One should be respective when a plane is about to land, the flight crew has a lot of responsibility durning those final preparations for landing , it sounds like this RUDE passenger was an ass !!!!!!!!!!!! and should be judged so !!!!!!!!

Just because a flight attendant serves the customer, that doesn't make him or her a servant to the customer. Slater's exit went too far, but his actions against the passenger were justified. It's a shame that his own behavior will overshadow any serious repercussions against the offending passenger.

If the attendant was struck in the head, then no he should not be fired. Being struck in the head may lead to a CONCUSSION. When people have concussions, they make act enraged and irrational.

It sounds to me as though this man was arrested and taken to jail, not to the hospital for a CAT scan. Hopefully, his brain isn't injured and he's not going to die in his jail cell later today.

Whatever! Steven is awesome. The passenger should be thrown in jail and beaten senseless for being a total prick.

There are so many facts you have left out..... this is not even a starting point for a discussion. Do you know the facts?

Common courtesy, like common sense, has died without a whimper and very few even noticed.

Mr. Slater is the victim here. No one signs up and decides to give up their their human dignity to make a living. Yes, clients are ofter abusive and arrogant. The customer is not always right, especially when that customer cost the business money instead of making the business money. A customer is not a customer if he or she is not profitable. I feel for Mr. Slater and wish him well.

I don't blame him. I get cabin fever in a few hours! Between passengers wearing their Bose headphones which makes them unable to hear anything, and those carrying their entire household in giant carry-ons, its all an exercise in frustration.

@ Steve,

Too many passengers (number is growing) are self absorbed ASZ holes. Fat, obnoxious putzes who don't have the least bit of respect for those who are there to serve them from offering a beverage to seeing that they arrive alive. I can only find fault in one task before you exited the plane: You should have full face punched then body slammed that ASZ wipe passenger. If you were going to get in trouble, you could have kept the tape and started a service to show other passengers what could happen when they act like b u ttheads and run their mouths.
Other than that, you were spot on.

THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT SHOULD BE FIRED.
DON'T JUSTIFY STUPIDITY IN THE FLIGHT
ATTENDANT'S ACTIONS. SITUATIONS COME WITH THE JOB AND HE SHOULD HAVE HANDLED IT BETTER.

You can understand why he did what he did, and all of us have wanted to do the same. However, deploying the emergency slide was pretty irresponsible and could have injured some of the personnel on the ground when that slide deployed without warning. It's only funny because no one was hurt, but there are reasons why such actions are illegal and he should be charges.

I agree that there a plethora of idiot/obnoxious/unruly flyers but Slater went too far when he opened the emergency door, inflated the slide and took off. That cost the company 2 days of plane downtime. Had he only swore over the loudspeaker he MIGHT have gotten off with a warning or limited suspension and probation.

Awesome! Don't MESS with the people who serve you food, drinks or any kind of service on the planes, trains, buses, restaurants. We will not put up with your disrespect. We are SERVING you and we ONLY ask for a little respect and dignity. Not even a fair amount. Just a tiny little bit. :-D

This incident was the proverbial "straw" that broke the camels back. Should he be fired? Certainly not because he lost his cool with what appears to be a growing number of, and sadly the majority, of inconsiderate and egotistical individuals who believe the rules need not apply to them due to some inflated sense of self. Of course if this was an indication of some deeper, hidden issue, then maybe yes. I sympathize with this man. He had no real enforcement authority to deal with this ignorant individual and therein lies the problem. The rules are in place for her safety as well as for everyone else on the flight. Maybe the passenger who set all this in motion should be charged and/or fined.

Whatever the situation is, if the reaction of the employee is within the
Job description, then it should be fine.

I'm not a flight attendant, but I've done the sort of jobs where I am dealing with a constant flow of new people, often in a hurry or otherwise in bad moods.

And, well, get a clue folks. You are just one person and I am just one person and it is just once little tiff and what's the big deal?

Well, for me it isn't just one. It is a constant barrage of abuse. After a while, its hard to keep a polite smile over just one more, a little worse then usual, piece of horrid disrespect.

Airlines should make it clear to passengers that they have an OBLIGATION to be at least NOT RUDE to the flight crews. Or fly another airplane.

These people don't make the rules you know. Or the schedules. They don't make planes late, they don't make seats small, they didn't make your seat neighbor weigh 300 lbs, they didn't over pack your on board suit case.

And it isn't "ok" to take your frustration out on them just because they are standing there.

Hmmm The passenger uses a flight attendent for a punching bag, the attendent checks out resulting in his arrest and the passenger goes scott free with not even a mention of his name.

It seems once in flight the Fasten Seat Belt Sign means nothing anymore. I have seen Flight Attendents warn passengers repeatedly to get in their seats while those same attendents were sitting in their jump seats on orders from the cockpit while the aircraft was being vectored around Thunderheads ! Just once under those circumstances I would like to see a cockpit crew perform a barrel roll and put the clogs on the ceiling.

