A flight attendant “accidentally” spilled a tray of drinks on American Airlines’ CEO Doug Parker.
She shared her story on Instagram along with a great picture with her boss:
So yesterday I worked a flight from Phoenix to Dallas. I had our CEO (Doug Parker) on my flight and I was just doing my job being the good little flight attendant I am, serving my predeparture drinks.
I have a tray of about 8 drinks on it when the passenger in front of me stops in the aisle and backs up. Hits the tray and the drinks go flying.
Guys I have worked for American Airlines for 4 years, and not once have I ever spilt a drink on a passenger.
Guess who they land on. Half of them were all over me, the other half in Doug’s lap. I WAS MORTIFIED, I wanted to drop dead right there in the aisle. (Like am I still employed?!) Luckily he was cool about it came back and we talked, we joked about it he rest of the flight.
When he was getting off the plane he told me he’d never forget me…. guess that’s a good thing right?
Most people never even meet their CEO let alone shower them in sparkling water and jack and cokes.
OOPS!!
What a great story to tell the grandkids one day!
On a serious note, kudos to Doug Parker for being so forgiving…I’m not sure I would be smiling if someone spilled three drinks on my suit…especially if it was an employee.
I know this news is a day old now, but I had to cover it here…I put “accidentally” in quotes in my opening paragraph because it could have easily been a clever way to take out some passive-aggressive energy on the CEO. But looking at the two smiling together, I think this was an accident.
image: Instagram // H/T: View from the Wing
Only once in my 30-year flight attendant career did I spill an entire drink on a passenger. It was also in First Class, and the passenger was a business man wearing a beautiful suit. I was standing in the aisle with a full glass of Coke, talking to the passenger before placing the tall glass on his tray table. The plane suddenly banked, and of course I banked too; just enough that without me being aware of it the glass tilted and to my horror toppled off the tray, drenching the poor guy; shirt, tie, suit, shoes… What a mess. Fortunately for me the passenger could not have been nicer. He was going home he said – not to work – and the suit was going to the dry cleaner anyway. What a gentleman. He could see I was mortified and did everything he could to make me feel better.
Kudos to American’s CEO for understanding how horrible the flight attendant felt.
This is a cute story, but why the scare quotes to imply that the accident could have been something else? Why suggest it’s even conceivably a “passive-aggressive” assault on the boss?
Unless you think the flight attendant is lying, why not believe the story as told, that a passenger behaved unpredictably, and suddenly backed up into her and her drinks? It’s STILL a cute story without the thinly veiled added drama.
They get paid to spill drinks on Parker? I would’ve done it for free.
Even if I had a photo op as I stepped off that flight, I still wouldn’t have been upset. At it’s most basic, it was an accident and should be treated as such. More importantly, it’s a unique opportunity to ingratiate yourself to people (employees and customers alike) with whom you almost never have an in-person interaction. Just as it’s charming and funny to read the FA’s post, the converse would be true had he handled it poorly. We’d all be over here calling him an out-of-touch bean counter who’s ruining everything. lol
In First, A FA on American dumped a full try of drinks on me at the beginning of a Five hour international flight. I was soaked thru to my bra and underwear. Thankfully, I had a change of clothing in the carry-on.