With a florish Mr. Jet Blue let the world know the ultimate satisfaction in telling nasty clients, suppliers, and bosses they are not prepared to put up with crap anymore.
But there is more to this story than the viral impact of a frustrated worker. It is also a symptom of the ills that have plagued the airline industry for the last number of years.
With his actions he spoke out for the all the flight attendents, the pilots, and the ground staff of airlines who have seen ‘airline efficiency’ come to mean lower salaries and reduced and eliminated benifits.
They have become the flash points for an industry that has seen service after service reduced to its ticket buying customers while asking these valuable clients to keep paying more and more for less.
Watch people coming on to the aircraft with greater amounts of carry on luggage because they do not want to pay check in fees, as you must do for most airlines in the U.S.
As the bins get filled up, tempers flare as the last ones on have no room in the overheads.
Ask a pilot how he or she feels about having to have a second and third job so they can support their families, when only a few years ago, when safety actually was the prime concern, they were paid a lot for fewer flying hours.
Mr. Jet Blue spoke our for every maligned worker in the world. But if you look closer, between the lines, you can see legions of airline employees wishing they had the guts, or the fallback resources to do the same.
So the next time you are asked to use your credit card to pay for a two dollar item and don’t like it, remember it is not their policy.
And when the airline is short staffed at the check in counter or boarding gate as they run from one to the other, let’s remember they are trying to just keep up.
It is an industry whose upheavals have affected the front lines tremendously. Next time, instead of taking out our legitamate frustrations towards management policy on them, let’s give them a grateful acknowledgement for the job they are doing under trying circumstances.
And Mr. Jet Blue, enjoy your fame, but speak out, not just about the event, but about the ills of the industry. In that way perhaps we could expect change.
I actually agree with you on this. I wrote an article today saying how this could be dangerous. Many FAs agree with Slater and while I understand his frustration, promoting FA confrontations with passengers is bad.
It's true many passengers are horrible and out of line. But looking at this from a bigger picture, one has to look at the overall impact it could have on air travel and the signal that this sends to FAs. Empathize with Slater but this could hurt FAs and the airlines. Not good for an industry already struggling with its reputation – and the source of many of the passenger frustrations to start with.
Jet Blue(s): Is the 'Steve Slater effect' a disaster for airlines?