Ok Jetblue go ahead and fire the guy so I know who not use !

This Flight personnel should face not legal action. Jet blue should support him, this is a most stressful not much desired job, passengers utterly refuse to wait until the aircraft comes to a complete stop brfore they get up and open the overhead bins with overweight bags.These are lethal. He was hit he needs mental and medical treatment and should not be arrested. lucky he did not physically throttle the passenger.Jet Blue should stand by their man. The passenger should be sued.held resposible.

We are all mere humans and people--even airline passengers---must realize that their actions always, one way or the other, elicit reactions. Airline passengers must realize that their ticket entitles them to a seat, not to a human punching bag to treat in a manner they could not get away with in their everyday encounters with other humans.

Cheers to Steve Slater for standing up for his rights as a human being while providing a great service to hundreds of people daily in the course of his work.

Jerry Reiss

Regardless of his actions or the reasons why....this worldwide media attention will ensure that he has lost his job! "Flight attendant gone wild" ?!?!?!?!?!? is enough to draw the wrong conclusions upon initial review.

Employers in America have for years been taking advantage of a poor job market at a great cost to the working class. In Rome the Plebeians revolted and left the patricians wiping their own butts for a change. We need to do that here while we have so little of a future to lose.

I am a 21 year Veteran Flight Attendant of a major "Friendly" Airline (?)...RETIRED...BECAUSE of just such insane behavior and safety issuues that have plagued this professional industry for too many DECADES...

WHAT WILL IT TAKE???...

REMEMBER 911??? "We will NEVER FORGET!"...

Will it take ANOTHER 3,000 or so lives to put a stop to the constant abuse and harassment of the only HIGHLY-TRAINED SAFETY PROFESSIONALS between the passengers and death...IS ANYONE LISTENING AT 30'000 FEET???

If you fly on an airplane as a PASSENGER...YOU SHOULD BE EXTREMELY ALARMED AND TAKE ACTION ON BEHALF OF THIS FLIGHT ATTENDANT!

NOT that his actions were the best choice...BUT THAT THE AIRLINES HAVE ALLOWED THE PRESENT SITUATION IN AIR TRAVEL TO COME TO THIS! WITH NO HELP FROM THE POWERS THAT BE, THE FRUSTRATION LEVEL IN TRYING TO CONTROL UNRULY PASSENGERS IS BEYOND BELIEF!

NOW HEAR THIS!!! IF YOU NEED OXYGEN...IF YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK...IF YOU NEED CPR...IF YOU ARE A DIABETIC IN A COMA...IF YOU ARE BLEEDING TO DEATH...IF YOU HAVE A HEART ATTACK...OR IF, GOD FORBID, YOU ARE IN A PLANE CRASH...just WHO do you think at 30'000 feet is qualified and trained to try and save your life???

DO NOT WAIT...IT MAY BE TOO LATE BEFORE YOUR NEXT FLIGHT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!

UAL, TIRED and RETIRED

The passenger should have more to answer for than the flight attendant. The guy jumps up during taxing, starts retrieving luggage, refuses to comply with attendants requests to stop, and then drops his bag on the attendants head.... he then proceedes to curse out the attendant when he asked for a apology that should have already been given willingly. What other job on planet Earth can a customer bop an employee on the head after being warned to stop, and the employee is villified. How about your job ?? Granted, the attendant did not handle the situation with the best of methods, but how much should they take. I see these same type of people on every flight. What is the big hurry ?? They only stand in line to debark the plane, stand in line to pick up checked luggage, then proceede to another line to the wait for a bus to take them to their car or a car rental agency.

WELL I FEEL SORRY FOR HIM ?/ WHY ?? HAVE YOU SEEN HOW SOME OF THE PASSENGERS ACT AND CARRY ON THE BIG BAGS ON A PLANE- THEY SHOULD HAVE CHECK THEM THROUGH, AND 1/2 OF THEM ARE SO FAT- THEY TAKE 2 SEATS, AND ANOTHER THING- THEY ARE RUDE- ESPECIALLY THE WOMAN- THEY THINK THEY OWN THE PLANE, THAT NO ONE ELSE ON IT ?? GET ME THIS- GET ME THAT ??

It is possible the passenger would not have been in such a rush to get off the plane if airlines didn't charge an arm and a leg to cram people in like sardines.

Very theatrical but in the long run he should have just cooled his jets and asked ground security to handle it for assult.

Perhaps international travel should be by yacht, Idelewild airport is a zoo , the golf course has gone . . I blame Harry Truman. Here at Heathrow , we are constructing T6 , I need an emergency exit !!!

I believe the passenger is always right. If the passenger was offensive to the attendant, the attendant should have tried to cool down the situation, not react with anger. An attendant should be prepared and used to handle these situations. Exiting the plane like that is just irresponsible and criminal. The airline should be more careful when hiring their attendants. I used to fly regularly to Brazil in search of my love. After flights fares increased, I decided to stay home and browse the internet. Hum, I'm just a geek you know?