Former JetBlue Flight Attendant Steven Slater pleads guilty

by Tom Johansmeyer on

For putting lives at risk – rather hypocritical for a person who’s supposed to be in the “safety business” – he faced felony charges for criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing. He faced up to seven years in prison.

By pleading guilty, Slater will only serve a year in a mental health and alcohol/substance abuse treatment center, instead of the one-to-three-year sentence he was staring down. Upon successful completion of the program, the charges are knocked down to misdemeanors. He’ll also have a year of probation.

[Image credit: AP Photo/Louis Lanzano]


As expected, the notorious nutjob who popped the emergency slide after an altercation with a passenger has entered a guilty plea. Former JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater grabbed some beer for the road before sliding to glory.

According to MSNBC, the district attorney indicated that alcohol was involved in the incident on the JetBlue plane, even before he grabbed the Blue Moons for the drive back to his Queens home.

Slater said after leaving the courthouse that he found the public interest “surprising, unexpected and encouraging.”

Really? Surprising? Unexpected? I can see how he’d call it encouraging … if he was only paying attention to the airline business supporters who believed him to be a hero. Meanwhile, it looks like dealing with passengers really did drive him to insanity.

Walletpop’s Consumer Ally funny man Alonzo Bodden on airlines vs. consumers

by Scott Carmichael on

Our friends at Walletpop.com have a special treat to share – a video by consumer/comedian Alonzo Bodden. Since he performs all around the country, Bodden travels a lot – and because he’s a funny guy, he’s able to express his frustration with the airlines much funnier than I’ve ever managed.

Bodden won season three of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and regularly contributes to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno – but most importantly, he’s now a member of Mitch Lipka’s Consumer Ally.

Check out his clip, and I’m sure you’ll find a couple of things you can agree on – whether it is overpriced food, or slow security lines, there is always something to annoy us when we travel.

Jetstar turns to the Apple iPad for inflight passenger entertainment

by Scott Carmichael on

Our friends at TUAW are reporting on developments by Australian Airline Jetstar (a Qantas subsidiary) to offers its passengers inflight access to an iPad. The airline had trialed the iPad earlier this year, and that trial apparently worked well for them – as they are ready to move ahead with the deployment.

The plan is to have the rollout completed by Christmas, renting the 10″ tablet to passengers for about $10 per flight. The exact timing all depends on support and arrangements from Apple and media companies who’ll be supplying the entertainment content for the iPad.

Jetstar flies within Australia on a fleet of 41 Airbus A320 aircraft, and supplying iPad’s will obviously be much cheaper than installing a dedicated up-to-date inflight entertainment system. Still, $10 is quite a bit to ask for something that most airlines offer for free.

In the U.S., Virgin America provides a seatback entertainment system with a moving map, video and audio on demand, seat to seat messaging and even food and beverage orders. JetBlue entertains passengers with liveTV and satellite radio options.

Personally, I think the iPad as an inflight entertainment option is a little too “look how cool we are” and not a really practical solution. The device is obviously excellent, but the airline will still need to design a way to mount the iPad, as holding it for a three hour flight is really uncomfortable.

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[Photo: AFP/Getty Images]

Air New Zealand launches ads with foul-mouthed puppet

by Mike Barish on

Air New Zealand has never been shy in their use of video. This is the airline that used body paint to promote their services. They hosted a Matchmaking Flight. They used the body paint again in their in-flight safety videos. So, it should come as no surprise that they’ve launched a new ad campaign starring a foul-mouthed puppet. Rico has a thick accent, a penchant for employing some well-timed double entendres and seems to spend an awful lot of time on transcontinental flights.

Check out one of the ads above and two more here and here. As we have in the past when we covered some of Air New Zealand’s risque ads and videos, we ask you to share your thoughts in the comments. Is this another example of a cheeky airline with a sense of humor and the courage to have a personality or evidence that they have crossed a line? I vote for the former. What say you?

Flight attendant Steven Slater may avoid jail

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who popped the slide and grabbed a beer after an altercation with a passenger, is scheduled to appear in court today. According to a report on Fox 5 New York (broadcast), he’s expected to plead guilty. The Associated Press reports that he may be eligible for an alternative sentencing program, such as treatment or community service (depending on his mental health evaluation). Maybe this means he won’t be a hero to flight attendants and other aviation professionals any longer.

In case you missed it:

The incident occurred Aug. 9 aboard a JetBlue Airways Corp. flight from Pittsburgh that had just landed at Kennedy International Airport. Slater got on the plane’s loudspeaker, cursed at passengers, then slid down the plane’s emergency slide.

The crazy flight attendant no longer works for JetBlue, having resigned. A career in reality television seems unlikely. I do wonder, though, if he’ll celebrate Halloween dressed as himself.