How do you amass nearly 20,000 Facebook fans in less than a week? You could try being a flight attendant who got so fed up with his job and dealing with ornery passengers that he quit over the airplane’s PA system and then made a dramatic exit through the emergency chute. That’s how Steven Slater did it.
The JetBlue flight attendant – or should that be former JetBlue flight attendant – reportedly told a passenger who was attempting to remove his bags from the overhead locker to sit down. In the process he was hit in the head by the bag or the compartment door. He demanded an apology but was called a “motherfucker” instead.
Slater, 38, reportedly went on the airplane’s PA system and said: “”To the passenger who just called me a motherfucker, fuck you. I’ve been in this business 28 years, and I’ve had it.” He then grabbed a beer and his bags, slid down the inflatable emergency exit chute, made his way across the tarmac and into the terminal building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and then drove home. He was later arrested at his home in Queens and charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.
The Steven Slater LinkedIn page says he has been with JetBlue since January 2008, while the Steven Slater’s MySpace page says he’s been a flight attendant since 1990 and has previously worked for SkyWest, TWA, and Delta.
His outburst has generated quite a bit of support online. His Facebook page has 19,769 fans at the time of publication, with thousands more following various support pages such as Free Steven Slater, the Steven Slater Tribute Page, the I Support Steven Slater page and I Hate the Motherfucker Who Called Steven Slater a Motherfucker page. There are reportedly some people claiming to be collecting funds for his legal defense but this has not been confirmed by Slater himself.
A poll of Huffington Post readers has 45% of readers declaring that “Steven Slater is my hero!”, 40% saying “he could have handled the situation better, but I can understand his frustration” and just 15% opting for “what he did was reprehensible on every level. He should be fired.” But you can’t be fired, when you’ve already quit, right?
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The passenger who defied the rules & laws of flight safety & instructions by a crew mwmber should have been arrested for causing reckless endangerment. Also for causing bodily injury to an employee of the Air Line. The bang on the head may have caused temporary inflamatory distress thus causing unusual behavior. This is certainly not an act to be punished by jail or arrest. How would you like all the passengers to stop listening to the crew on the airline you are flying on?
je
Comment by janyra ebel — August 10, 2010 @ 1:23 pm
hey steve you should get a parade down Broadway, what they are doing to you is crazy. How about the stuff they say that the inflatable slide could have killed somebody, whan is the last time it happened?? When did it ever happen?? The way the court system is I guess you are lucky you dont get charged with 'ATTEMPED MURDER' Steve you made my day
Gattard9975@aol.com
Comment by george — August 10, 2010 @ 2:35 pm
TOTALLY AGREE! STEVEN SLATER MADE MY DAY!
Comment by jk — August 10, 2010 @ 4:01 pm
Steven Slater's "moment" of extreme frustration was surely the culmination of many incidents in which he was treated badly by a passenger. As a former flight attendant, I calculated that I interfaced with over 1000 people per week. Can you imagine if every passenger thought they were entitled to break the safety rules? Support Steven. He was simply making a point.
Comment by Sally Rubin — August 10, 2010 @ 6:48 pm
Way to go!!!! You have taken it to the next level. Never let anyone run over ya!
Comment by doug — August 11, 2010 @ 3:57 am
What the hell is the matter with everyone? Real smart
Slater! You may go to jail for what you did, and rightly so. How does anyone know if the passenger, even though she was disobeying orders, didn't hit Slater by accident? Is Slater's reaction warranted? Hell no! This dumb ass is going to regret this for the rest of his life. No one will hire him because he will be considered a loose cannon. Go ahead America and reward this idiot by praising what he did. If everyone in this country treated their employers like Slater did there would be NO civility in this country. Go to jail Slater and rot.
Comment by Jack — August 11, 2010 @ 6:08 am
Dear Jack- If you read the article you would know that the passenger who hit Mr Slater with her luggage cursed him out and denied apologizing when he let her know what she he had done. Clearly she was aware of her actions and rudeness and refused to act accordingly. The NO civility in this country comes from people being responsible for their own actions which this passenger wasn't. I'm curious to know why the media has not shown this person's face? If she's not ashamed of the way she behaved why hasn't she stepped forward to speak for herself instead of having idiots like you assume you know it all. Way to go Mister USA!
Comment by gerard Santos — August 11, 2010 @ 8:13 am
Steven, way to go! as a now retired (40 years w/American), i can't tell you how many times i wanted to do just what you did. everyone on board thinks the purchase of a tkt makes them special. there are no niceties any more and esp. not the passengers. can you hear me applauding? Jackie and Jack, eat sh**.
Comment by jackie moore — August 11, 2010 @ 8:56 am
i like Steve , he is a nice guy…. put in jail that BITCH hit him …….he deserve better ….he was working and so sico attack you omg ..i will punch her face
Comment by martha elizalde — August 11, 2010 @ 10:45 am
My own favorite "air rage" incident happened years ago. The Capt. asked a stewardess to bring him a cup of coffee. The stewardess, who was not busy at the time, and must have been having a tough day, responded, more or less: "fuck you, I'll get around to it when I get around to it." The matter degenerated into a nasty argument, apparently overheard by passengers, and according to some accounts, accidentally broadcast over the intercom to the plane full of passengers. The matter ended when the furious Capt. made an UNSCHEDULED landing and kicked the stewardess of the plane.
