The jet blue fight attendent is HIV pos....

[Roon]

I thought that was pretty wild
http://blogs.poz.com/oriol/archives/2010/08/hiv_and_the_jetblue.html

[dkf]

1. So cleaning up his bleeding is pretty relevant then.

It really was more important than wiping up some coffee.

[LisaL]

3. According to some versions of the story, he got a gash

on his head even before departure (from the passenger slamming the overhead bin onto his head). What I don't understand as to why he was not taken of the plane to get medical attention. One would think the passenger should have been taken off the plane as well.

[dkf]

8. The stupid fees for baggage have made overhead storage an object of demand

People are getting very aggressive about stuffing whatever fits and then having to slam the doors shut.

[LisaL]

12. What I don't understand as to why airline didn't call the police,

get him medical attention and removed the passenger, if he really was hit on the head with the bin before departure?

[dkf]

18. I'm not sure that is the passenger who argued with him.

The original event may have been just an accident with nothing further.

[LisaL]

20. Well if he had an accident before departure, that resulted with

him having a gash on the head, I would still think he should have got off the plane and got medical attention.
It's a pretty big gash, I could see it in the photos of him.

[CTyankee]

13. Passengers were carrying on bags that were too large way before the airlines

started charging fees. Nobody wanted to check anything...I have to because I can't lift heavy bags over my head.

[LisaL]

14. It's a lot worse now.

A lot of people don't check in bags that are large and don't fit in bins.

[dkf]

21. Yup. I'm having to stuff my carryon to the brim to avoid a second piece of baggage.

I used to bring the smallest carryon possible so it would fit under my seat. Not anymore. Now my stuffed purse has to go under there.

[CTyankee]

31. I've learned my lesson. I pack as light as I can, esp. on trips to Europe.

One big bag and one carry on has to do it. Everything wrinkle resistant. I know people who actually pack things they want to discard anyway, who just leave the stuff behind...more room for souvenirs...

[Warpy]

25. Even when I was younger and healthier, I'd check the damn bag

because that 10 minutes of waiting for it to appear in the claim area was a good 10 minutes to stretch my legs after being crammed into a coach seat and there was a lot less aggravation involved overall since I didn't have to figure out a Jenga puzzle of an overhead bin at the beginning and end of the flight, along with wrestling with other passengers competing for the same small space. Not checking the bag might get you out of the airport 10 minutes sooner, but that 10 minutes just isn't worth it, IMO.

I did, however, carry a bag that barely fit under the seat onto the plane and had my drugs and a change of undies in it just in case the big bag got lost. It never did.

[CTyankee]

33. Glad to hear that somebody else does what I've always done...

I just can't be bothered lugging bags. My husband is the opposite. He packs too much of everything. I call his bag his "steamer trunk for a transatlantic crossing on the QE2..."

[pitohui]

42. 10 minutes to wait for it to appear? when is the last time you flew? try 60 minutes

there's no guarantee that you'll wait only 10 minutes for a checked bag, at LAS it's routinely 45 minutes and i get first class/priority bags (which mean my bags come out first)

at GTW it's an hour or more

and, of course, at airports around the world, frequently it's 24 hrs or more, because the checked bag don't make it

if the bag has to make the trip, you're making a huge mistake to check it, i'm tired of learning the hard way what i already know

i only a check a bag if i really don't care if it gets there or not

[closeupready]

45. Further, it's $25 to check now - in these times, that's real money.

n/t

[pitohui]

47. $25 or so EACH way for non elites

as a frequent flyer i'm not charged the fees but i still don't check a bag (too many delayed bags over the years frankly) unless it's really a long trip and i can put stuff in the bag that it doesn't matter if it gets there later

but i often wonder abt once or twice a year flyers who PAY to check a bag, so they're paying $20 and up EACH WAY for the inconvenience of standing around and waiting, semi frequently having the bag delayed and so on

if they would permanently lose the bag and give me the $600 for losing the bag it might be one thing, but they just "delay" the bag, so you don't have the use of the items you checked but you also don't get the money either

i just don't see checking a bag as being v. practical for the budget flyer

[closeupready]

46. It was free then. It's $25/bag now.

n/t

[seabeyond]

54. i never carry on. want it all in luggage so i dont have to mess with anything. BUT

i dont fly now.... for all the reasons this situation sites and so much more.

[Yo_Mama]

22. Yes, but it would have been anyway.

Frankly, if this poor man had a cut on his head, there is no sane person in the world who would not be more concerned with the health of the flight attendant than the spilled coffee. The HIV status is irrelevant.

Think about this yourself. If you were in a restaurant, for example, and you saw something drop on your waiter's head and he was bleeding, would you be hollering for another cup of coffee? Heck no, you'd be making sure he got help.

