SlappySquirrel

If I had to guess I would say that you must be an angry brunette. I found it interesting that you kept mentioning the BLOND attendant as if it's a negative thing. What's up with that?

PryncessLayah

belch

doctor_cos

I agree that things are F'd up when it comes to air travel, but when you drop a word like "fascism," the immediate perception is that your thoughts are knee-jerk or half-baked.

nequam

chalicechick

1. What I sent to the consumerist was a copy of what I sent to Jet Blue. Note that I did provide the flight number and plenty of identifying information, though I didn't catch the stewardess' name. I got a semi-canned response back a few days later that essentially said my complaint had been forwarded to the appropriate people.

2. The lady's kids were well-behaved as far as I saw. But if they had been fussy after being woken up, I wouldn't have blamed them.

3. I did tell airport security what I saw. They smiled and nodded and sent me on my way. (I probably should have mentioned this in the letter, but I thought my letter was too long at that point and it wasn't relevant to the customer service aspect of the story.)

4. I said I will keep flying JetBlue after this incident because it's the truth. I've flown lots of great flights. This one woman was just a whackjob.

5. I don't care what other people's experience is, the last row seats in this plane did recline an inch or two. In fact, with two minutes of googling, I turned up this graphic, which explicitly states that the last row sea...

So there.

chalicechick

The Dude

I am sick to death of FAs who claim FAR when it is simply expediency for the FA that is in play. My two favorite words when I challenge you on y'alls' BS? "Captain says."

Not once. And I mean NOT ONCE, was the captain involved when y'all invoked that little ditty. I loved the looks on the Captains' faces as I disembarked and inquired as to his involvement in my situations.

Y'alls' claims that you are a vital component of safety is laughable. Are you required to carry victims out of a burning fuselage in the manner of a firefighter in a burning building? Too funny.

The only lower life forms I encounter on the road are the gate agents who love to mess with pax.

Trojan69

Made me a little nervous that, the next time I flew, I would end up in a cell in Gauntanamo, but nothing happened.

JGB

"can be" doh. :/

RvLeshrac

Hitler isn't involved here! (There, I said his name!)

The point is simply that these things erode the expectations of the public over time. Sure, plenty of these laws are passed by well-meaning people. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Things like the PATRIOT act and COPA are 'noble' on the face, but can (and are) misused and abused.

RvLeshrac

waitaminute

Mark 2000

Believe me, no one wants this type of person around -- neither the customers NOR the other crewmembers. Sounds like she just ruined the good work of 50 of her peers.

The problem is that if customers don't bring these things (specifically... by name...) to the company's attention, nothing can be done.

Writing on a website is cathartic, but if you want something actually done about it, write the company.

Peru

veraikon

mrrbob

Adam C

I haven't flown too much, but I've never been on a 'loud' aircraft, except for the odd screaming baby (not necessarily unacceptable) or screaming 11 or 12 year old (shut the kid up, kthx).

RvLeshrac

... except the part where it slowly erodes the rights of the populace. Eventually, this behavior will become 'acceptable,' and more draconian laws/regulations will be passed. People will then say "Well, it isn't that much worse,' and eventually the TSA requires everyone to be strapped down for the entire flight after a strip-search at the gate.

Then everyone goes "HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?!," just like every repressed populace. Just like global warming, people aren't going to give a damn until it is too late to do anything about it.

RvLeshrac

rockergal

jamesinraro

Egakino

If anyone is turning a blind eye to fascism, or anything else, it's because minor incidents like this one are blown out of proportion.

DAK

DaveB

Buran

Sorry. You're practicing a profession that has rightfully been smeared in the public mindset because over and over that bad reputation has been earned.

You have a LONG way to go to restore that reputation to what it once was and a rant skewering us on an internet website is not even close to enough. Let's see lots of good service, and that'll be a start.

Buran

dshjyd

Rusted

It has now become a fact that the "state" IS now reacting to the arbitrary actions of flight attendants with a calculated response of intimidation and temporary detention that have historically been elements applied by fascist regimes. This tactic is designed to put a chill on peoples' expressions of dissent and disagreement.

CurbRunner

ATTSlave

So, no: the government isn't making the flight attendants go medieval. What the government is doing is cultivating an environment of fear; a complacent acceptance of arbitrary, capricious, and irrational rules and regulations; and then empowering people lower down the food chain to exceed the normal bounds of human power relations without repercussion.

And that, contrary to what people are saying here, is indeed one of the hallmarks of a nascent fascist regime.

ExecutorElassus

savdavid

How dare she point out the unwelcome and unwarranted sense of entitlement that comes with a ticket! Sorry folks, I can lift your obese butt out of the seat but I ain't gonna. You heavy and lardy and I gots only seconds to get out before the smoke kills me. Maybe land firemans can spend the minutes to heft your Merican largeasse to safety. A staffer with weight limits (historical and now unofficial) is unlikely to be able to do more than guide us to safety...pretty impressive considering the shock and trauma of crashing.

Respect is usually mutual. Many comments seem to confuse respect with kowtowing deference. I have a paper dictionary and there are online ones.

