SAFETY CHAIN BROKEN

The FAA Breaks the Safety Chain

For over a generation I have supported the aviation industry. I have hosted flying events and promoted aviation groups. I've made every effort to improve aviation safety to ensure all pilots are properly trained to prevent an accident. I do not believe we should simply blame the pilot. My focus has been to ensure passengers receive safe travel. I even earned a PhD from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to solve aviation safety concerns: pilot error and lack of manual flight. 

Thanks to over 7000 concerned pilots I was able to address the Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) concerns regarding pilot error. I validated and defended my research, published my dissertation and wrote a book on the research:  Normalization of Deviance. 

The FAA, OIG, and NTSB know what is causing accidents and incidents. A lack of understanding due to training as a result of a negative safety culture, impacted by fatigue. Now we the have data to support those assertions. During my doctoral presentation I was asked what I thought the FAA would do when they learned of these results.  A couple weeks ago I received that answer: Absolutely Nothing!

The Greatest Threat to Aviation Safety

Is the Act of Looking the Other Way

I thought I faced Goliath in my fight for safety, but the truth is there may be no way to beat Goliath when the FAA is protecting the beast. Today is yet another broken link in the safety chain, because of the FAA's complicit behavior. 

How many links need to break before

the safety chain is irreparable? 

Duty Time Limitation Violations: 

Two FAA inspectors contacted me a couple weeks ago to advise me that their investigation for an airline's duty time violation was complete. They spent the better part of two hours attempting to justify their rationale as to why they were not filing a violation. These inspectors stated that airlines have figured out a "loophole" to the duty time regulations but stopping them was not in their "purview". One inspector even told me that, "All businesses find loopholes," as if that was an excuse. 

The Loophole to Safety: 

Pilots Commute to Work. This means we live where we want and commute to our base. Pilots take it upon themselves to get the rest they need before they fly. They sign the release stating they are fit for duty.  Commuting is not considered duty time because the airline cannot be responsible if a pilot commutes across town or across the country. Airlines schedule flights out of the pilot's base, and pilots get themselves to their base. If a pilot is scheduled out of another base, then the company deadheads the pilot from their base to that other base.

A Deadhead (DH) is when the company sends a pilot to another airport or base to begin their trip. Airlines who DH pilots pay them for the deadhead, provide positive space, and a hotel. This deadhead is scheduled with the required crew rest prior to their operating flight. Historically, airlines did not give positive space to commuting pilots, until Covid.

The COVID Justification.  Due to Covid, many airlines were giving positive space to commuting pilots due to limited seating. But airline management never does anything simply for the pilots' benefit, and there were underlying reasons. 

FAA's Positive Space Interpretation: This Covid related positive space travel has blurred the lines of a DH versus a commute in the eyes of the FAA.  A company is required to positive space a deadheading pilot, but since they now also provide positive space to commuting pilots, the FAA is using this as another pretext to enable airlines to violate duty times.

DH versus Commute Rest Requirements: When a pilot is deadheading, they are on duty and must be scheduled required crew rest. When a pilot is commuting, they are not required scheduled crew rest. However, the FAA inspectors told me that if a pilot "volunteers" for the trip, which would normally be a DH because it's out of base, that the pilot has waived all crew rest requirements, because a volunteer makes it no longer a deadhead but now a commute.  

The investigators explained that there is no definition for "commuting" in the FARs. Therefore, the investigators' commuting assertions are subjective opinions to the benefit of the airlines to enable them to avoid scheduling federally regulated required crew rest. 

PAID to Waive Crew Rest: Why are pilots waiving crew rest? Because the airlines are paying these pilots double time to fly the trip. I believe this negotiation could be construed as bribery in a court of law based on the following definition:

"Bribery refers to the offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of any item of value as a means of influencing the actions of an individual holding a public or legal duty."  https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/bribery 

Airlines are unduly influencing the pilots who hold a public duty to provide safe transportation to their passengers. Where is the FAA's public duty? Colgan Air is a perfect example of what happens when pilots are fatigued. 

