In the 80s, if someone mentioned “hostage” and “airline” in the same sentence, it conjured up images of scared passengers hunkered down in their seats with gun-wielding Lebanese terrorists forcing pilots to change route and land in a foreign country. Well… today, not so much has changed with the visuals, except that the Lebanese can be replaced with uniform-clad airline employees.
Since September 11, 2001, standards in the travel industry and passenger rights have steadily declined under the guise of “safety,” and have now hit an all-time low. Whereas airlines used to try to make passengers feel happy and comfortable in an effort to win their repeat business, it seems they’ve now decided that they are legislators of morality and while you’re in their airport or on their plane, you are, in essence, their prisoner.
Just this past August, Continental airlines passengers revolted when their flight from Venezuela headed to New Jersey was detoured and forced to land in Baltimore; crew did not allow the passengers to get off the plane and forced them to sit for hours on the tarmac without food, water, or a working toilet.
Even more recently, airlines have decided they have been charged with deciding what is appropriate attire on planes. 23-year-old Kyla Ebbert was told by a male flight attendant on Southwest that her white mini skirt, tight sweater and heels were too revealing and she needed to go to the gift shop, buy a new outfit, and get on a later flight.
Yesterday, another incident occurred on Southwest when a man wearing a fishing T-shirt with the words “Master Baiter” was told by crew members that his shirt was inappropriate and he needed to change or turn it inside out before he could board the plane. Not wanting to miss the flight, he was forced to take off the shirt in front of a line of more than 100 people and turn his shirt inside out. The man, who is incredibly hairy, said he was embarrassed and didn’t feel he should have been put through that humiliation. I tend to agree.
A couple months ago, my friend who was pregnant at the time, ordered a glass of wine on a plane — which her doctor told her to do instead of taking Zanex to overcome her fear of flying. The flight attendant berated her for drinking alcohol while pregnant and refused to serve her. Another attendant did actually serve her the wine.
I think it’s time for airline employees to get off their high horses. We know you’ve been abused and made fun of for being nothing more than glorified waiters and waitresses in the sky, but your holier-than-thou attitudes are now becoming a problem. Let’s not forget that without the passengers, you don’t have a job. And with your skill set, you may not find one all that easily. Like any service job, you are there for your clients. Period. And the idea of keeping everyone safe from terrorists has nothing to do with the choice of clothing they wear, or the choices they make while pregnant. Just because you completed “flight attendant training courses” does not mean you suddenly have control over other peoples’ lives.
There was a time when the airlines wouldn’t have hired most of your fat asses because you didn’t fall under the weight guidelines. You guys didn’t like that. You were pissed and offended. You fought back and got the rules changed and now you can have that second piece of tiramisu after dinner and the passengers will just have to deal with the fact that your huge ass comes two inches from their face when you lean over to get out the V-8 cans from the lower shelf of the cart. You didn’t feel the airline had a right to tell you how fat or thin you could be. But you have a right to tell other people what to wear?
Get the fuck over yourselves. Seriously.