Head injuries can be serious - any headbonked person should at least be sat down, examined and observed, and if the person shows anything at all, taken immediately for medical treatment. Obviously taking a person with a head injury that hasn't been cleared by a medical person up into the air, with the associated pressure changes, is somewhat risky. In this case, the worker directly had responsibility for the safety of passengers, so it was even more risky.

Any human blood is hazardous. There are a range of much more contagious diseases than HIV to fear.

[dkf]

26. Actually I was thinking how that woman with the coffe spill

Would like to eat her words now because its not only a matter of human decency but of personal safety.

Even demanding asshole types would understand this.

[Yo_Mama]

2. So?

What the heck is your point?

He also might have any other range of serious medical conditions - would you consider it "wild" if he had cardiac problems, diabetes, cancer, MS or something like that?

[LisaL]

5. So he had a gash on his head.

And presumably still serving passengers. You don't think that's relevant?

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. If blood went into any open sore

perhaps.

This is not a flashback to the 1980s, is it?

[CreekDog]

66. "Universal Precautions" state that you treat bodily fluids as if they are dangerous

you don't decide that there's no harm because visually you've Dr. Frist-ed them enough to determine they don't carry any diseases.

:eyes:

[Poll_Blind]

6. +1

PB

[JTFrog]

7. He was hit in the head and bleeding.

How would having a cardiac problem, diabetes, cancer or MS affect others if they came in contact with his blood?

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Unless they have open sores

not at all.

[LisaL]

68. It certainly would not be unusual for someone to have an open sore.

If this guy had an open gash one would think he should have stopped serving passengers and gotten medical attention for his gash.

[Roon]

19. easy there, mama

I have aids and was stabbed in a grocery store and bled profusely everywhere, it sucked I had to tell everyone that I have aids.


My heart skips a beat everytime I bleed.

[Yo_Mama]

28. I'm not arguing

That a person bleeding should be trying to take care of business. Obviously he needed medical attention and he needed to get off the plane. I'm pointing out that the safety situation and how it should be handled by the airline is not affected by his HIV status.

And congratulations on your sense of responsibility for worrying about the health and safety of others even after you got stabbed. It seems like you definitely have a strong sense of responsibility toward others. At a wild guess, I'd say that if you saw a flight attendant get hurt you wouldn't be hollering about a cup of coffee.

I'm going to repeat it again - human blood is hazardous material. If I had to get bled on, I'd much rather get bled on by a person who is HIV+ than any person with a number of other much more contagious diseases. And a lot of people have things they don't know about - in any public situation where a person is bleeding, it ought to be assumed that there is risk to others from contact with that blood.

I guess my only other argument is that the welfare of a person who has been injured should come first, and that we shouldn't feed an unreasoning fear of HIV positive persons.

[nadinbrzezinski]

38. As a medic, I assumed that EVERY Patient of mine

had AIDS and Hepatitis. I still treated every patient with respect and kept their privacy... and I also used all kinds of self protection. Oh and fought a battle to get my medics to wear them damn gloves at all times as well.

I know what you are talking about. I got bit by a patient (no, he did not have any blood born disease) but getting the tests done to make sure was like jumping hoops.

The paper revealing this HIV status, or rather the cops, is a serious violation of patient privacy laws.

Oh and from having cleaned an ambulance more than once from all kinds of human bodily fluids (and once from a police dog), I know bleach works wonders.

Take care of yourself... and you know what to do... so I don't have to go there. (Yes early in the Epidemic one of my crazy jobs was to go to the LGBT community and give lectures on all of that.)

:hi:

[Roon]

53. Everyone wears rubber gloves anymore..

The doctors, nurses...the cops even..

[qb]

4. He was being responsible in reporting to the police that the blood leaking out of his head

was potentially hazardous.
As for news rags picking up on his HIV status as gossip, that's so 1980's.

[JTFrog]

9. Exactly. n/t

[murray hill farm]

10. Well....the guy is bleeding from a cut on his head....

and some passenger decides instead of taking care of the injury, he should stop and clean up a coffee spill...and thinks it is rude that he tells her he has to take care of his own bleeding first? And we debate this....geeezzzzz. HIV or not HIV ...what is wrong with people?

[burnsei sensei]

11. The arrest is a waste of police time.

The charges are stupid.
Talk to Slater and the passenger and let the damn thing go already.

[LostinVA]

16. +1

[jdlh8894]

23. Good mercy!

Ever had an airbag in a car deploy? Multiply that by (at least) 100. That's just the inside the cabin problem.Outside,the slide could have been ripped off and sucked into an engine,starting a fire,which creates an explosion and kills everyone on board.Hell Yes,he needs to be charged!!!

