Incident on Jetblue Flight: Give Some Respect for Flight Attendants, Please
Incident that occurred at JetBlue flights have caused the pros and cons of the various communities with different views of the public. We recommend that all parties mutually self-correcting, both passengers and flight attendants.
The case originated from a fight a JetBlue flight stewardess (Steven Slater) and JebBlue passenger aircraft.
Steven Slater, a JetBlue flight attendant, got into an argument with a passenger who was trying to remove a bag from the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, according to a source familiar with the incident.
The source said Slater asked the passenger to sit down, but the passenger continued to remove the bag, which struck Slater in the head. Slater asked for an apology, and the passenger refused and cursed at him, the source said.
Slater then got on the plane’s public address system to say he’d had it, grabbed a couple of beers and slid off a plane through the escape chute.
He’s in trouble with the law, but not with the public, where there’s growing support for his dramatic exit.
“Wow, it’s been very, very appreciated and it seems like something has resonated with a few people and that’s kind of neat,” Slater told CNN affiliate WABC.
‘Constant belittlement’
Many flight attendants and airline industry workers have been leaving comments on CNN.com to voice their support for Slater and vent their frustrations about rude passengers.
“As a flight attendant for a major U.S. international flag carrier, I’ve been called a b**** and assorted other names while on board an aircraft, had food trays thrown at me, and treated worse in this job than any other. There are days after constant belittlement and attempted subjugation I wanted to do the same thing,” wrote stewRN.
Others were concerned that the flying public sees them as little more than waiters and waitresses in the sky. For one, the indignities of the profession were just too much.
“I used to be a flight attendant. I left just after 1.5 years on the job. I was tired of not being treated with respect by passengers and management. After all these years, I still remember this kid saying loudly, ‘Here comes the trash lady.’ His father was laughing next to him,” wrote a poster who identified herself as soundoff123.
Another former flight attendant recalled being horrified by the treatment airline employees receive from passengers.
“The flying public in America is the rudest bunch of people I’ve ever seen. In my short experience, I was cussed out, spit at, had things thrown at me, and [was] threatened with all sorts of violence. The traveling public believes they should be able to ignore rules and do whatever they want and you are a just a slave there just to serve them, that is until the plane crashes then you’re supposed to be their savior,” said ben5339.
Rudeness ‘can be unbearable’
Flight attendants must put up with a lot that passengers don’t know about, added a poster who said she worked as a flight attendant for seven years.
“The work rules that most airlines have instituted in these days of cutting expenses are a cause for a lot of the anger. Couple this with a public that is more and more unhappy with conditions in the air and you have a very volatile situation. Passengers need to understand that the primary purpose of a flight attendant is to evacuate the aircraft in event of an emergency and enforce the rules that the FAA has determined are necessary for passenger safety,” wrote myket.
Rude passenger behavior isn’t limited to the plane cabin, airline employees said. A gate agent vented about his experiences on the ground.
“I happen to work for a discount airline and must say the rudeness of some people can be unbearable at times. Some of you miserable people come to the airport with chips on your shoulders and make it your business to blame everyone else for your problems,” wrote mzindpndt.
“We airline employees are just trying to do our jobs. Passengers, please leave the negative energy at home.”
source : CNN
China Moves to Bail Out Aviation Industry Amid Global Crisis
China announced Friday a huge loan package for its main aircraft maker and tax breaks for its airlines, as further evidence emerged of the industry’s troubles amid the global economic crisis.
China Aviation Industry Corporation, the main state-owned aircraft maker, said it had secured a pledge of up to 176 billion yuan (25.7 billion dollars) in domestic bank loans.
“The credit quota shows the financial sector has confidence in the high-tech strategic aviation industry despite the current economic crisis,” Lin Zuomin, the company’s general manager, was quoted as saying in the Chinese press.
The company will use the loan to finance the development of helicopters, engines, cargo planes and the building of a passenger aircraft with up to 149 seats with Canada’s Bombardier, according to the report.
In a statement on its website announcing the deal that was signed on Thursday, the company said the credit line may eventually rise to 250 billion yuan.
Ten lenders, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), are involved.
However, analysts said that the loan pledge, which was an uncommitted credit facility, was more a symbolic show of goodwill to back the government in its efforts to stimulate the economy and boost domestic demand amid slowing economic growth.
“It is in line with the strategy to expand domestic demand… showing the aerospace industry is ready to do its own part to contribute to economic growth,” said Zhang Xin, an analyst with Guotai Jun’an Securities in Shanghai.
“It is more about showing that banks will support the national plan to build large aircraft. The lenders will grant the loans only if the company’s projects are good,” he said.
China’s fledgling aerospace industry hopes to take advantage of the crisis to gain a foothold in international markets at a time when US and European rivals are finding it harder to get credit, said Lin of the aircraft maker.
But Zhang said achieving that goal soon would be hard due to a range of factors including the weak research and development ability of the Chinese company and passengers’ lack of confidence in its products.
The loan is the latest in a series of measures China has taken to help its aviation sector counter the impacts of shrinking demand caused by the global downturn.
