Nutty flight attendant Slater leaves JetBlue, claims he wasn’t fired

by Tom Johansmeyer on

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For JetBlue, at least, the Steven Slater saga appears to be finished. The flight attendant who couldn’t handle his passenger safety cart-pushing responsibilities any longer resigned from JetBlue last week, according to his attorney. Initially, the delusional employee wanted his old job back. JetBlue has said that Slater is no longer an employee but didn’t mention whose choice it was.

Following his ride to fame down the emergency slide, Slater was suspended by JetBlue, which was planning to investigate. Internally, the company referred to Slater as being as “dangerous as a gun.”

This is the end of a career that may have lasted two decades, depending on how much of Slater’s math you trust, and he spent the last three years at JetBlue.

Of course, Slater isn’t out of the woods yet. The flight attendant, lauded by airline employees as a show of customer contempt envy and solidarity, still has to contend with criminal charges, including criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing. His next court date is today.

United Airlines flight attendants create new cocktails – passengers pick the best

by Scott Carmichael on

Last week, United airlines held an event for their most important passengers, and presented them with ten different cocktails, all designed by flight attendants. In total, United crew members submitted 64 different cocktails, and the top ten entries ended up on a table at Trader Vic’s in Chicago.

The ten finalists:

  1. Sunset-Sunrise : Finlandia Vodka, cranberry apple cocktail, splash of orange juice, lime wedge
  2. Sky High Delight : Finlandia Vodka, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail, sprite, lime wedge
  3. Friendly Skies Spritzer : Finlandia Vodka, ginger ale, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail, seltzer, lime wedge
  4. Cloud 9 Cosmo : Finlandia Vodka, Sprite, cranberry apple cocktail, lime wedge
  5. Jack and the Bean Stock : Jack Daniels, Ginger Ale
  6. My Style High : Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail, sprite
  7. Bon Voyage! : Bacardi Rum, orange juice, cranberry apple cocktail
  8. Flirty Smile : Finlandia Vodka, cranberry apple cocktail, ginger ale, lime wedge
  9. Island Dream : Bacardi Rum, cranberry apple cocktail, ginger ale, lime wedge
  10. Gin Buck : Tanqueray Gin, ginger ale, lime wedge

The event was very casual and was attended by several members of the United Airlines management in charge of the in-flight service. As for the drinks, I actually managed to try all ten of them, and found it very hard to pick a favorite. The lime wedge was a very nice touch, and made for delightful drinks.

The winning cocktail will end up on all United Airlines flights with full beverage service towards the end of the year. In addition to drinks, United also served some of the newest food choices from their coast to coast P.S. service.

The winning drink as picked by members of Flyertalk.com and the United Fliers Community is drink number 1 – Sunset Sunrise. If you’d like to make one of these for yourself, here are the instructions:

  • Pour 25 ml Finlandia vodka over ice
  • Fill glass with Minute Maid Cranberry Apple Cocktail
  • Add a splash of Orange Juice
  • Finish with a Lime wedge

Sunset-Sunrise was created by LAX based flight attendant Tita Martin. Events like this show a new thinking within United Airlines, and I have to say that I’m quite impressed by the time and effort put into listening to their customers. Granted, the event was not really open to everyone, but an airline that is open to ideas from its customers is one that deserves a pat on the back, especially if it involves serving free cocktails.

Trucker-style pilot gets nine months in jail

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Stephen Sharp was pushing for probation. The former US Airways Express pilot was nailed by the feds for selling “selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was ‘100 percent’ effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests.”

Yes, it was a genius move for a man in a highly regulated profession … which is why the judge gave him nine months behind bars for failing to grasp “the magnitude of the potential harm” of his actions.” Sharp lost his job after the feds raided his lab. So, it’s hardly surprising that the judge cut off Sharp’s lament with the question: “If you think those years were hard, how do you think you would have felt if a pilot was able to disguise his intoxication with your product and crashed a plane killing 250 people?” Cercone asked.

[photo by amandabhslater via flickr]

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk – Virgin America’s first international flight – Toronto!

by Stephen Greenwood on

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk, episode 29 – Click above to watch video after the jump

Join us on Virgin America’s first ever international flight! We hop on a plane with Sir Richard Branson, Drake and a gaggle of entrepreneurs and fly on the airline’s inaugural flight to Toronto, Ontario to explore the (arguably) most diverse city in the world.

In this episode’s couch talk, we’ll discuss just why Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world & what other cities contend for the title of most diverse, based on foreign-born population.

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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Links
Ready to book your own trip to Canada eh? Browse Virgin America’s great fares to Toronto.
Sleep in style overlooking Toronto’s iconic skyline. Check out the brand-new Thompson Hotel Toronto.

All images used under a Creative Commons license. All music used courtesy of Nonstop Music.

Guess what? Those peanuts aren’t health food

by McLean Robbins on

Starting next year, the Food & Drug Administration will mandate that airlines provide nutritional information (read: calorie counts) on all food served during in-flight service.

Section 4205 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations to list calorie content information for standard menu items on restaurant menus and menu boards, including drive-through menu boards., Now the FDA is asking that all outlets that serve food – including movie theaters, convenience stores, and yes, airlines and trains, provide the same information.

Other nutrient information – total calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and total protein – would have to be made available in writing upon request.

The guidelines, issued late last week, will be firmed up by March 2011, but in order to implement the process, airlines will likely have to begin preparing to display the information now. Travelers will be able to find nutritional information on the menus or the travel outlet’s magazine, often displayed in the seat back pocket.

Several dozen cities and states have made calorie counts part of the menu vernacular since New York City launched the requirement in 2008. What’s most interesting, perhaps, is research that shows that calorie postings have little to no effect on consumer behavior.

What do you think? Will you change your order with this new information at your fingertips?

[Photo: Flickr | mrmystery]