The paths that lead to jobs in aviation, and those that lead to engineering your own public freak-out on your way to 7.5 minutes of fame are mutually exclusive.

Giving that guy his job back would be a slap in the face to every professional flight attendant in the industry: those that manage to handle actual conflicts gracefully. And it would be a big "high-five" to every unprofessional flight attendant, those that create conflicts where they don't exist. The people that are unwittingly coming to his rescue are doing it because they think his behavior is a symptom of the problems of air travel. On closer examination, he is one of the problems of air travel.

As a separate note, I was talking just yesterday with the Captain about the way the FAA treated the pilots of NW188. What an insult it would be to those guys, professional people that made one error along a good career, but happened to get caught in the middle of a FAA/media lynch mob, to see this guy return to work.

He misplanned his blaze of glory, and he's getting burned. So be it.

Failure of crewmember to complete duties:
 

Seniority
 

I assume FA's have a seniority number and that allows them to bid the "good" trips. Of course he want's his job back. After 20 (or 28) years, you don't want to start over at the bottom, whether it be airlines or the BK lounge.

I'm not sure a valid ID gives you ramp access, if your duties don't require it. I also don't know every reg that applies to F/A's, under their licensing requirements. I also don't think you would enter any crewmemeber problems in the aircraft's logbook.

Overall, "Steve" failed. Big.

Without getting into security specifics, Post 9/11, a company ID isn't enough to have ramp access.

He doesn't have 28 years at JetBlue, that's for sure (nobody does). F/A's on yesterday's flight (who managed not to freak out, or blow any slides) say he was Delta before. Not sure why he's no longer with us, or if he ever was, but one thing his for sure: his twenty years are with more than one airline.

No way this guy should get a job back in aviation in this country. He has proven his poor judgement, his lack of self-control, and his complete disregard for other's safety. That he's much celebrated just shows how much is wrong with so many people. At first I laughed at the story too. An uptight queen getting in a catfight with a passenger and then bolting out the door via a deployed slide with an absconded beer to boot. Hilarious images! Upon reflection it's a sad story not a funny one. Good riddance and enjoy your short lived fifteen minutes of notoriety.

Flight attendants are not normally authorized ramp access. Saw one arrested in ORD who went down for a quick smoke. Ended up in handcuffs.

You are correct. Pilots don't even have ramp access unless it is the aircraft's footprint for the purposes of completing an exterior preflight or proceeding directly to operations. Therefore, this FA broke Federal law. If the US attorney files charges, he will be convicted. If convicted, the judge will probably agree with no jail time, but he will forever be a convicted felon. As such, no more access to the secure areas of an airport. So no more jobs in aviation. And the best part...no more voting.

Carl

Thank God this thread doesn't have anyone supporting this show-boating queen (I know...redundant description). This d'bag is loving the notoriety!

At first I thought, "Classic!!"...but really, flight attendants have to deal with difficult passengers all the time, that's part of the job! What would this tool have done in a REAL difficult situation? (Like a Richard Reid or crash scenario)

And somebody mentioned here already what I've been thinking...what if a ramper was standing under the slide? This ass-clown could have easily killed somebody just because he wanted to get famous!! If you misinterpret something in the cockpit and make an honest mistake, you run the very real risk of losing your job/license/money/liberty/life, yet some people are actually defending a guy who doesn't care about professionalism or safety...the FAA and JetBlue need to throw the book at this idiot! If they don't, it really is a slap in the face to every professional flight attendant I've ever worked with.