Hassled flight attendant slides way out of job

It has been a long time since being a flight attendant was a glamorous job. The hours are long. Passengers with feelings of entitlement bump up against no-frills policies....

It has been a long time since being a flight attendant was a glamorous job. The hours are long. Passengers with feelings of entitlement bump up against no-frills policies. Babies scream. Security precautions grate but are enforced. Airlines demand quick turnarounds,so attendants herd passengers and collect trash with the speed of an Indy pit crew.

On Monday,on the tarmac at Kennedy International Airport,a JetBlue attendant named Steven Slater decided he had had enough. After a dispute with a passenger who stood to fetch luggage too soon,Slater,38 and a career flight attendant,got on the public-address intercom and let loose a string of invective.

Then,the authorities said,he pulled the lever that activates the emergency-evacuation chute and slid down. On his way out the door,he paused to grab a beer from the beverage cart. Then he ran to the parking lot and drove off.

He was arrested at his home in Belle Harbor,Queens and charged with felony counts of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. When they hit that emergency chute,it drops down within seconds, a law enforcement official said. If someone was on the ground…someone could be killed. According to his online profiles,Slater has been the leader of JetBlues uniform redesign committee and a member of the airlines in-flight values committee. Neighbours in California,where Slater grew up,said he had recently been caring for his dying mother and had done the same for his father.

Another official offered this account of what happened on the JetBlue Flight 1052 with 100 passengers: One passenger stood up to retrieve belongings before the crew had given permission. Slater instructed the person to remain seated. The passenger defied him. Slater reached the passenger just as the person was pulling the luggage,which struck Slater in the head. Slater asked for an apology. The passenger cursed at him. Slater got on public-address system and cursed the passenger. Then,after declaring 20 years in the airline industry was enough,he blurted out,Its been great! He activated the inflatable evacuation slide at a service exit and left.

Later,his house was swarmed by uniformed officers. It was like there was a hostage in there, said Curt Krakowski,who was across the street. Slater,Krakowski said,had a smile on his face when the cops brought him out,like,Yeah,big deal.