Southwest Flight Attendants Can Now Get Tattoos, But Something New Can Get Them Fired [Roundup]

by Gary Leff

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • Southwest Airlines flight attendants will be able to have small tattoos, starting March 20. They were just kicking new hires out of training for this.

  • American Airlines Flight Attendants Warned Not to ‘Self Help’ By Refusing to Serve Customers in Ongoing Contract Dispute when flight attendants engage in illegal job actions during contract negotiations, the union can point to telling crewmembers not to and say ‘wasn’t us’.

    But it is happening out there, I tweeted when a crewmember gave this instruction to colleagues on a flight a month ago:

  • Sure, why not let an airplane seat electrify my brain? “Embraer’s patented system would read passengers’ emotions and offer them deep brain stimulation”

  • Houston Hobby airport concessions contract about to be awarded and it looks like Pappadeaux; Pappas Bar-B-Q; Pappas Burger; Pappasito’s Cantina et al are out, with Europe’s Areas poised to win a 10-year deal. A group like this spreads the money around and lobbies effectively:

    Areas paired with several local partners on its proposal, including former state Rep. Helen Giddings, a longtime Dallas concessionaire who served with Mayor Sylvester Turner in the Legislature; Michael Harris, a lawyer and former Houston police sergeant; and Mario Cediel, a longtime concessions operator at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Harry Johnson, a Houston attorney known for leading the memorial of Martin Luther King Jr., on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., also is a partner on the deal.

    Under the Areas deal Hobby would see outposts of The Spot; Killen’s Barbecue; Longhorn Steakhouse; Yard House; and Spindletap Brewery as well as Raising Cane’s, Pei Wei, Starbucks, Throughgood and Clutch City Coffee.

  • American Airlines: coming March 8, the salads look alright but would a fresh sandwich really kill them?

  • Iranian immigrant flight attendant let go from American Airlines. She’s on a green card, her Iranian passport requires visas that an American wouldn’t have to obtain, and that limits duty assignments (or at least introduces uncertainty). Sad story, but American “will allow Gohari to apply for a position where she does not have to travel, like a gate agent.”

  • Reviews of the new Kansas City Sky Club are quite good.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  2. WN used to be the standard bearer for friendly cabin crews yet highly professional and extremely educated. That dynamic is certainly no more. Just garbage — trash cabin attendants that they are hiring now and it’s noticable when you fly them now. How sad

  3. The Pappas brand restaurants are a huge corporate conglomerate anyways, i don’t see much of a difference between them and Killen’s/Yard house/etc… it’s all kind of average, overpriced food delivered partially made and assembled in an airport kitchen, anyways. Clutch is better than Starbucks, though, although not by much.

  5. The Iranian FA needs to get her American citizenship if she /he wants to work for a US company that would not be burned by having a non US passport. She can always get a job at Iranian Air

  6. Ironically, I had one of the best burgers of my life, ever, at Pappadeaux Houston Hobby. Total surprised, for a chain inside a airport no less.

    Contrast with the arguments that I would have at my favorite Sheraton’s that would take my medium rare burger orders and deliver them beyond well done and tasteless. Finally a manager explained to me this was a corporate mandate. One should not eat at any establishment that has this policy, they are basically admitting they do not have any faith in their food storage and handling safety.

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