Illegally Eaten Sandwich, Workplace Escape, and Fights Onboard

Sometimes it’s not just passengers who behave strangely and violently during a flight. Flight attendants are also human, and human emotions, misdeeds, and sometimes inexplicable behavior are not alien to them. We found several incidents involving flight attendants. Some situations are completely unacceptable, while others, on the contrary, evoke only compassion for the participants in the conflict.

A Misplaced Bite British low-cost airline EasyJet fired its flight attendant after she “stole” a sandwich. This egregious case of theft was reported to management by a colleague of the woman, who caught her in the act. The airline accused the employee of gross violation of rules and theft, and the case was heard in court. However, it quickly became clear that the flight attendant suffered from allergies, and, unable to find safe food for herself, took a sandwich offered to her by a colleague. According to airline rules and policy, Shannon Gleeson should have asked her colleague for a receipt to be sure the sandwich was paid for, not stolen. Shannon and the colleague who offered her the sandwich were both fired. The former flight attendant’s defense secured a decent compensation (the amount is not specified) for defamation regarding theft.

“I’m tired, I’m leaving” A United Airlines flight attendant was suspended from flights after she inflated an emergency slide without warning and exited the plane immediately after it landed at the airport in Houston, an American city. After the Boeing-737, flying from Sacramento, pulled up to the airport building and stopped at the jet bridge, the flight attendant opened the door on the opposite side, threw out her bag, inflated the emergency slide, slid down it, grabbed her belongings, and silently walked away. The motives for the flight attendant’s strange act remained unknown. The airline refused to disclose details of the incident but assured that such behavior is not normal among its flight attendants.

“Million Dollar Baby” Flight attendants of the American airline Delta Air Lines got into a fistfight during a flight. The incident occurred when the plane was flying from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. The reason for the flight attendants’ brawl was a disagreement over the workflow during the flight. The ladies engaged in a fistfight, and a third flight attendant unsuccessfully tried to break up her colleagues. In the end, she was injured by the quarreling parties and reported it to the aircraft commander. After this, it was decided to make an unscheduled landing in Salt Lake City. Passengers had to remain in their seats for 80 minutes, after which the plane departed for Minneapolis without the instigators of the fight. What happened next with the flight attendants is not disclosed. We dare to assume that they will never be able to continue their disputes onboard the aircraft as employees.

Fancy a cup of tea? A flight attendant for the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair accidentally spilled hot tea on a passenger. The boiling water landed between the man’s legs, scalding the inner thighs and genitals. The unfortunate man was forced to remove his trousers right in the aisle to somehow alleviate his suffering. By suing the flight attendant and the airline, the victim managed to win 40 thousand dollars. The flight attendant did not lose her job, as her colleagues and witnesses to the incident claim that the man spilled the tea on himself.

Alcohol is to blame Muslim flight attendant Charee Stanley was suspended from work at the American airline ExpressJet for refusing to serve passengers ordering alcoholic beverages during a flight. A colleague of the dismissed flight attendant complained to management about an excessive workload, while Stanley refused to serve passengers. The fact is that Charee converted to Islam, and the norms of the religion forbid not only consuming alcohol but also offering it to others. This is what the flight attendant cited as her reason for refusing certain duties. The complaint from another flight attendant also indicated that Stanley wore a Muslim headscarf while working, thereby violating the airline’s dress code. ExpressJet sent its employee a notification letter, suspending her from work for a year and advising her to seek new employment. In response, Stanley filed a complaint against the employer’s decision regarding discrimination with the U.S. federal agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), arguing that no one should have to choose between career and religion. The complaint was rejected, and the flight attendant was suspended from work.