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Aug 9, 2004
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JetBlue Flight Attendant Fired For Fatigue

Long Beach, CA, March 23--JetBlue flight attendant Carolyn Livingston was fired last week after being bullied into working a flight that put her over the FAA maximum flight attendant duty period. The company accused her of sleeping on the job. She maintains that she was not, although she said she had tried to get herself and her crew released from the flight due to fatigue.

On February 17, Livingston, 35, was lead flight attendant of a four-member cabin crew that was to work a red-eye flight from Long Beach, CA, to Fort Lauderdale, FL, and back the next morning without a break. They were scheduled to report to the airport at 8:20pm and take off at 9:20pm. The flight was delayed two and a half hours, and didn't leave until 11:30pm.

During the flight, Livingston told the pilots to call the cabin crew in fatigued, as they were too tired to work the return flight back to Long Beach Airport, which would now put them over the FAA maximum 14-hour duty day.

When they landed in Fort Lauderdale, an In-flight supervisor met the plane and informed Livingston and her crew that there were no hotel rooms available in Fort Lauderdale, and that they would have to fly them all the way to New York’s JFK airport to get a hotel room if they refused to continue the trip. The supervisor also told Livingston that the return flight to Long Beach would have to cancel unless she and her crew agreed to work it.

Livingston’s crewmembers then decided to change their minds and work the return flight back to Long Beach.

“At this point I felt pressured to work the flight back, too,†Livingston said. “The supervisor intimidated me by telling me that they would have to cancel the flight if we didn’t work it. Plus, she didn’t seem to want to accept no for an answer. She informed us that they wouldn’t be able to get us a hotel room in Fort Lauderdale if we decided to stay.â€

Livingston said she finally decided to go ahead and work the flight home, as it seemed to be the easiest solution for everyone involved.

Three weeks later, Livingston’s supervisor notified her of a report from a fellow crewmember that stated Livingston had been sleeping on one of the jumpseats in the back galley during the flight back to Long Beach on February 18. Sleeping on the jumpseat is a fireable offense at JetBlue. Subsequently, Livingston was placed on suspension pending an investigation.

On March 16, Livingston was terminated from JetBlue. The reason given: sleeping on the jumpseat.

“I was shocked. I absolutely was NOT sleeping on the jumpseat,†Livingston said. “Management concocted that as an excuse to fire me for attempting to call in fatigued for the flight.â€

Fatigue is not a new issue for the airline crews. Indeed, it has been a major concern since the dawn of aviation. It is especially important since it impacts airline safety. Pilot fatigue has been blamed for many crashes through the years.

“Apparently safety is not JetBlue’s number one concern,†Livingston said. “Otherwise they would have allowed us to call in fatigued and relieved us from the flight. I told the oncoming pilots that we had called in fatigued, and they were shocked that In-flight didn't release us. In their opinion that was a complete no-no.â€

Not only does crew fatigue impact airline safety, but also crewmembers’ health. In recent years flight attendant and pilot unions have been trying to push for stricter federal regulations regarding required crew rest and maximum duty days. Many airlines like JetBlue, however, find ways to intimidate their employees into flying past the federally mandated daily limits.

Livingston, a single mother, stated she felt she had no chance of appealing to get her job back.

JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said the company does not comment on crewmembers to the public.

JetBlue flight attendants are not unionized.
 
You know that this is really terrible what Jetblue is doing. First the press starts how the company is unprofitable and next they start messing with it's employees. This meausure up to how most airline are the first 5 years and now life changes. They end up unprofitable and start treating the employees and staff like dirt. I think this is cruel what they did with this Wilson girl. You treat your employees harsh they start turning against you. CWilson... be strong i don't agree with what Jetblue is doing with these west coast trips. I am a flight Attendant myself with UAL. Yes, Jetblue treats us good but this does not make me look up on JB. I often buy tickets to commute on JB. I often hear f/a in the galley talking down on how jetblue is changing now. Enough said.. It's just terrible to hear this now with JB.
:p
JetBlue Flight Attendant Fired For Fatigue


Mod note- please do not quote an entire lengthy post. It makes the boards more difficult to read and longer to download for some people. Thanks.
 
