http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/10/new.york.escape.chute.opened/index.html I served as an Airport Passenger Service Agent (the official name for a "ticket agent") for American Airlines. The training for that position took over 6 weeks at the training center in Dallas. While there, I met several future flight attendants from around the world going through their own training module. If I remember correctly, their training took nearly 12 weeks...and they would have to return for re-training annually. Major airlines are required by law to provide flight attendants for the safety and security of the traveling public. Their primary job is NOT to "attend" to our drinking and eating needs. All those rules they ask us to follow have been established to keep us, and our fellow passengers, safe. It's really pretty easy: keep your cell phone or other electronic device off unless the captain says it's ok to turn it on "airplane" mode; stay in your seat and buckled while the seatbelt sign is on; stay seated all other times; don't make lines by the lavatory. That's pretty much it. What is so difficult about it? My experience as a ticket agent showed me that most people are so nervous about flight, anything sets them off. Being on edge makes then irritable and impatient. What they do to cover the way they really feel is they play it "cool." They don't listen to the pre-flight instructions because that would seem "nerdy." I mean, hey, I've flown a 1000 times (probably twice in reality), so why should I listen to this stuff...again? They also act like the fact they paid a high ticket price entitles them to disregard the rules. They stay on their phones despite being told to turn them off 3 times. They get up whenever they want to walk to the lavatory or get stuff out of the overhead compartments. They unbuckle as soon as the plane is on the ground and get up to get their bags. I wasn't on the flight when Steven Slater had his meltdown, but I've worked in the industry and flown enough to have a pretty good idea why it happened. The reality is that Steven held his tongue several times a day for 20 years after being treated like the high priced waiter many travelers considered him to be. Airlines, please change the name of "flight attendants" to something more worthy of their training, responsibilities, and duties. Perhaps "Airplane Passenger Safety Officer" is one option. When they have been called stewards and flight attendants for their entire history, it is no wonder the traveling public thinks of them with so little respect. The traveling public needs to understand the hours of training and retraining it takes to be an Airplane Passenger Safety Officer for today's airlines. Let's remind passengers of the fact that the true reason they also bring you a beer or some peanuts is because, for their safety, they don't want you up walking the cabin. It's not because that is their primary responsibility. These flight professionals are there for those "God forbid" moments when things go wrong and our lives are at stake. Can we agree people who put their lives on the line for our safety are worthy of the respect to do as they ask us to do?Why do police, firemen, and airplane passenger safety officers get so much disrespect? Steven, I don't condone what you did but I understand it. I salute you for lasting as long as you did. Knowing how so many people treat you every day, I would not have made it 20 years. And while I would never have the cojones to do it, what a way to go out!
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