Flight Attendants Fired for Refusing to Fly on Defaced Plane

[AndaliteBandit]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/n...reepy-message/

It is pretty creepy, especially given how it hasn't been a good year for airlines. I probably wouldn't have wanted to ride on that as a passenger.

[Blueobelisk]

I don't know if I'd trust an airplane that could be tampered with without security cameras confirming the plane is fine, lol. Doubt anything bad will happen though.

[Tradewind]

I don't blame them, I would refuse flying on United too.

[Jester Joe]

I don't know if I'd trust an airplane that could be tampered with without security cameras confirming the plane is fine.

That alone would make me worry.

But seriously, firing them sounds a bit extreme.

[Reeve]

Yeah, if I were on that flight, I'd want to make sure the plane had a full maintenance screening before getting aboard.

[Jayburner]

i know graffiti artists stand on each others shoulders to reach improbable places to paint...that just creeps me out.

[Gumboy]

There is no chance I would want to fly on a plane I know vandals were tampering with. That airline should be punished, and that plane should be 100% inspected, at least twice, by outside of the airline people.

[RicardoZ]

I wouldn't have flown on it either. I can't blame the airline for letting them go after they straight up refused to do their jobs, but I can see their side of the story too. Tough one to call.

[Very Tired]

Any good terrorist knows after sabotaging a plane to blow, you leave small hints of it where the public will see it.

[Captain N]

I'm interested in what the Flight Attendant's Union is going to say about this. Terminating employees for refusal to work on a plane they feel unsafe on?

[Xeones]

I wouldn't have flown on it either. I can't blame the airline for letting them go after they straight up refused to do their jobs, but I can see their side of the story too. Tough one to call.

If I didn't feel they had done an adequate inspection of the plane I'd sue for false firing if my contract allowed it.

The plane has clearly been tampered with and we (sadly) live in a world where a bit of paranoia about such stuff isn't so paranoid.

[poser765]

Yeah, if I were on that flight, I'd want to make sure the plane had a full maintenance screening before getting aboard.

Why? It was probably maintenance that put the stuff on there in the first place. Security threats just aren't sneaking onto secured airport areas, hijacking scissor lifts, and making smudge drawings underneath the apu on a 747 (that's a 747 right?). To assume it's anything other then a bored mechanic being responsible is so far in opposition to Occum's razor it's laughable.

[Deleted]

Noobs.

Should of made speed holes to really spook them!

[announced]

the picture while very sloppily drawn looks a bit unsettling.
honestly though it seems justified. better safe than sorry.

[poser765]

Maybe I missed it in the article, but how the hell did the Flight Attendants even know the drawings were there?

[Gumboy]

Why? It was probably maintenance that put the stuff on there in the first place. Security threats just aren't sneaking onto secured airport areas, hijacking scissor lifts, and making smudge drawings underneath the apu on a 747 (that's a 747 right?). To assume it's anything other then a bored mechanic being responsible is so far in opposition to Occum's razor it's laughable.

A complete maniac of a mechanic that wrote "Bye bye" on a plane is not someone I would trust to work on a plane, sorry.

[Merkava]

A complete maniac of a mechanic that wrote "Bye bye" on a plane is not someone I would trust to work on a plane, sorry.

Sure, I understand that. But why do we assume flight attendants have a more highly tuned sense of risk assessment then the pilots do?

[Vanyali]

A complete maniac of a mechanic that wrote "Bye bye" on a plane is not someone I would trust to work on a plane, sorry.

the idea of a mechanic doing it makes it /worse/, holy shit. the image of a mechanic that would do that >_>

[poser765]

A complete maniac of a mechanic that wrote "Bye bye" on a plane is not someone I would trust to work on a plane, sorry.

Maniac? Really? I think we may be just a wee bit on the paranoid side. This is nothing. Literally nothing. There is and never was a security threat. if "bye, bye" smudged in grease on the underside of an airplane in a location you will never see bothers you so much I strongly suggest you not fly. Ever. I have seen FAR worse things smudged into grease or written inside of cargo holds.

- - - Updated - - -

Sure, I understand that. But why do we assume flight attendants have a more highly tuned sense of risk assessment then the pilots do?

We shouldn't. There are some great flight attendants out there, but there are some colossal idiots as well.

Me bet is a couple FAs wanted off the trip and saw this as their way out.

[AndaliteBandit]

Sure, I understand that. But why do we assume flight attendants have a more highly tuned sense of risk assessment then the pilots do?

Not necessarily more highly tuned, but it isn't unreasonable for them to have a lower threshold for risk taking. I could understand the flight attendants thinking, "I don't get paid enough for this shit."

- - - Updated - - -

Me bet is a couple FAs wanted off the trip and saw this as their way out.

If we're just throwing unfounded scenarios out there, maybe the pilots didn't really want to fly either, but kept their mouths shut since the flight attendants were willing to take the fall.