[jdlh8894]

24. Good mercy!

Ever had an airbag in a car deploy? Multiply that by (at least) 100. That's just the inside the cabin problem.Outside,the slide could have been ripped off and sucked into an engine,starting a fire,which creates an explosion and kills everyone on board.Hell Yes,he needs to be charged!!!

[burnsei sensei]

30. It should go without saying that

the man should lose his job and that the incident should be recorded in every reference he has.
That solves the problem and prevents any danger he might pose.
I don't punish people until said harm is actually done. If it hasn't been done and if it wasn't even consciously threatened, then the nature of the situation is different.
Reckless endangerment is fair because it describes exactly what happened.
Anything more severe is too much. His career is over. What the hell else do you want?

[pitohui]

43. he had a head injury

i do not believe in charging people for crimes, when they do not have the capacity to make choices about what they are doing

head injury plus changing cabin pressures plus stress == i don't see the crime here, i'm seeing a guy who had diminished capacity to make a good decision

is there any way this guy under normal circumstance would have grabbed a beer and hopped down the slide? of course not, but he had a FUCKING HEAD INJURY

i'm tired of this society, it's so cruel, our heads and our brains are physical organic beings that can malfunction when injured

charge the witch who didn't comply w. crew member instructions and banged him on the head w. a heavy bag or don't charge anybody, sheesh, i don't care which, but i don't want to see somebody hung out to dry who had a recent head injury and was almost certainly confused and prob. still doesn't know why he did what he did

[closeupready]

29. +1

n/t

[Renew Deal]

36. What about the cost to Jet Blue for repacking the slide?

And for taking the plane out of commission for a few days? And what about some loon running around on jetway of an airport? And lets not even get started with the theft.

[pitohui]

44. again he had a head injury

i would hope that everyone here who is baying for blood if you ever have a head injury or a brain disease that affects your judgement, you receive what you wish for others

[Renew Deal]

48. huh?

I'm not "judging" the guy, but he should have to deal with this actions (crimes). Others were hurt because of his behavior too.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

55. horsehockey...

he had the cognitive wherewithal to grab a beer and issue a few expletives on the way out...he was NOT suffering from a brain injury and to even suggest so is...well...just excusing shitty behaviour to put not too fine a point on it.

sP

[xchrom]

15. Wow. Very interesting. Thanks for the info. Nt

[JSK]

17. Hero Flight Attendant's Impassioned Online Warnings

http://gawker.com/5610368/hero-flight-attendants-impassioned-online-warnings

[Karenina]

27. Facts on the ground.

We ALL must pay much closer attention to them.

[Bluebear]

32. Why is his being HIV positive "pretty wild"?

I don't get it :)

[Roon]

34. Having aids myself...

I know what it's like to bleed with a bunch of people around, it sucks. Now I can understand what set him off.

[FreeState]

35. Do you watch Brothers and Sisters?

On the last show of the season one of the charters gets an HIV test (he's in his 70's and has not had sex in over 20 years, he got the test at the prodding of his gay nephew and his partner). At the end of the show he tells his sister he is not HIV+, but there is a car crash and they show him with blood all over his face, as his nephew comes to help him he says don't touch me.

It was a heartbreaking story-line. Im sure it will be developed more this fall, and Im glad they are coving HIV and older people.

[Roon]

50. I don't have a cable or a television set, but I would watch if i could

Sounds very interesting.

[Bluebear]

49. Gotcha!

Good health and long life to you!

[Roon]

52. Thanks Blue!

:hug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. Somebody failed at their Ethics course

and HIPA.

[pitohui]

41. the guy was hit on the head and bleeding

i won't comment on his hiv status, that's none of my business, i WILL comment that if someone hits me on the hit hard enough to cause a gash/bleeding (as i've clearly seen in some photo's) why is THAT person not being charged w/ assault or battery, as well as "not complying with the instructions from a crew member"

if the passenger who was acting up doesn't get arrested, how does he get arrested? two wrongs don't make a right, but if somebody hits me in the fucking head so hard i'm fucking bleeding...why not give me the benefit of the doubt for my actions, because i might not be in my right mind?

in other words, seeing the photos of his gashed head, and the place he was gashed (front of head, judgment centers) i cannot understand why the guy was arrested -- i think the charges should be dropped

but if anyone is arrested, let's start with the "lady" who bashed him in the head

if i bash someone in the head, i don't get to say "oh it was an accident" and it's "all righty then," it's then battery or some kind of negligence...

if they're giving the person who gashed the guy's head a pass, give him a pass

his hiv status shouldn't matter either way, he didn't cut his own head open and put anyone at risk...

