Flying the Unfriendly Skies

[AndyinPA]

https://apnews.com/article/dallas-arres ... fb12dd5fcf

DALLAS (AP) — A woman has been arrested after punching a Southwest Airlines employee in the head during boarding for a flight out of a Dallas airport, police said.

Arielle Jean Jackson, 32, was arrested Saturday afternoon at Love Field, Dallas police said. Police said Jackson has been charged with aggravated assault.

The incident happened during the boarding process for a flight from Dallas to New York’s La Guardia Airport, Southwest Airlines spokesman Chris Mainz said.

Police said that Jackson first had a verbal altercation with an operations agent at the back of the plane and was asked to exit. As Jackson was exiting, she had another verbal altercation with a second operations agent that turned physical, with Jackson striking the agent on the head with a closed fist, police said.

Mainz said the the operations agent, a woman, was taken to a hospital and released Saturday night.

[Lani]

I bet the airlines are having trouble keeping flight staff. Also, HR must be worried about worker's compensation.

[Dave from down under]

Ongoing problem in service industries.

[SlimSloSlider]

I bet the airlines are having trouble keeping flight staff. Also, HR must be worried about worker's compensation.

I have a friend who is a long-haul pilot for a major airline. He is ex Air Force.
He says this is the most stressful time in his entire career.
This is a man who flew combat missions.

[RTH10260]

But on combat he did not have to care 300 dimwits behind the cockpit door. I guess he misses the bomb bay door: drop the load without a parachute

[SlimSloSlider]

But on combat he did not have to care 300 dimwits behind the cockpit door. I guess he misses the bomb bay door: drop the load without a parachute

He is planning to retire as soon as he can.
He said to me that the women who work the aisles are the same age as his daughter and it sickens him the abuse they receive.

[pipistrelle]

But on combat he did not have to care 300 dimwits behind the cockpit door. I guess he misses the bomb bay door: drop the load without a parachute

He is planning to retire as soon as he can.
He said to me that the women who work the aisles are the same age as his daughter and it sickens him the abuse they receive.

Once upon a time people dressed nicely, not up but well, for airline flights, and we never heard about onboard incidents except for big ones like hijackings. Now I see all this stuff about people wearing pajamas, no shoes, clipping their toenails, putting their bare feet up, etc., and wonder when we became public slobs. Now violent, vicious public slobs.

[AndyinPA]

I've seen lots of sloppy, although maybe a little less so on international trips, which happens to be the only kind I try to take, but I remember one flight where the guy sitting next to me wore short shorts. He was tall, older, and had really hairy legs. He spread out like a slob. It was gross.

[northland10]

I tend to dress business casual when flying. I'm not entirely sure why, but I also tend dress business casual when working from home (okay, maybe jeans more often but from my good jeans not my working in the yard jeans).

For working from home, it is more about the mentality of "working" and that dressing for work helps that (it's a mental thing). Dressing a bit nicer for traveling may just be a thing I have about not looking slobbish in public if I can help it. Probably a bit of my grandmother in me.

[AndyinPA]

Since, as I said, most of my flights are international (because I hate flying and have no choice there), I also tend to dress comfortably but business casual. I have travel-specific clothes, too. I wear loose-fitting black slacks that are nice enough to double as dress on the trip. I also tend never to dress in working-around-the-house clothes out. There was a time when they said if you dress well for flights, you might get a first-class upgrade. I think those days are gone.

[Suranis]

Once upon a time people dressed nicely, not up but well, for airline flights, and we never heard about onboard incidents except for big ones like hijackings. Now I see all this stuff about people wearing pajamas, no shoes, clipping their toenails, putting their bare feet up, etc., and wonder when we became public slobs. Now violent, vicious public slobs.

Honestly? I think its when the Airlines decided to jam people in like sardines and treat their passengers worse than Cargo.

There is a Niece online game called Space Station 13, where people log on and roleplay doing jobs on a station. Generally it turns into a load of chaos (by design, thats part of the fun.) But one of the jobs is a Janitor. The Janitor is known as one of the most vital jobs on the station, becasue if an area or the station in general turns into a bloodstained, untidy mess, it is more likely for the players to go "fuck it" and start doing crazy stuff..

[Maybenaut]

I tend to dress business casual when flying. I'm not entirely sure why, but I also tend dress business casual when working from home (okay, maybe jeans more often but from my good jeans not my working in the yard jeans).

For working from home, it is more about the mentality of "working" and that dressing for work helps that (it's a mental thing). Dressing a bit nicer for traveling may just be a thing I have about not looking slobbish in public if I can help it. Probably a bit of my grandmother in me.

I read an article awhile back linking quality of service to quality of dress, and the airlines, whether intentional or not, give better service to those who dress better. Don’t ask me how this was studied - I don’t know. The article said it was true irrespective of the cabin the passenger were in.

So, it doesn’t hurt to dress up a little!

[Frater I*I]

Honestly? I think its when the Airlines decided to jam people in like sardines and treat their passengers worse than Cargo.

On the maintenance side we call them cattle cars....

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Moo! I fly back home today on AA. The flight last Tuesday to DFW was "normal" except no drinks because of air bumps.

[Phoenix520]

I hate air bumps.

After our DC meetup I flew home on a full cattle car. I sat next to a woman who was so large she couldn’t fit in her seat with the armrest up. With it down she took half of my seat too. I spent the entire flight bent pretzel-like and ended up with my back out in 4 places.

[Maybenaut]

I hate air bumps.

After our DC meetup I flew home on a full cattle car. I sat next to a woman who was so large she couldn’t fit in her seat with the armrest up. With it down she took half of my seat too. I spent the entire flight bent pretzel-like and ended up with my back out in 4 places.

