Working in airline industry can be difficult, stressful

A Mount Vernon woman who worked in the airline industry for six years is applauding the recent outburst by Jet Blue employee Steven Slater.

“I thought, “Gosh, good for you,” said Emma Aquino-Nemecek who worked as the director of the United Airlines Red Carpet Club in Los Angeles.

Aquino-Nemecek said working in the customer services department for an airline is “the worst place to work” as there is not a day that goes by without a passenger complaining.

“They get caught in a traffic jam, set their alarm clock instead of am to pm, so it's our fault,” she said. “Everything is our fault.”

Aquino-Nemecek understood that customers want the airline employee to listen to whatever is irritating them.

“I don't take things personally,” she said. “I let them vent when they're upset about something and try to find commonalities instead of focusing on differences. Try to find a solution to their problems.”

But sometimes, Aquino-Nemecek said a passenger's rude behavior is just too much.

“I've been called every name in the book, been pushed by one passenger, been almost hit by another,” she said.

Still, Aquino-Nemecek said airline employees are trained to maintain poise and politeness towards customers. Supervisors closely watch employee-customer interactions.

“You get rewarded if you're doing your job the best,” Aquino-Nemecek said. “But, also if you're not doing your best, you do get reprimanded.”

Aquino-Nemecek said working in the airline industry is stressful and that is why she believes there is so much employee turnover.

“You can just take too much abuse from these irate customers,” she said. “I mean, we're human. We don't have control over weather [and] the acts of God. What do I have to do with that?”