2 JetBlue pilots arrested for beating up a cabbie

by Scott Carmichael on

Oh my, the bad news about JetBlue staff just keeps piling up.

After the report of a JetBlue Flight attendant harassing a passenger, it is now 2 Jetblue pilots who are in hot water.

The 2 off-duty pilots were in a cab, making their way from an upscale Miami strip club to a local Subway sandwich shop. When they arrived at their destination, they decided that they were too important to pay the $9 cab fare.

Their refusal resulted in a fight with the cab driver, ending with him on the ground with a concussion and a broken right ankle. The incident happened last August and it is not entirely clear from the arrest report why it took the police this long to arrest the 2 pilots.

Of course, this brings me to the most important part of my article; the news reports about this attack seem a little too sensationalist to me. Does it really matter what the profession was of the 2 alleged attackers? Are there professions out there where beating up cab drivers is considered acceptable? (And yes; I realize the irony in this statement, given the fact that I am also writing about it!).

To prove my point; the web page title of the CBS4 article is called “Cabbie Killer Cab“. Nobody was killed, and I’m fairly sure these 2 pilots had no intention of killing anyone.

At the end of the article it is made clear that there is, as always, 2 sides to a story. The cab driver apparently has an anger management problem and the attorney for the pilots claims the cab driver used pepper spray before he was attacked. Whichever side of the story turns out to be true, it is a bad idea to refuse paying your local cabbie, and it is a bad idea to use pepper spray on 2 guys trying to find a tasty sandwich.

What strange things have been found on planes?


Flight attendants to become the porn police

by Jamie Rhein on

Back in December, when Aaron posted about the etiquette questions raised by In-flight Internet, he wrote the prevailing thought was that “decency, good sense and normal behavior” would prevail.

According to this article at FoxNews.com, just in case decency, good sense and normal behavior go out the window, flight attendants will become the porn police.

I imagine that while the flight attendant is taking your money for your snack and beverage that used to be complimentary, but isn’t anymore, he or she can give a peek at your screen to see what you’re surfing and shut you down if you forget you’re not in the comfort of your own home or tucked back in your office cubicle.

If your neighbor is getting grossed out or upset by your viewing, the flight attendant will appear to put an end to the shenanigans.

Some airlines, the article reports, will put a block on sites which should give the attendants a break so they can do other important tasks like make sure they give back correct change when you purchase water so you won’t die of thirst before the flight ends.

Airlines that either do or will filter sites when Internet is made available: JetBlue Airways, Continental and Qantas.

Airlines that will or already do let you surf without a filter, and hope that you use common sense when you do so: Northwest, American, Delta, Alaskan Airlines and Virgin.

Here are concerns being raised: What is pornography or not appropriate content and under what circumstances? Different people have different lenses with which they view what is appropriate. Here are two examples given:

  • A child sitting next to a person watching an R-rated movie that is either sexually explicit or violent
  • A person surfing a Victoria Secret lingerie catalog could be disconcerting as well.

As the article also points out, the reason why these issues are felt so strongly when people fly is that they are confined and can not escape from what is distasteful. You can’t move seats and you can’t get off.

Although flight attendants are trained to deal with conflict, as you may have noticed if you read Gadling comments whenever a flight issue is posed, there are a lot of stresses from flying as it is. It seems to me that Internet may be great to have, but could be adding more trouble than it’s worth.