United fires FA's for refusing to fly

saxman

Well-Known Member
Never heard of this until now. This happened in July. I wonder what the pilots were thinking. If my FA's have a security concern, I would take that seriously too. Hope they get their jobs back.


http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/nati...ts-security-san-francisco-hong-kong/21380813/
Thirteen flight attendants who were fired by United Airlines for refusing to fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong because of a security concern have filed a federal complaint to get their jobs back.

Before United Flight 869 took off July 14, crewmembers noticed the words "BYE BYE" and two faces drawn in oily residue on the plane's tail, according to the 26-page complaint filed Tuesday with the Labor Department. One face was smiling but the other was "devilish," the complaint said.

The graffiti was written on part of the plane 30 feet above ground, which would have required equipment to reach, and airline officials were uncertain whether it was written in San Francisco or its previous location at Incheon Airport in Seoul, South Korea, according to the complaint.

The flight attendants refused to fly unless the more than 300 passengers were taken off the Boeing 747-400 and the plane was searched thoroughly for explosives, according to the complaint. The flight was canceled for lack of crew.

United fired the flight attendants for insubordination after supervisors ordered them to fly. Christen David, a United spokeswoman, said all of the airline's and FAA's safety procedures were followed in the incident and that the plane was deemed "entirely safe to fly."

"Our flight operations, safety and maintenance teams appropriately investigated and determined there was no credible security threat," David said. "We cannot comment further on the details of this pending litigation, but we intend to defend against it vigorously."

The complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration contends that the workers are protected as whistle-blowers from retaliation for reporting air safety and security threats. The flight attendants are seeking reinstatement, back pay and compensatory damages.

One of the flight attendants, Grace Lam, said the fired workers "were not willing to bow to United's pressure to ignore an unresolved security threat even though the company made clear that we risked losing our jobs."

David Marshall, who filed the complaint as a partner at Katz, Marshall & Banks, said the flight attendants with a combined 299 years of experience were worried about security threats after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March and a Transportation Security Administration warning about consumer electronics the week before the flight.

"Our clients are entitled to legal protection for doing what was right," Marshall said.

In addition to Lam, the flight attendants are Illya Bin Abdollah, Reshma Abdul Khader, Doris Chu, Sangeeta Shama Khanna, Tak Man Lai, Alison Yim Mei Ma, Sailesh Mohan Malkani, Evans Francisco Jesus Mendonica, Pauline Quak, Josephine Wai Nga Tse, Wai Lok Tsoi and Winson Yip.
 
I need more info...the article really doesn't explain how it all went down, I'd like to know United's side of the story.

The image in question on the tail wouldn't worry me too much.
 
What's your take on the story?

That corporate security, DPS, operations, etc. cleared the plane yet for the FAs still refused to take it. It reaches a point where you are being too cautious. I'm guessing someone saw an easy way to have a day off.
 
That corporate security, DPS, operations, etc. cleared the plane yet for the FAs still refused to take it. It reaches a point where you are being too cautious. I'm guessing someone saw an easy way to have a day off.

Don't know if that's the case. I think someone told them about it, the FA's never saw it and it their minds it became much bigger than it was. Then one or two FA's got everyone else excited and the whole thing mushroomed into a FA meltdown. The only thing they didn't do was grab 2 beers and pop a slide.

Mean while some guy who flushes the bathroom tanks is shaking in his boots because he did it meaning nothing more than what it said,

images
 
Probably worried their cats were gonna get lonely :p

BUT NAO THERE'S THE CAT CAFE!

Back in my 727 plumber days, we had a flight attendant who was one of the "auxiliary" types. Basically flew once or twice a quarter in order to keep pass benefits but very much seemed the type that had "graduated" and really didn't need to work.

Yay. My favorite.

Anyway, the first class closet had a broken latch and was on MEL so there was this big red line of tape that was marked "DO NOT USE".

She comes to the cockpit in a tizzy and demands they bring another aircraft from the hangar because not only was it unairworthy, it was also an "aberration for her first class passengers".

MEL checked out, the paperwork was good and the captain said that we were going to Birmingham with or without her and to make a choice.

Not that it's sequitur to what went on pertaining to the topic at hand, but just thought I'd share.
 
BUT NAO THERE'S THE CAT CAFE!

Back in my 727 plumber days, we had a flight attendant who was one of the "auxiliary" types. Basically flew once or twice a quarter in order to keep pass benefits but very much seemed the type that had "graduated" and really didn't need to work.

Yay. My favorite.

Anyway, the first class closet had a broken latch and was on MEL so there was this big red line up tape that was marked "DO NOT USE".

She comes to the cockpit in a tizzy and demands they bring another aircraft from the hangar because not only was it unairworthy, it was also an "aberration for her first class passengers".

MEL checked out, the paperwork was good and the captain said that we were going to Birmingham with or without her and to make a choice.

Not that it's sequitur to what went on pertaining to the topic at hand, but just thought I'd share.
Hah. Sounds like my Lidar operators that try to make decisions about the flight. "We need to do x or x now."
"Hah? Oh yeah? Plane's over there, have fun."
 
BUT NAO THERE'S THE CAT CAFE!

Back in my 727 plumber days, we had a flight attendant who was one of the "auxiliary" types. Basically flew once or twice a quarter in order to keep pass benefits but very much seemed the type that had "graduated" and really didn't need to work.

Yay. My favorite.

Anyway, the first class closet had a broken latch and was on MEL so there was this big red line of tape that was marked "DO NOT USE".

She comes to the cockpit in a tizzy and demands they bring another aircraft from the hangar because not only was it unairworthy, it was also an "aberration for her first class passengers".

MEL checked out, the paperwork was good and the captain said that we were going to Birmingham with or without her and to make a choice.

Not that it's sequitur to what went on pertaining to the topic at hand, but just thought I'd share.
Two Three waters and a trash bag, please.
 
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