Where is ALPA? ALPA has the duty to represent the pilot with safety as the top priority. Many contracts provide a stipulation for pilots to deviate deadhead. Meaning, they do not have to fly into the assigned base from their base, they can fly from home. This enables the pilot to go direct from home to those out of base assignments. However, those trips are on the schedule and a hotel is provided. It's a win win for all. The pilot is paid for the assigned deadhead leg regardless of whether they deviate or not, and the pilot gets a place to sleep prior to their flight.  

Of note, these high paying "voluntary" trips could also be scheduled in a similar manner. The pilot could fly the day prior and use the hotel for crew rest if they chose, or they could deviate per their contract. Instead, airlines, with full support of the FAA and ALPA, are scheduling the same day DH across the country to fly international trips, placing pilots on duty for 20-30 hours or more. 

The FAA has determined that volunteering turns a deadhead into a commute and no longer subject to the associated crew rest. Airlines do not want to pay an extra day of double pay and a hotel. My assertion is that if a pilot is placed on the schedule to operate a flight, whether they volunteered or were assigned they have been scheduled. When pilots bid are they not volunteering to fly certain trips? Of course they are.

Unfortunately, ALPA is condoning this workaround at the sacrifice of safety, and at the expense of the pilot who would receive both extra pay and a hotel to ensure rest. The question is why? 

Where is The FAA?

In 2016 there were similar duty time violations. Because the airline chose to kill the messenger, the FAA became involved due to an AIR21 investigation. I subsequently wrote a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to learn the results of that investigation. The airline had received a Violation of Order. Now, four years later, the same airline is doing the same thing, as are all the airlines... so says the FAA investigators. This should be of deep concern to everyone. The FAA knows of many acts of pilots falling asleep, and fatigue induced errors, compliments of the thousands of ASAP reports they receive daily. But the fixes are simply not there. 

I read an excellent book, Pulling Wings from Butterflies, by Captain Simkins who was terminated for not willing to fly fatigued. I hear far too often that pilots fear calling in fatigued. Therefore, I filed a report on the FAA safety hotline. The 2016 investigation was complete within a month finding a Violation of Order. The current investigation took the agency five months and they determined there was no violation for the exact same situation.

Why Then? Why Not Now?

My final question regarding this issue was: "If there was a violation for this exact issue in 2016, with the same airline, then please tell me... why then, why not now? What is the difference?"

The investigator's response, after a pregnant pause:

"I'm not sure if I should tell you this, 

but that file is missing." 

The investigators know there was a violation, but there is no file. One of the investigators appeared genuinely concerned for that missing file and he stated it would go in his report. Where is the file? Perhaps in the current FAA administrator's desk. Regardless, I suspect his fingerprints are all over that missing file.

There is one difference between the FAA in

 2016 and 2021: The FAA Administrator

It appears that with the current FAA Administrator, decisions are being made to allow airlines to violate regulations. Today's post is just the first of this nature and more will be forthcoming, because I don't know what else to do.  

Politics and Aviation Safety do not mix. The day Captain Dickson was selected as the FAA administrator was a huge hit to Aviation Safety. Multiple violations, that I know of, are being swept under the rug. How many more are there?  It takes just one event to cause an accident. 

I am bringing this to the public's attention because I am deeply troubled that the FAA is looking the other way, and I realize that I cannot do anything to fix it. I can only create awareness. But why should we wait until an accident occurs to hold the FAA accountable? Didn't we learn lessons from the MAX issue? Apparently not. This is the body that is supposed to serve and protect, and they are looking the other way. 

With all this said, there may be hope on the horizon. I still have faith there are people of integrity with ethics, and intelligence that could make a difference. 

Please join me in congratulating one of those aviators for his much deserved position. Captain Sullenberger is now the Aviation Ambassador. Personally I believe Captain Sullenberger should be the FAA administrator. We can only hope that becomes a reality sooner than later.  Aviation needs an FAA administrator that places public safety first and honors the purpose and intent of federal regulations. 

Enjoy the journey!