[ProdigalJunkMail]

57. he got hit by a bag falling from the overhead bins

On EDIT : he got hit early in the flight...he was not suffering from a brain injury.

sP

[DevonRex]

51. I'm with the flight attendant on this.

He did what he had to do under difficult circumstances.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

56. pulling the slide or reporting his condition as HIV pos? n/t

[DevonRex]

59. At least reporting his status. That was the right thing to do.

But this carry-on luggage thing has gotten way out of hand. Maybe this is what will put a stop to it. I have an immune deficiency and have to take immune globulin (a clear human blood product in glass vials) on board. It cannot be checked because it has to be iced and it has to be with me at all times. It's worth more than its weight in gold. But because of extra fees people are trying to put large suitcases in the overhead bins and there is less and less room for necessary items like mine.

That woman should have been arrested for assault and battery. She injured the flight attendant and cussed him out. She put other passengers at risk. Yet she flew on to NYC as if nothing happened and even caused trouble when she got there.

I don't even blame the flight attendant for pulling the slide or grabbing the beer before he did so.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

60. I think the whole flight would have been better served

if she had been removed at the origin-point of the flight. Pulling the slide put people in danger...and was not the way it should have been handled. and you're so right on the stupid overhead storage...but the only people who can put a stop to that insanity are the gate agents who should see the HUGE bags (and far too many in number) and put a stop to it...once they're on the jetway...the damage is done.

sP

[DevonRex]

61. Yes, why don't they see those huge bags and make them check them

at the gate? That's where the problem starts. And yep, she should have been pulled off the flight immediately. What I wonder is if Jet Blue has a habit of not doing that on a routine basis and that is what made the flight attendant react the way he did in part. You're right he shouldn't have pulled the slide. But, if he knew that Jet Blue didn't normally take care of unruly passengers that might help explain his reaction a bit...

OTOH, after his reaction, they probably didn't want to cause any more fuss, either. So we may never know. It will be interesting to hear more about it, that's for sure. I wonder if the flight attendants' union might have a few words to say. Or is Jet Blue not a union airline? I don't know much about it, having never flown Jet Blue. Are there nonunion airlines? I'd hate to think so in this day and age.

[LisaL]

70. Assuming she actually existed, I certainly would agree that

someone smashing a bin on the head of a flight attender should have been removed from the flight.

[bigwillq]

58. I wish that dude would just go away

He is not a hero. At least not mine, even if he didn't start the incident. He lost his cool at work and acted inappropriately. He should be forgiven because everyone has a bad day. But a hero, no way.

[Hannah Bell]

62. he doesn't even get *paid* for it. i think i might lose my cool too.

That said, Slater definitely had his complaints. He pointed out that flight attendants aren't paid until the airplane door closes, meaning that they are, technically at least, uncompensated for the frantic seating of passengers and filling of overhead bins. "That entire boarding process is provided complimentary to you," he wrote. "The most difficult and challenging process of the whole flight is unpaid."


I am not blaming the passengers in any way for my compensation shortfalls. I am frustrated with many of them for their unrealistic approach regarding carry ons. I am frustrated with my carriers pay amd compensation package which doesn nto pay us for boarding or deplaning.

http://gawker.com/5610368/hero-flight-attendants-impassioned-online-warnings

[bigwillq]

63. That's unfortunate.

I hope that flight attendants can be compensated for this in the future.
However, it seems like Slater knew this but continued to work in this profession.
I still believe he acting inappropriately. Allegedly taking a few beers when he exited, what is he 16? :shrug:

As I said, he should be forgiven. Everyone has a bad day. He should even be able to go back to work. That is, only if he is able to handle the pressure and responsibilities that the job entitles.

I cannot support his behavior nor can I find him to be some type of hero.

[Hannah Bell]

64. it's more than unfortunate. it's capitalism, destroying quality for the bottom line.

Airline staffs hits record lows, with room to fall

NEW YORK – Full flights? Get used to them. Stressed flight attendants and call centers in India? Get used to those, too.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics said the level of U.S. airline employment in June was the second-lowest in 20 years, falling to 563,551 full-time equivalent employees. In the same period, annual passenger traffic jumped about 65 percent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100811/ap_on_bi_ge/us_airlines_employment

[bigwillq]

67. I don't fly

for some of the very same reasons you mention.

[cbdo2007]

65. Now investigators are speculating that he made up the whole story

about the unruly passenger.

[LisaL]

69. Well he certainly did have a gash. It's cleary visible in the photos.

But I now doubt the passenger hit him with an overhead bin causing a gash, because if that were the case, one would think the passenger would have been removed from the plane.
If he was hit on the head with a bin by a passenger, causing a gash, why did he not report it immediately?