You know that this is really terrible what Jetblue is doing. First the press starts how the company is unprofitable and next they start messing with it's employees. This meausure up to how most airline are the first 5 years and now life changes. They end up unprofitable and start treating the employees and staff like dirt. I think this is cruel what they did with this Wilson girl. You treat your employees harsh they start turning against you. CWilson... be strong i don't agree with what Jetblue is doing with these west coast trips. I am a flight Attendant myself with UAL. Yes, Jetblue treats us good but this does not make me look up on JB. I often buy tickets to commute on JB. I often hear f/a in the galley talking down on how jetblue is changing now. Enough said.. It's just terrible to hear this now with JB.
:p
I think this is cruel what they did with this Wilson girl.

JetBlue flight attendant Carolyn Livingston was fired last week after being bullied into working a flight that put her over the FAA maximum flight attendant duty period.

ok, Is this Wilson or Livingston?.... One has to wonder WHO is doing the Sleeping around here....
 
I think this is cruel what they did with this Wilson girl.

JetBlue flight attendant Carolyn Livingston was fired last week after being bullied into working a flight that put her over the FAA maximum flight attendant duty period.

ok, Is this Wilson or Livingston?.... One has to wonder WHO is doing the Sleeping around here....

Just guessing, but it appears she goes by livingston now, and is a single parent. Her email address in an AOL address that has "wilson" as her last name. So If I were making assumptions, i'd assume that the wilson name was her married name, and she didn't want to put all the effort into changing her email address and telling every person she ever met what her new email address is.... but that's just me guessing... :D .

FWIW, the troll that "turned her in" should have her little troll self blanket partied. If you have a problem with a fellow crew member "resting her eyes" during a red eye, then wake her @ss up. Now she ain't sleeping, and you got nothing to report. It just blows my mind that someone would stoop to this level. Is this the corporate culture at Blu?
 
You have to keep in mind that it's not just JetBlue corporate policy that forbids sleeping on the jumpseat. It's a Federal Air Regulation (FAR). Working crew members are not to supposed to sleep while on duty--except during specified crew rest periods (as in International) and in passenger seats or bunks designated for crew rest. I may be wrong about this, but I think that crew rest is only allowed where FAA minimum crew can continue to work while one or more crew members rest--i.e., flight is staffed with more than minimum crew.

This is not an apology for the rat of a fellow crewmember who turned her in. You are right. If someone saw her asleep they should have awakened her and told her to go drink some coffee.
 
Oh well, perhaps this will spike the kool-aide for some of the 'true blue' employees at Jetblue and make them understand that their company doesn't give a crap about it's employees.
 
Intimidated into working the flight by a gate agent?
Pah-leeze! This woman is on the aircraft for "your saftey" and she's "intimidated" by a gate agent? I hope nothing serious....or even NOT serious happens on any of her flights. She more than likely wouldnt be able to deal with it.

Violation of 14 hours? No, not really. FAR's state f/a's can not be SCHEDULED over 14 hours. Actual vs. scheduled leaves some breathing room.

No rooms in FLL? I dont find that hard to believe. Sleep in the boarding area, or d/h to JFK? Hmmmm....I think I'd opt for the d/h.

To many holes in this story. No pity here.
 
I also happen to think sleeping does reach meet the definition of just cause however if it's a one time thing it might be in the companies best interest to keep a good worker.
Was she sleeping or praying/meditating
 
I heard that she was never sleeping, and that is verified by the other f/a's working. She didn't do what JetBlue asked of her and they showed everyone what happens when you don't obey Mother Blue.
 
I heard that she was never sleeping, and that is verified by the other f/a's working. She didn't do what JetBlue asked of her and they showed everyone what happens when you don't obey Mother Blue.

I heard that she opened the forward door at cruise and jumped out and was dancing on the wing before she came in and took a nap. Ain't hear-say great (and usually not the truth)? The truth is...

1) only the people on the flight know for sure exactly what happened.

2) somebody ratted her out (wrongfully or rightly)

3) she will defend herself and tell a story that will make you believe she is innocent and the company has to defend themselves and will make you believe she is guilty

4) As always...the truth lies in the middle. Hear-say gets pretty ridiculous once it gets several generations from the source (which...as pointed out in #3...is usually not completely accurate to begin with).
 
It seems extremely likely that when she called in FLL and tried to get out of the flight but JetBlue made a BIG issue out of it, that they were going to make an example of her. You are correct that hear-say is nothing more than a rumor. I just find it odd that she happened to 'fall asleep' (yet no one working on the flight says she was) and the company fired her.

They are walking right into the union net if they keep this up. They are really infuriating people there. I know of 2 cases where the f/a's who sling the bags into the bins (as is required) were not only denied occupational when they were hurt doing so but also had their medical benefits cancelled.