Deliver Us From Swedish Furniture

South Western - too sexy to fly….

Ahhh, South Western Airlines - the airline with a sense of humour, the fewest complaints and a nice line in fashion police. Yes that’s right, a woman was told she was not appropriately dressed to fly. Was she a member of the flight crew…nope. Was the dress really that short….nope. Can anyone think of any good reason why….er nope? You cannot believe that people can make this big a screw up in the public relations stakes can you….Oh, you can! Whoever was the cabin crew responsible for the decision, they messed up here and overstepped the mark, but it is a very strange job. There are not many jobs where on one hand you are totally subservient to the passengers wishes, while having to maintain authority.
Passengers expect you to serve them and cater to their every whim. OK, so maybe in the old days when ‘The Jetset’ meant something and planes were not glorified buses, but the attitude still remains in these days of no frills flying. On the other hand though, air cabin crew are responsible for the safety of the passengers and have to act in the same way as, for example, a fireman. When they check that you have your belt on they also need to check that the buckle is fastened with the release ever on the outside. I have seen people be really rude to the cabin crew when they are asked to make sure it is the right way round as it can seem a bit pedantic, but this one thing was found responsible for many deaths. One crash investigation found that after a plane caught fire on the runway it filled with smoke. Of those that did not escape the majority were stuck in their seats with the belt buckle fastened the wrong way round and they could not find the lever. So the crew have to learn to be very firm with the passengers when their authority is questioned…however it sounds like this showed itself here as a bad misjudgement compounded by a series of crew determined not to have their authority questioned…….