Flight attendants are well aware of how important cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages are to the average passenger. Steven Slater, while no longer a flight attendant, is still closely observing passengers given that he has flown over 168,000 miles since last August when he gained notoriety for dramatically quitting his job at JetBlue.
In August immediately after his flight had landed Slater told off a passenger using the planes public address system, grabbed a few beers, and opened an emergency evacuation slide which he slid down at JFK Airport.
At the time many people viewed Slater as a hero for confronting what he claimed was a rude passenger trying to wedge an oversized bag into an overhead bin and for his take this job and shove it attitude.
Slater recently expressed the lessons he has observed over the past few months while flying as a passenger:
Carry-on bags continue to cause problems. Most passenger temper tantrums result from not enough space to hold carry-ons in over head bins.
Tempers also flare up at security checkpoints. He thinks more common sense needs to be applied in deciding whether 5 year old children need to be subjected to full body scanners. Overall he believes airport security needs to figure out how to make security checks less time consuming and stressful.
Airlines are in sad shape in part because they are trying to force concessions from a work force that has nothing left to concede. He believes workers have reduced more than their share of rest periods and lowered salaries.
Passengers need to realize that it is not OK to abuse flight attendants.
Travelers can make flying less stressful by arriving at airports early and flying the day before any event. He says I never rely on the airline to provide what they say theyre going to. www.cheapfares.com