Friday’s official Shanghai Securities News said the whole aviation industry in China booked a loss of 3.95 billion yuan in the first 11 months in 2008, with the air carriers suffering from a loss of 7.07 billion yuan in the period.
China Eastern Airlines, one of the country’s big three air carriers, announced this week that the number of passengers it carried last year was 37.05 million, down 5.4 percent from 2007.
In 2007, passenger traffic rose by 11.8 percent from a year ago and the growth in 2006 was 44.3 percent.
The government has promised to inject at least 10.5 billion yuan into airlines including China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines, according to the Shanghai Securities News.
The finance ministry on Thursday also exempted airlines from paying fuel surcharge taxes for three years with effect retroactively from January 1, 2008.
This could save the carriers a total of 2.5 billion yuan, according to state media.
But observers said the help was only stop-gap measures that would not necessarily be enormously effective, and their fate rested more with the big economic picture.
“The trouble in 2009 is that demand will probably weaken quite fast,” said Martin Wang, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Shenyin Wanguo Securities, adding ticket prices were likely to fall this year.
“The companies are likely to suffer another year of losses (in 2009) … and it depends on when the macro economy will turn around (for the carriers to return to black),” he said.
Atlantic Airlines Cancel Flight to La Ceiba
An unpaid fine to the Honduran government caused the cancellation of two flights to La Ceiba last week, which led to nearly 100 people gathering outside the Atlantic Airlines offices demanding answers on Friday, 12 December.
Several police officers were called in to calm the crowd, some of whom were demanding refunds. Most people, however, just wanted to go home to their friends and families for the holidays in Honduras.
The cancelled flights were scheduled for Monday, 8 December, and Friday, 12 December and many in the crowd said they took the day off from work just to settle the problem.
The situation was resolved after hours of negotiations between police and employees of Atlantic Airlines, who were unavailable for comment.
According to the honorary Honduran Consul, Miguel Brown, who was called in by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) to mediate, a plane had been arranged to arrive Saturday, 13 December, to fly ticket holders back home.
Accompanied by four RCIPS officers as he came out of the office, Mr Brown told the crowd, “A flight will go out tomorrow; this is the only airline flying to Honduras so if you want to fly out you can get in line and come inside. You want to go home and I want to go home, too.”
After the announcement, police held back the crush of people trying to enter through the narrow doorway, only allowing in five at a time, but order was restored quickly.
Janaki Moore, who was supposed to fly out Monday, said, “Cayman Airways wanted to fly to Honduras but the (Honduran) government down there isn’t giving the OK so they can’t fly and people want to go home for Christmas.”
Normal flights will resume on Mondays and Fridays to Honduras from Grand Cayman, Mr Brown added.
While waiting for an announcement, the crowd became impatient and people were seen pressing their faces against the heavily tinted glass to peek inside. Some also repeatedly knocked on the door, eliciting stern warnings from police to remain calm.
At least a dozen Hondurans also gathered inside the lobby of the Legislative Assembly Friday appealing for the government to take action. It was not clear if Cayman government officials responded to the troubled travellers.
Rumours that local media in Honduras were reporting that Atlantic Airlines had gone bankrupt swirled through the crowd but representatives from the company could not be reached by phone. Atlantic Airlines is based in La Ceiba, Honduras, and was established in 2001.
US Airways Jumps 12 percent to Lead Airline Sector Higher
US Airways Group (LCC 8.50, +0.69, +8.84%) shares jumped almost 12% to $8.73 in early trading on Wednesday to lead a broad advance in the airline sector after J.P Morgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock. The NYSE Arca Airline Index rose 4.7% to 37.39 points and has now gained 11% since the beginning of the year. All 13 components in the benchmark were in positive territory, with AMR Corp. (AMR 7.54, +0.40, +5.53%) gaining 9% and Continental Airlines (CAL 21.18, +1.26, +6.33%) up more than 7%.
Southwest Airlines Profit and Revenue in First Quarter Improved
Southwest Airlines reported revenues of this airline in the first quarter increased to well beyond some other U.S. airlines. Southwest Airlines profit improvement due to the increasing demand from consumers to conduct flights to some destinations.
Southwest posted a profit of $11 million, or a penny a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $91 million, or 12 cents a share. Excluding fuel-hedging and other impacts, earnings were 3 cents, compared with a 3-cent loss a year earlier. Revenue increased 12% to $2.63 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a 3-cent profit on $2.62 billion in revenue.
Revenue per available seat mile, considered the best measure of revenue for airlines, rose 9.1%.
Per-gallon fuel costs rose 33% to $2.34. Southwest said it expects second-quarter costs, based on its current fuel-hedging portfolio, to range from $2.40 to $2.45 a gallon.
Earlier this month, Southwest said load factor, or the percentage of seats filled, grew to 75.9% from 69.9% as capacity decreased 6.4%. Traffic rose 1.6%.
Earlier this week, smaller discount rival AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI) reported a narrower loss than analysts expected. Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) loss narrowed, while American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR) surprised analysts with a wide loss.
Southwest’s stock closed at $13.58 Wednesday and was inactive premarket. The shares have risen 82% the past year.
