would be using the emergency ramp or not going through security (and that last bit's pretty irrelevant if it wasn't an international flight, and we're not talking about somebody getting ON to an airplane without going through security).

But if all he did was go to his home to mind his own business (and apparently get laid) then leave the dude alone, for chrissake!

And it sure as hell didn't merit sending fracking SWAT teams to the dude's house. That's ridiculous.
Gemmarama

i'm sure anyone who has had to work serving the general public can completely identify. the general public are absolutely fucking infantile in their expectations of service these days. it's almost like they want you to follow them to the toilet and wipe their fat spoiled ass for them. the customer is NOT always right, in fact they are rarely so. i say fuck this american-style ass-kissing model of customer service, we should do as the continental europeans do and regard the customer as an idiot there to be informed by the expert (shopkeeper, restauranteur, etc). i've wanted to do something similar to this myself more times than i'd care to remember…

reminds me of a story we had recently here in the uk where a school teacher flipped out and attacked one of his pupils with a bunsen burner shouting, “die die DIE!”. lost his job, obviously, but total hero.
http://voxmagi-necessarywords.blogspot.com/ VoxMagi

They have a customer who managed to break most of the rules and not get tazed and detained…but the crew who was sick of dealing with it and quit get a home visit from the cops? Congratulations Air Marshalls and Homeland Security…I feel so much safer now…that two hour wait and screening time was totally worth it.

This guy should be getting a medal for going out with style, not waiting for arraignment.
JamaicanMeCrzy

Probably knew he was potentially getting locked up for a very long time. Trying to make the best out of his freedom while he can I suppose!
justagirl

that had not occurred to me! you are a smart jamaican.
reasonable person

total here or total sociopath? don't answer that, i dont think i'd like your response
Word Eater

If you are actually good at your job, the customer will still believe that he or she is always right.

True tact is calling someone an idiot in such a way that they thank you for it and wonder why that hadn't figured it out before.
A Bad Joke

man flips out over rude customer, rides down ramp with a beer, and goes to have sex? sounds like a movie.
Hadrian999

that's awesome but the the Nazis at the FAA and the TSA will probably try to get him on terrorism charges
justagirl

headline should be, “airline stewardess looses his temper”.
Gemmarama

obviously you're not a wait-person, or a teacher… they don't do an easy job, you know. if you were a well-meaning educator surrounded by red tape and target-meeting crap having to deal with brainwashed idiots high on macdonalds lunches you might get kinda stressed out too. plus, it was a tongue-in-cheek comment. i assume you checked your sense of humour in at the door.

don't post if you don't want a response.
Gemmarama

why is it so important that someone feels they are always right?
Gemmarama

why is it so important that someone feels they are always right?

How The JetBlue Flight Attendant Became An Internet Hero

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