Mold

jamar0303

jamar0303

faust1200

Anyway, your discription of "rigorous recurrent emergency training and drills" that flight attendants must pass just cracks me up. Come on now. And I'm not talking out of my butt; I've worked for almost a decade in the airline industry.

I think you're problem is that you confuse what you're job is really about and perhaps take yourself a bit too serious. The job is less about safety and more about service. No you say? Then why are the majority of flight attendants women? If you're really on board for safety, wouldn't it make more sense to have someone that can actually lift someone in case there's an emergency. Most flight attendants can barely lift their own carry-ons. This is especially true post 9/11. If faced with a terrorist, I don't think you're 1 week defense tactics course the airline gave you is gonna be much help.

Also, if you study the history of the industry a bit, you'll quickly realize that the flight attendant position has evolved from very sexist policies that was designed to attract the male business traveler. Safety was and is an after-thought.

Neurotic1

Buran

Buran

perhaps these are all individual acts of stupidity (in which case we're being ferried around by a flock of dolts), or it's something more systematic. regardless, it sure seems as if we sacrifice a disproportionate amount of liberty when we take to that air, despite the large sums of money that we pay to do so - both as patrons of the industry & taxpayers.

& when i say "disproportionate", what i mean is that i'm perfectly willing to let you search all of my belongings, take my boots off & place them in a separate bin, put all my liquids in a ziplock bag & otherwise be treated as suspect. but when you start detaining folks for actions that aren't even remotely suspicious & treating them as criminals, you are striking at the foundation of our freedom. i take great offense to actions such as this - at the very least they are abhorrent abuses of power. at worst, they act as a precursor to a much worse state of affairs in the future.

mac-phisto

DallasDMD

Considering that this level of craziness was not tolerated *NEARLY* as much pre-9/11 and all of the related legislation, I'd say it is rather relevant.

RvLeshrac

Jean Naimard

Scazza

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not asking for sympathy. But I prefer FA's who don't act like immature twits.

themediatrix

LionelEHutz

The flight attendant is a miserable pig, and probably should have never been born. The response (airport security) is just a standard reaction from a group of people with a job to do, who have no way of judging the merits of the accusation.

Fascism is systemic, stupidity is individual.

@Buran: You're absolutely right, the passenger should sue or do whatever she needs to do to feel that her concerns have been addressed. However, the behavior of one employee doesn't always have anything to do with the behavior of the corporation. The idea that this is somehow indicative of a "fuck the customer, we want profit" attitude on the part of JetBlue is unfounded, ridiculous, and ignorant.

DAK

Boo who.

ofg

100% of pax that have been involved in an actually on board emergency have nothing but respect for the FAs.

100% of pax that haven't consider them sky waitresses.

I guess until the 99.9% that haven't had the misfortune of being in the first group have had the displeasure, the status quo will continue.

It's unfortunate.

ofg

"the stereotypes put out there by jealous women, thrice divorced pilots, misc male rejects, and those actually IN the position"

Um, stereotype much?

You know, thanks for writing and all, but I do not have a retail job. I have an awesome job that can range from dangerous to glamourous, depending.

Whatever you say, it doesn't change fact that on a red-eye, mid-week flight from SF to Boston a flight attendant literally hurled a liter of bottled water down the aisle, over the head of another FA, to a third FA who caught it, whereupon the first FA whooped and jumped up into the air.

I was awake to see this because she had not SHUT-UP the entire time we had been on board, and because she was oblivious to the fact that the lights were low and almost all of the passengers were trying to sleep.

First person story.
Thank you.

themediatrix

there I joked about it. get a grip plz.

DallasDMD

DallasDMD

This story reminds me of a situation where we were harassed by the guard at a dump because we made a U-turn. He didn't identify himself and wasn't wearing a uniform (and we didn't even know that the dump was farther down the road, we could just see it was a dead-end which is why we were turning around...lost). He just came up, demanded ID, husband said no (random guy? I don't think so), started banging on our hood and stood in the road blocking the car and yelling. So husband cooperated and we got the he** out of there.

Maybe she was taking out her frustrations with apparent non-cooperation on this lady, even though the lady couldn't cooperate. Just like the dump guard probably thought we were challenging his authority (we were...we didn't know he had any).

MrsMicah

LadyCarolineLamb

LadyCarolineLamb

Keter

Since there's a snowball's chance in hell of that happening, any company that pulls this crap in front of me loses me as a customer for life.

Buran

cde

Buran

Televiper

The Jews in Germany, Kurds in Iraq, and Afghani didn't think too much of the minor inconveniences at first, either.

RvLeshrac

But more seriously, what did this bitch tell the cops? "This lady couldn't get her seat to go up a whole inch! You have to talk to her! THIS IS SERIOUS, QUIT LAUGHING AT ME!"

coren

shanaynay

Kloud

Im not doubting you have wonderful kids. I thank you however the majority of people do not seem to have any respect for the people around them and let their kids act like idiots and scream and yell. Only about 10% of children I encounter are well behaved and I actually take the time to let the parents know how much I appreciate the good behavior of their children. Most parents however dont seem to teach their children the 2 rules that were preached to me every time we went somewhere as a kid. Children should be seen and not heard, and dont speak unless spoken to.

scampy

miran

Me

And yet my children have never cried, whined or otherwise carried on during a flight. All the whining has been done by losers like you.

ihateauditions

scampy

smarty

smarty

DrGirlfriend

themediatrix

themediatrix

It's time to start questioning how much of our freedom, to say nothing of our dignity, we are willing to trade for the illusion of security.