She: Can we move the armrest out if the way?

Me: Nope.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/20/us/atlan ... index.html

The accidental discharge of a passenger's weapon in a security area of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport caused widespread panic Saturday afternoon, prompting a brief halt of departing flights over the busy travel weekend.

The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. ET when a "prohibited item" was detected in a passenger's property while going through the X-ray screening at the security checkpoint, Robert Spinden, the Transportation Security Administration's federal security director for Georgia, said in a news conference. The property was flagged for a "secondary search," he said.

"During that secondary search, the passenger lunged into his property, grabbing a firearm that was located inside, which ultimately discharged," Spinden said. "The passenger then fled the security checkpoint through an adjacent exit lane with his firearm."

[bill_g]

I dress farmer formal when flying. I have an bold short sleeve black red grey striped western cut shirt with pearl buttons that I wear with black Carhart pants, black boots, black belt, and a mossy oak camo cloth hat that has embroidered American flags on both sides. I alternate that with a short sleeve red brown white cross hatch button down collar shirt, brown Carharts, brown boots and belt, and a dark brown fishing hat.

[bill_g]

PS: I recall all the stares I got walking the campus of USC in Columbia SC a few years ago in that black red grey striped shirt. I conducted some training at Ft Jackson the previous week, and was burning down some time before heading to Middleton to fly out. Nice campus. Unfortunate team name (USC Gamecocks). And that's when I figured out why I was an eyeball magnet - school colors. I say red, but really it's dark burgundy.

[RTH10260]

The U.S. plans to prosecute unruly air passengers as complaints surge.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed prosecutors on Wednesday to prioritize the prosecution of federal crimes on commercial aircraft, as millions of travelers make their way across the United States for Thanksgiving, the most traveled holiday in the country.

As travel in the United States nears prepandemic levels, the federal government has ramped up prosecution of crimes on flights, especially by passengers refusing to abide by Covid protocols. In some cases, passengers have assaulted or threatened flight attendants.

Federal law prohibits assaults, intimidation and threats of violence that interfere with workers on flights, as well as other criminal acts that can occur during a flight.

Reports filed in the Aviation Safety Reporting System database by flight attendants at times describe a chaotic, unhinged workplace where passengers regularly abuse airline employees.

“Passengers who assault, intimidate or threaten violence against flight crews and flight attendants do more than harm those employees; they prevent the performance of critical duties that help ensure safe air travel,” Mr. Garland said in a statement on Wednesday.

In the last year, there have been 5,338 unruly passenger reports, and 3,856 were mask related incidents, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Historically, the F.A.A. has handled these cases with civil penalties, warning notices and counseling. However, under the current zero-tolerance policy toward unruly passengers established in January, the F.A.A. has opted to charge an unruly passenger with civil penalties. A passenger can be fined up to $37,000 per violation, and can be cited for multiple violations at a time.



https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/11/24 ... ints-surge

[Volkonski]

Stowaway Found in Plane's Landing Gear Compartment at Miami Airport
The man was found after the American Airlines flight from Guatemala City landed in Miami

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-in ... t_DFWBrand

A man was being examined at a hospital after he was found in a plane's landing gear compartment at Miami International Airport Saturday morning, authorities said.

The 26-year-old was apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers after he "attempted to evade detection in the landing gear compartment of an aircraft arriving from Guatemala," the agency said in a statement.

He was initially checked out by emergency medical services workers before being sent to a hospital for evaluation, the agency said. His condition was not released.

American Airlines said in a statement the incident happened on flight 1182 from Guatemala City to Miami. The flight lasted 2 hours and 37 minutes, according to flight tracker site Flight Aware, which noted the aircraft was a Boeing 737-800.

[Frater I*I]

A 737 gear well...a tight fit, even worse on the 800 model they don't have full sized gear doors that would at least give him a bit more protection from hypoxia and the cold...

[zekeb]

So much for airport security, I guess. He's lucky he didn't get crushed. Although as I looked again at the news article, it does't say when he crawled into the landing gear bay.

[RTH10260]

Lucky guy! Usually they collect the frozen bodies in the approach path to the airports, where they drop the landing gear...

[RTH10260]

Defector Helps Build Case Against Belarus Over Ryanair Flight It Forced Down
A former air traffic controller has been telling Polish investigators what he knows about the diversion of the plane carrying a Belarus dissident in May.

By Andrew Higgins and Tomas Dapkus
Dec. 8, 2021

WARSAW — This summer, as Polish guards repelled migrants trying to cross their country’s eastern border with Belarus, one man who slipped furtively into Poland received a warm but top-secret welcome.

Unlike the desperate people from Iraq and elsewhere seeking a better life in Europe, the man was offering a dramatic intelligence coup — inside information on the forced landing just a few weeks earlier in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, of a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

The plane’s passengers included a prominent opponent of President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus, the dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who was arrested along with his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, when the plane landed in Minsk.

European security officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss confidential information said that the man welcomed by the Poles had worked as an air traffic controller at Minsk’s airport. Since his defection, he has provided detailed evidence that the Ryanair flight was targeted for a fake bomb threat as part of an operation to grab Mr. Protasevich orchestrated by Belarus’s intelligence service, the officials said.

Asked about the defection, Stanislaw Zaryn, director of Poland’s Department of National Security, declined to comment on specifics but said that Polish officials investigating what he described as the Ryanair “hijacking” had managed “to obtain an account of a direct witness of the actions taken at the control tower in Minsk.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/worl ... ident.html