JetBlue: Flight Attendant Steven Slater's Big Exit Was For Good

NEW YORK — A flight attendant who captured America's attention when he told off a plane full of passengers and then slid down an emergency chute resigned from his job last week and wasn't fired, his lawyer said Sunday.

Steven Slater left the job at JetBlue Airways Corp. on Wednesday, after he had been suspended following the on-board antics he was charged with committing last month, attorney Daniel J. Horwitz said. JetBlue had said Saturday that Slater was no longer an employee but didn't give any details, which prompted online speculation he had been fired.

Horwitz said he and Slater were still working out some details with the Queens-based airline but wouldn't elaborate.

"He was not fired," Horwitz said bluntly.

Slater, 38, worked for JetBlue for about three years, though he has spent nearly 20 years in the airline industry.

He was working Flight 1052 from Pittsburgh to John F. Kennedy International Airport on Aug. 9 when, he said, an argument took place with a rude passenger. After landing at JFK, he went on the public address system, swore at a passenger who he claimed had treated him rudely, grabbed a beer and exited via an emergency chute, prosecutors said.

Slater was arrested and was charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing. His lawyer has said a passenger's "lack of civility" prompted his behavior. His next court date is Tuesday.

Slater became an instant sensation and was water cooler talk for days. Online, camps formed on either side of the debate, canonizing or vilifying him, calling him a hero or a cranky brat.

Slater had said after his arrest that he loved flying and wanted to return to work, and some of his tens of thousands of online fans had urged the airline to keep him on. It's unclear whether he will seek airline employment with another company.

JetBlue said last month that Slater was suspended pending an investigation. It told employees in a memo that press coverage was not taking into account how much harm can be caused by emergency slides, which are deployed with a potentially deadly amount of force.

Comments

[Bystander]

11:15 AM on 09/07/2010

He should have been fired for his hissy fit.

[Lisbeth35]

10:57 AM on 09/07/2010

I was hoping Jet Blue and the airline industry were going to say it was for good because they had learned from the incident. A) Customer service needs to be improved at airports: from the ticket agent to the attendants and B) working conditions of airline employees need to be improved greatly as well. Improvemen­ts need to be made and will be made all around.

[captric]

06:49 AM on 09/07/2010

Flight attendants are a joke. A job for people with little education and a penchant for abuse of passengers for the stupidest reasons. They really are the poorest service workers in the world but are given authority beyond their capabiliti­es which is why the airlines are so intolerabl­e

[Clever Screen Name]

10:49 PM on 09/06/2010

Good riddance. The guy was a danger to co-workers and passengers­. And he took a plane out of commission­, probably mucking up the subsequent schedule for however many passengers­.

[KellyRyan]

09:24 PM on 09/06/2010

"One moment of rebellion,­" ... sigh ... and a return to reality. Steven will be in search of his next postion, away from the airlines, while on probation.

[Willnyc1111]

10:31 PM on 09/06/2010

But he is fabulous and gay and he is the workingman­s hero and he has 200,000 facebook friends - he should be let off on all the charges

[Willnyc1111]

04:56 PM on 09/06/2010

What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall at the hours long meeting Steven Slater is no doubt having with his lawyers today in preparatio­n for tomorrow's big court.

[chachachamp]

04:22 PM on 09/06/2010

Hey JetBlue pilots have bad days too--Back in May, 2010 a despondent JetBlue pilot was ARRESTED at the airport in Boston after writing an e mail to his ex girlfriend threatenin­g to "crash" the plane-- I might think twice about getting on a JetBlue flight.

[Willnyc1111]

04:50 PM on 09/06/2010

LOL- that's why I love the people who claim this flight attendant story is good PR for jetBlue. Yeah, the one thing they need is another crazy running the flight.

[Willnyc1111]

03:05 PM on 09/06/2010

Based on what I've read and seen this guy is no brainiac and neither is his lawyer. No doubt they will both be humbled tomorrow by the court appearance­. Day 1 he should have issued an apology to jetBlue, the ground crew, the passengers and the airport instead of rushing out to hire a Hollywood Publicist. Then, lay low, and SHUT UP. Instead, there were interview after interview on the local news thanking all of his supporters and photo ops with Barry Manilow. Tomorrow, in court, he will realize that the District Attorney and the Judge are not Facebook friends of his.

[faretheewell]

12:40 PM on 09/06/2010

Good! Ostensibly­, they are more than drink servers in the sky. They are supposed to be there for passenger safety. Obviously, this bozoo was incapable of handling his emotions due to a rude passenger. WHat would he have done in a real crisis. Good ridance.

[cornel]

12:38 PM on 09/06/2010

I just hope never to hear from this "stewardes­s" again.

[vesaversa1]

12:29 PM on 09/06/2010

I bet this guy was given a choice either he resigned of be fired . And to think that the media had to reframe from making this guy out to be some type of hero for working Americans in this country . So what was his message to the 15 millions unemployed Americans in this country ?

[bobo5]

07:45 PM on 09/06/2010

To stay seated until the fasten seatbelt sign came off. It's real simple.

[Halsey]

12:23 PM on 09/06/2010

Yup, going Slater was fun for a bit; but next! I mean we've all felt this way about our jobs (okay many of us!); but I would not want him to be my flight attendant. It's a simple as that. Actually, I don't think I'd even want to be on a plane with him.

[Willnyc1111]

12:00 PM on 09/06/2010

I definitely don't think his next job should be one where he has to confront the stress of dealing with people, for instance, I don't think they should put him as a server on the cafeteria line at Rikers but perhaps something like cleaning toilets would be better for him.

[Foundryman]

11:18 AM on 09/06/2010

The untold reality in this is as a society we condone and partake in uncivil and demeaning acts towards workers. Have you ever been in a fast food restaurant when someone was yelling and throwing something at the manager? Ever see someone in a nice business suit swearing at the person behind the counter? We can reasonably expect to receive service or product, but when we don't it does not mean you are entitled to verbally or physically attack anyone. We are all workers yet we treat others as if they are there to kick while not wanting to be kicked ourselves. IMO, this total lack of empathy is the result of decades of believing the lie the conservati­ves have perpetuate­d of "rugged individual­ism". I am better than you, I don't need you so you do as I say or get out of my way!!
I don’t think this guy is a hero or a legend, but I do think people can take only so much abuse before they will react to it. I don’t think he should have lost his job over it.

[Willnyc1111]

11:26 AM on 09/06/2010

His act of deploying the emergency slide which could have resulted in the injury or death of someone working below the plane classifies as "uncivil and demeaning acts towards workers".

[Foundryman]

12:30 PM on 09/06/2010

Yeah could have, but didn't. His actions were a reaction, it's wasn't something that was done in the past. But i'll bet he was assaulted and yelled at many times in the past.

[Gasparilla]

11:39 AM on 09/06/2010

And if they gave him his job back and then he pulled another stunt that injured someone, you would say what?

[Foundryman]

12:32 PM on 09/06/2010

They could have got him into counseling to help him get his head together so it wouldn't happen again.

[Willnyc1111]

11:16 AM on 09/06/2010

If a passenger named Mohammed who was 'having a bad day' had opened an armed door at the gate and deployed an emegency slide he would already be taking his meals at Rikers Island. I guarantee it.

[MikiCab]

11:22 AM on 09/06/2010

And the problem with that is?

[Willnyc1111]

11:26 AM on 09/06/2010

I'll answer that question tomorrow after Steven Slater appears in court.

[BadKitty]

11:58 AM on 09/06/2010

Nah. He'd be in custody still. Little melodramat­ic, dontcha think?