Steven Slater has made his final exit from JetBlue. The airline confirmed Saturday that Slater, the allegedly frustrated flight attendant who popped the emergency slide on an E190, grabbed two beers from the galley and abandoned the aircraft at JFK last month, is no longer with the airline. Slater achieved Internet folk hero status after his dramatic departure, allegedly triggered by an altercation with a female passenger who ignored instructions to remain seated until the plane was chocked. Slater later said he’d been bonked in the head by the passenger’s carry-on as she, against his instructions, pulled it from the overhead. Slater was later quoted as saying he wanted his job back but the airline deflated that dream with a brief statement.
Since the incident, other passengers have cast doubt on Slater’s story, including those who have said Slater’s head was gashed before the flight and that he was rude to them. Oddly enough, we don’t seem to have heard at all from the woman who was allegedly involved in the altercation and presumably had a front-row (or aisle) vantage point for what followed. We likely will hear from her eventually, however, as Slater still faces charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing and she will undoubtedly be a witness.
