Get Even More Visitors To Your Blog, Upgrade To A Business Listing >>

Here's The Buzz.....


Steven Slater leaves a correctional facility in the Bronx after posting bail on Tuesday.

Enraged jetBlue flight attendant turned modern-day folk hero Steven Slater is free once again, after appearing in a Queens court Tuesday and posting a $2,500 bail. His legend has only grown in the 48 hours following his expletive-laden airplane outburst and emergency-chute escape.

Here’s a look at the latest Slater news.

As The Journal’s Chris Herring reports, the now-suspended flight attendant now appears to be in serious legal jeopardy. He faces charges of trespassing, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment as a result of his dramatic chute-riding exit, which prosecutors allege could have injured workers on the tarmac below the plane. If convicted, Slater could face seven years behind bars.

Herring’s report offers a preview of Slater’s legal defense, which seems to rest on allegations of abusive conduct by the female passenger with whom Slater had two separate altercations during the flight. At WSJ’s Law Blog, Ashby Jones weighs the felony charges against Slater as well as the early indications of his court-appointed lawyer’s public arguments so far. The post has kicked off an interesting discussion about law and whether or not Slater should even face criminal charges.

The Slater legend has hit Asia, reports WSJ’s China Real Time blog. The Taiwan-based animation studio that has become famous for bizarre computerized dramatizations of international news events has taken up the jetBlue incident. Our colleagues at AllThingsD also provide a look at the Internet zeitgeist — from YouTube to Facebook — on all things Slater. (Yes, there are T-shirts.)

An tidbit in the Crain’s New York report on the aftermath of Slater’s outburst sheds some light on the broader phenomenon of airline-worker stress. JFK Advanced Medical, the health clinic at the airport where Slater made his escape, has programs in place to address worker meltdowns:

“There are more people reacting to anger triggers now than ever before, in every part of the airline industry,” said Alan Sirowitz, director of clinical services at JFK Advanced Medical, a health center at the airport. “There are people who intentionally annoy flight attendants, and have an attitude of taking advantage of them because of their own stress factors.”
[snip]
JFK Advanced Medical recently launched an employee-assistance support services program to provide aviation workers…with counselors and programs for things like anger management, anxiety, depression and substance abuse.

A Time.com Q&A with Corey Caldwell, the spokesperson for the Association of Flight Attendants, also includes a few interesting revelations about the profession. An example: “All flight attendants go through basic self-defense training,” Caldwell says.

Finally, Gawker follows along as jetBlue’s corporate Twitter account, normally pretty jovial, goes into self-defense mode against humorist Andy Borowitz.



This post first appeared on Going JetBlue, please read the originial post: here

Share the post

Here's The Buzz.....

×

Subscribe to Going Jetblue

Get updates delivered right to your inbox!

Thank you for your subscription

×