Comment by Jason Jones — August 11, 2010 @ 12:53 pm
I bet the jackass who started it all is black.
Comment by me — August 11, 2010 @ 3:09 pm
Hey Steve I am a 65 year old women and I think you are terrific. You had the guts to do what so many people would like to do. Dealing with John Q. Public today is horrible. If people would be considerate of others no one would feel like you did. No one has to be treated like that. You go steve!
Comment by Linda Kalb — August 11, 2010 @ 4:17 pm
I think he did what a lot of people would want to do and working with the public which I did longer than 28 years I say Hurrah for him he has my support which should have t shirts made they say GO STEVEN GO JUST LIKE WHEN BAMBI WAS ON THE RUN AND THEY SAID RUN BAMBI RUN AND SHE KILLED SOME ONE WHICH IS MOST CERTAINLY WORSE WHAT DO YOU THINK!!!!!
Comment by sallymiller — August 11, 2010 @ 4:53 pm
In my next flight I'm tempted to stand up and say in a loud voice, if you don't follow the crew's instructions, you'll answer to me and … Anybody else want to get on board with this? And you'll answer to him … Anybody else? …
I hate vigilante stuff, but this irresponsible behavior has got to stop.
Comment by charlie brown — August 11, 2010 @ 5:43 pm
Check out the "Hire Steven Slater" Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hire-Steven-Slater/... and help our pal Steven find a new job!
Comment by Carlos Gil — August 12, 2010 @ 8:37 am
Over here in the UK I haven't met anyone who is critical of Steven Slater. The guy deserves a medal for what he did (I'm surprised he didn't smack that rude degenerate right in the mouth). That disgusting woamn should have been thrown off that aircraft WITHOUT the shute.
Way to go Steve………you did the right thing!!!!
Comment by Shaun Crowther — August 12, 2010 @ 11:13 am
This basically reminds me of my 5 year old son, rightfully so he reacts as he would as a 5 year old. This is pretty much what you did Slater, act like a 5 year old. You are a professional that has to bite your toung. Was there a drug test done after you exited the plane you freaking idiot. Next job? I say you should be the horse poop cleaner-upper in the live show Medieval Times in front of a 1000 people while some one shoots a cooked chicken at your head.
Comment by Kirk — August 12, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
Followers? Hey this is your flash in the pan of popularity. Hope you don’t loose it while your there.
Comment by Kirk — August 12, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
I have been a FA for 30 years and I am really nice to my passengers, especially the ones with children. I know that I would not have a job if people stopped flying my airline, however the flying public takes out their frustration with the whole aspect of flying on the FA's. Did you ever stop to think that we are only there because the FAA requires it, and the rules we enforce are for safety reasons, even if you think they are inane.We can be personally fined for not enforcing our company and FAR rules. While I personally don't care if you don't put your bag under the seat or turn your phone off or fasten your seat belt or stand when the seat belt sign is on,I must tell you or if caught by the FAA be fined. Grown men are the most childish when it comes to following the rules, especially when they are in a group, the act like they are on a high school field trip, and try to see how many rules they can get away with breaking, after years and years of this behavior it is not funny, so we FA's sometimes don't have a sense of humor about it. It would be like coming to your job and breaking all the rules or trying to tell you how to do your job. I am very well compensated for my job, earning over 100,000 last year, I love my job and do the best I can, but come on people give FA's a break, we are there to save your but, not kiss it, and since we rarely get to do the job we were trained to do, you think we are waitresses (no offense to waitresses) and airheads, but we are trained professionals, however many other hats you see us wear. ( babysitter, trash collector, usher, police person, referee, )Treat us as such and your travel experience as well as ours will be great.
Comment by Earnest — August 12, 2010 @ 11:48 pm
I second what Earnest said… people can be rude and obnoxious on planes. As someone who travels a lot, I constantly see people getting up early to take out luggage before the plane is done moving, walking up to the front, and wanting to get off first. As a passenger, it makes me angry — what if something happens, and that person drops their luggage on me (my head) or falls on me or someone else? I have been in planes that had to suddenly stop on the tarmac for whatever reason (usually an emergency vehicle or a late plane that needed priority taxi) — there are loads of reasons why staying in your seat is a good idea. And what does it gain you? 30 seconds or a minute? Sheesh. The airlines are providing a service, and stewards are proving us conveniences… we should behave like adults.
Comment by Kay — August 17, 2010 @ 9:14 am
He's a moron who handled the situation in the worst possible way. To call him a hero show how stupid some people are. Sure it sounds cool what he did, but in reality he could have seriously hurt someone on the ground by deploying that emergency chute. He should be fired and I hope to all hell he doesn't get some kind of celebrity status or TV job out of his childish behavior.
Comment by WKRET — September 5, 2010 @ 5:38 pm
he s a very great!
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