Some unusual reasons why some airline attendants were fired
When a flight crew is terminated from his or her job, what comes to mind is for something heinous like smuggling contraband goods, being tested positive for illegal drug use or in the case of a United Airlines flight attendant, showing up drunk at work.
Here are some unusual cases when flight attendants were fired:
China Eastern flight attendant fired after boyfriend proposed to her midflight
According to China Eastern Airlines, the flight attendant abandoned her duties by attending to personal matters during flight and neglected passenger safety. As the passengers watched the proposal and took pictures and videos of it, this also caused some disturbance that the airline deemed irresponsible.
United Airlines flight attendants fired for watching on an iPad
Ruben Lee and Jeanne Stroup were two United Airlines flight attendants fired in September 2013 after they were reported to be seen watching on an iPad for approximately 15 minutes. They were also reported for not wearing aprons while serving passengers. They subsequently filed a lawsuit and were granted $800,000 in damages. However, a district judge reportedly increased the damage award which increased the total to $1.4M.
United Airlines flight attendants fired for insubordination
13 flight attendants for United Airlines were fired after they refused to fly on account of seeing the words "Bye Bye" and two faces drawn near the aircraft's tail.
The drawings were first seen by the First Officer during his walk around and reported it to the Captain. Maintenance crew were immediately informed and made an inspection. The aircraft was deemed safe to fly as there were no damages and the captain briefed the crew to inform them that he was comfortable to fly the aircraft and that the drawings might have been a cute joke.
The flight attendants refused to fly until all passengers were taken off so the entire plane can be checked for bombs. The base manager then issued them a direct order to operate the flight but the cabin crew still refused and so the flight was canceled.
The airline fired the 13 flight attendants for "engaging in acts of insubordination" over "perceived and imagined" security concerns. The flight attendants filed a complaint and one year after this incident, United Airlines rehired them and the complaint was withdrawn.
Aeroflot *might* fire flight attendant for calling a Russian city by its old German name
A flight attendant might be fired after she mistakenly referred to Kaliningrad by its old German name of Konigsberg during an announcement. The blunder was reported on social media by a journalist, who was among the passengers. Another passenger raised the issue thru his Twitter account and claims that the voice he heard was that of a man and was questioning the decision to fire the female flight attendant.
Many have reacted that the use of the outdated name of Kaliningrad is hardly a ground for employment termination.
*Edit: I just went back to the page of Newsweek and had to make the corrections. It was mentioned that the flight attendant "will be dismissed." It didn't mention she was already dismissed. So sorry for the errors! :( Further, Vadim Dmitriev (from Russia) mentioned in one of the comments that there is no evidence that the flight attendant was fired. Glad to know this!
JetBlue flight attendant fired for exiting plane on jetway to raise safety concern
JetBlue fired a flight attendant in part for exiting the aircraft and making a call at the jetway, the portable passenger bridge by the door.
A passenger was said to have made a remark on a perceived safety violation. The flight attendant then stepped out of the aircraft and on the jetway made a call to the supervisor for guidance on how to address a safety concern. A lawsuit was filed and JetBlue was ordered to reinstate the flight attendant, clear her personnel file, and settle more than $143,000 in back pay and compensatory damages.
Anne Carol Mercado - frequent airline passenger, airline dependent since 2008
|
|
|
|