XO Karlene 

Embrace Your Superpower!

Be Proud of Your Differences! 

One of my favorite things to do just before bed is to snuggle into a hot bath with a cup of tea, sometimes with my friend Jack D. and a splash of melatonin, and read a good book. This morning my husband noticed last night's book at the side of my tub and said, with rather large smile, "I see you're upping your reading level."

As a matter of fact I did "up" my reading level, because I learned something new. I learned all about the magical world of Synesthesia. People politely smile when I say that I can smell the snow or feel the happiness of bright colors.  This doesn't come close to an amazing Synesthete. 

We don't all experience life in the same manner. For most of us, we smell flowers. Yet, can you taste a word? Can you smell a color? There are people who sense things differently. There are over 80 different types of Synesthesia. 

One of the most wonderful people I know, my dear friend Christy Gurley, learned she is a Synesthete. She is talented, creative, energetic and just a delight to be around. And I'm not surprised she has a superpower. 

After reading her fabulous children's book Sereya's Superpower, I thought about how many children  believe they are different for any number of reasons and think that's a bad thing.  But in fact, they just have a super power they never realized they had. If you know any child who feels they  are different for any reason, this is the book for them. For all of you big people who are different, you might want to read this book as well. 

It's those who are different who 

will change the world!

Christy not only wrote a book, but she is an artist too! 

If you want to get a copy of 

Sereya's Superpower and check out Christy's art, 

Visit her at 

Starshinedesignsart.com

Enjoy the Journey!

XO Karlene 

Happy Memorial Day

This Ground you Stand upon

With all it's freedoms

Was brought to you by a Soldier

Enjoy the Journey!
XO Karlene

Success Takes Time

Believe You Can 

And You Will! 

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: 

It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

Remember to Enjoy the Journey!

XO Karlene 

DRIVE!

There was Top Gun and Days of Thunder... 

Now there is 

Drive! 

Coming soon

Set in the 1980's a young woman racer is trying to find her place on the track, a place where the guys don't believe she belongs... Director Kyle Misak is also inviting you to be in the movie. Dress up in your best 1980's clothes and bring your friends to fill the stands. You can also bring your 1980s car if you have one. Email Kyle at ThrowBackPicturesOfficial@gmail.com and tell him how many people you'll be bringing. 

 Not only will you be in the movie, but you'll have three nights of seeing some incredible cars and racing. 

You're Invited to be in the Movie!
June 1-3

8 pm to Midnight
at the 

Lapeer International Dragway

Check out the Drive trailer to

see the talent supporting this film....

Making movies is not cheap. If you want to help get this movie off the ground please join me in supporting Kyle's fundraising event. How did I hear about this event? I received a link that included his most recent movie Autumn Girl. I was making note cards for my A330 studies and I clicked the link to allow the 20 minute video play in the background. I ended up stopping what I was doing and watched. The story was touching, the music fantastic, and acting was great. Better than I've seen in some big screen pictures. Kyle does an incredible job. I'd be honored if he directed one of my movies one day. But today... it's all about Drive. 

If you want to see the quality of his product and talent with his movie productions check out:  

The Autumn Girl - 

Short Film about Young Love

To learn more about Drive

More about being and extra in the movie

And how you can help support Drive

There is one place to go: 

DRIVE

Enjoy the Journey!
XO Karlene

 

Out of One Fire and Into Another

Fireman Turns Flight Attendant ... 

Until he was Burned! 

Graduation Day with his daughter

Flight attendant Clay Kallman was featured in the post "Who is Serving you Coffee?" with my promise to finish his story today.... so here you go! 

Clay has experienced a life with many challenges. But no matter what crossed his path, even the derailment of his planned career, Clay never gave up. He always did what it took to earn a living with a smile on his face. It's no surprise that each opportunity opened a door to the next. He is charismatic, intelligent, hardworking, caring, and passionate about health and safety. Everything an airline should want in a flight attendant. Yet, JetBlue terminated him. 

The big question is why? 

