JetBlue attendant wants his job back

The fed-up flight attendant who set a new standard for quitting when he abandoned his job via an emergency chute isn't as much of a quitter as everyone thought.

Steven Slater, 38, has said through his lawyer that he wants to go back to work.

"His hope is to return to the aviation business," his attorney, Howard Turman, told reporters as Mr Slater stood by his side outside his home in Queens, New York. Flying, he added, "is in his blood".

Mr Slater's career appeared to end after a JetBlue flight from Pittsburgh on Monday when he cursed at a passenger he said had treated him rudely, and then left via an emergency chute at Kennedy Airport. He was arrested.

Mr Slater would not talk about his actions at the press conference on Thursday. He smiled silently for most of the 10-minute news conference, then thanked the public.

Some passengers said he might have been disturbed by an injury. Lauren Dominijanni, 25, of Pittsburgh, said that when she asked Mr Slater for a wipe to clean up some spilled coffee, he rolled his eyes, blurted an exasperated "What?" and gestured to the gash on his head.

Asked about Mr Slater's desire to return to work, a JetBlue spokesman said: "He has been released of duty pending the investigation. There's nothing more I can say."