Ravensvic

IFlyForFood,

Ravensvic is my only screen name and I am a first time poster. This post was not meant as flamebait. Had a Frontier FO on my jumpseat from RDU-LAS last week. He was over the moon at the opportunity to join SWA. I think many at F9 feel the same. Currently over 400 have applications in at SWA. I was actually pulling for the deal. I am SWA but don't think any airline is the be all and end all. Any place can go bad in a hurry. Check Fix the Contract - Help SWA and SWAPA Get It Right to see how I viewed our recent TA and voted. Corl is most certainly not me and quite recently objected to my take on things at SWA. I wish you all luck at F9, good people every time I've ridden you. Your attacks on other SWA posters here are unnecessary.

Best Wishes

Ravensvic

...and yes I thought relative seniority or date of hire were unachievable. As a group you have made your choice and we at Southwest respect that and wish you well.

newKnow

Word to the wise: Don't post your real name on any public forum.


December 16, 2004 4:00 AM PST

Perspective: I was fired for blogging
By Ellen Simonetti

See all Perspectives
Yahoo! Buzz My name is Ellen Simonetti, but I am better known to Web surfers as the Queen of Sky.

I had been a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines for almost eight years when I started my blog, or online diary, in January of this year. I entitled it "Diary of a Flight Attendant."

On Saturday, Sept. 25, I came home to flashing messages on my answering machine.

"Ellen, I need you to call me back. It's about your trip tomorrow," repeated the urgent-sounding voice on the tape.

The voice was that of a Delta Air Lines in-flight supervisor. I immediately dialed the number on the messages, thinking perhaps my Rome flight the next day had been cancelled. What the supervisor told me, however, left me shocked and sick to my stomach.

The reason I started my blog in the first place was as a form of therapy. "You won't be able to fly your trip tomorrow...it's about some pictures on the Web."

I had to wait more than a week after that phone call to meet with Delta management and find out exactly what was going on. During that very long week, I lived in suspense in my humble Austin, Texas, apartment and prepared for the worst. I assumed I would be fired, so I started consulting with lawyers and other people.

That was when I began to hear stories about people like Heather B. Armstrong, of dooce.com, who was fired because of her blog in 2002. Then there was "the Washingtonienne," who was fired earlier this year because of comments she entered in her blog.....

FAULTPUSH

I missed out on the donuts that the rampers bought for us today, but had several of them come up and shake my hand and thank me for the work of our FAPA reps. The staple would have given me a 35% raise, but I'm glad that we didn't sell out the other 4000 employees.

corl737

Shouldn't the warning actually be "don't post anything on a public forum that you would be embarrassed having identified to you."

I suspect that I have composed and erased far more messages before hitting the "submit" button than I have posted. Sometimes going back and reading what you wrote prior to putting it into the public eye avoids many problems later.

// Corl

(Unfortunately, there are only four people in the world that I know of who share my first name ... and two of them are dead. However, my name, used as a surname, is not that uncommon in parts of the country and that helps keep me off the first page of the Google search results!)

newKnow

Well.....

No. I don't think so. Embarrassment is not a factor. You can post things that are bad about the company or other employees and not be embarrased about it, but still get into trouble.

To be honest with you, as a union employee, it depends on what your CBA says. If you are an at-will employee (non-union, no contract, no handbook), if it wants, the company can fire you for owning a computer...

Eck4Life

I hope you had other reasons because those were some d*** expensive donuts. Too bad you didn't get to taste them. You sure they would have done the same for you?

Herkulesdrvr

wow 35%?? Your union sold you junior F.O.'s down the river, not cool at all. People wonder why this industry is the way it is?

FAULTPUSH

How is protecting their jobs selling them down the river? Southwest wasn't going to guarantee a return from furlough - that would have screwed the majority of the FO's.

For the record, I just found out about a second FO who would have been cool with a staple.

Question for you SWA guys - what percentage of the Morris guys made it through probation with Southwest?

propsync

Like my buddy said about AAI's failed takeover of YX- 'At least I would've been stapled to SOMETHING I can come back to'. I thought the same. I would love to hear how, worst case, getting stapled to SWA and getting furloughed was worse than being a part of RAH.