The best way to fight a war on terror? Stop cowering like castrated sheep.

fishiftstick

Major-General

In this, you just have an individual who doesn't know how to responsibly exercise authority.

ClayS

Buran

Eric1285

The level of customer service is atrocious on domestic carriers. I am so tried of seeing these haggard sea-cows that are being hired to be flight attendants. Enough of this people! It is time to bring back the hiring of young, thin, attractive women (only) to be stewardesses and ditch this gender equity crap of 'flight attendants'.

jendomme

But I actually think I've been on one of this crew member's flights. It was an overnighter, and she had a loud, raspy voice that kept me awake. She also delivered a large bottle of water to another crew member by sending it hurtling down the aisle like a football in an overhead pass. Since this was a red-eye flight, I was trying to sleep because I had a presentation the next morning.

Luckily (I guess) I didn't say anything, but I was really close to asking her to shut-up. Can't be sure it was the same person, but it certainly sounds like it.

themediatrix

That a flight attendant who was ticked off at a flyer for complaining about them, "gave them a warning" which means security had to talk to them (not alot of fun for the holidays for BS)....or

That so many posters here have jumped on the slippery slope and rode it straight to the bottom in claiming fascism.

Its kind of sad but good, that most folks don't actually know what living under fascism is really like, but FWIW, being detained at the airport and questioned by guys who have to deal with nonsense on the holidays is like comparing a traffic ticket to the holocaust.

Sonnymooks

I have personally witnessed them blow a situation out of proportion and exagerate a report to a Captain or security officer, just to get their way. The passenger is always wrong, and nobody around them will dare to back them up for fear of reprisal. Especially after 9/11.

The sad fact is that Airlines have hit rock bottom. They are recruiting young, inexperienced, uneducated (GED at most), unprofessional people, so they can pay them very cheaply. Many don't last long. But companies want a quick turnover, because it's cheaper to train and maintain new ones than give pay increases to more veteran ones. This is true for all positions, from the rampers and counter people, to, sorry to say, pilots and flight attendants.

Most passengers would be shocked to know that many of the pilots at the controls only have about 400 hours of TOTAL flight experience (including the 40 hours to learn to fly a little Cessna). Would you feel qualified to fly an airliner after 2 months of training? would you put your baby on this flight? People do every day. And the FAA allows this because they are just a puppet of the Airlines.

I can write volumes about other things, but I hope this will motivate people to demand better. Better service and better treatment from the Airlines, and some consumer rights.

So, pressure your legislators for that comprehensive passenger bill of rights, which, somehow keeps getting squelched and minimized by the powers to be.

nicebird

CurbRunner

headon

Buran

Grrrrrrrrr

From the tsa agent that dropped your laptop during the security checkpoint & damaged it , then threatens to hve you arrested when you want to address the problem/file a complaint.... to the vindictive flight attendant that got miffed because you asked her to not be so loud while everyone is trying to sleep.

forgottenpassword

DAK

Isn't it a crime to make a false police report? This woman did nothing wrong! I'd be filing a complaint against that bitch and ask that the police supervisors talk to the officers who interrogated someone who did nothing wrong.

Buran

It sounds like the crew member in question seriously over-reacted.

(Is it me, or is society just going to hell in a handbasket?)

Grrrrrrrrr

(The title of this entry mysteriously changed..)

Oshawapilot

('Next, people will just start "dissapearing" after flights.')

I think you mean something more like "Next, people will start staying dissapeared after flight." Because they are already dissapearing...

InThrees

trollkiller

Chongo

rolla

They won't totally disappear however. Their rendition captors will know where they are.

CurbRunner

telarium

blitzcat

chili_dog

Bravo... you took the words right out of my mouth.

timmus

One of the elements of a fascist society is to arbitrarily detain and release its citizens. This is meant to effectively chill resistance through word of mouth by causing viewable public examples.

Under the Patriot act, airline flight crews have been given the power to make subjective interpretations about any passengers' behavior that can cause them to be arbitrarily detained no matter that did anything wrong or not.

CurbRunner

But if that's the case (and based on his letter it sounds like there were empty seats), then they should have simply left that seat empty and shifted people around if it were stuck.

Eyebrows McGee

"it puts the lotion on its skin!" "you have no idea what kind of hell i can bring you!"

snoop-blog

Trae

My understanding of that rule is that it keeps the row behind you from being obstructed unduly in the event of an evacuation of the plane during an emergency. Nothing to do with the safety of the person in the seat itself. That's why the row immediately in front of an exit row have seats that won't recline.

What a tool... my opinion of Jet Blue just plummeted. This woman deserves to be located, named, and brought to Jet Blue management's attention.

scoosdad

bohemian

diggity

AbsoluteIrrelevance

myotheralt

sled_dog

Landru