Before we learn of the event that JetBlue alleged to cause the termination, I want to share a little more of the story. When I wrote there were challenges in the early days of being a Flight Attendant at JetBlue, what that meant was... as an initial inflight instructor he found his time there to be an "abusive" setting where trainees cried daily. Not a culture he felt comfortable in. The schedules of a reserve flight attendant were also horrific. It wasn't until he was able to hold a line when he truly began to enjoy the job. But he did not go silently into those skies. 

While Clay was a fireman, he had created a fitness and wellness program at the Orange County Fire and Rescue. He tried to do the same thing at JetBlue. Clay was deeply concerned with the lifestyle of Flight Attendants at JetBlue to include the lack of healthy meal choices, sleep, fitness and medical support while at work. He not only pitched his ideas regarding health, but also how to reduce waste and minimize plastic usage to Joanna Geraghty the current President/COO. 

"She wasn't impressed. 

Especially my ideas to cut down on 

plastic and waste."

Crew in Malibu

For nearly seven years, Clay flew as a Flight Attendant without incident. Well, other than he was involved in a post on the "JetBlue Tell Inflight intranet" in which he criticized the rollout of a new cart program for serving food. He was required to attend a meeting on June 20, 2018 with JetBlue representatives including Wanda Garcia, Crew Relations Field Generalist, and Lenda Reyes, Kallman’s team leader to discuss his posts.  During this meeting he reported some very disturbing behavior that had been ongoing at Jet Blue.

Clay reported that some Flight Attendants and Pilots had been making anti-Semitic comments about the Jewish passengers who frequented their flights. Those remarks were so insulting and demeaning that I do not feel comfortable repeating them.  If you would like to read the complaint and see what he reported click here: Clay Kallman V JetBlue . The comments are on page three. 

The Flight Attendants and Pilots who made such anti-Semitic comments did not want to work those flights with mostly Jewish passengers. The comments were made in Clay's presence with blatant disregard for the fact that he himself is Jewish, a fact that his crew mates were aware of. 

Please note that there are incredible pilots and flight attendants at JetBlue who would never speak such things, but all it takes is a few. Even one is too many! 

Clay was assured that his allegations would be investigated and that a letter would be sent out to the Flight Attendants and Pilots indicating that management was aware of the situation and that such behavior is not acceptable. Clay was never contacted again about the matter and the promised letter instructing Flight Attendants and Pilots to refrain from anti-Semitic behavior was never sent out. Consequently, the anti-Semitic conduct about which Clay complained continued unabated. 

Third baseman for the JetBlue University Softball team

On June 27, 2019, Clay Kallman was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. This would change the course of his career. 

On January 3, 2020, Clay worked a flight to Buffalo, New York. The next day he went to the downtown Buffalo area in the late afternoon to watch the professional Buffalo hockey and football games. He began to feel ill shortly after and decided that it would be a good idea to take a taxi back to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, since he had to work early the next morning. 

When he arrived to the hotel, he was feeling even worse and knew that he needed food. He was exhibiting signs typical of a diabetic episode: disorientation, sluggish movement, impediments to speech, and “acetone breath.” Misperceiving his diabetic episode as inebriation, the hotel restaurant refused to serve Clay food, thereby aggravating the diabetic episode. He tried to explain that he simply needed to eat. They refused and called the police and he ended up in jail for trespassing.  Clay spent at least five hours in police custody without medical attention, blood sugar monitoring or nourishment of any kind until he was released somewhere around two in the morning (2:00 A.M.) on January 5, 2020. 

He had been scheduled to fly early on January 5th but was pulled from his trip.  On the 6th he attended a meeting with members of the JetBlue People Department. The Team Leader David Davis assured Clay that all he needed to do was provide proof of his Type II Diabetes diagnosis to back up his contention that he did indeed suffer a diabetic episode on January 4th. 

The Cop and the Fireman on the same crew. 

Despite the allegations made by the Hyatt hotel staff Clay was never asked to submit to any alcohol or blood sugar testing before or after being taken into custody.  I would think that if the police believed he was drunk that they would have tested him. Instead, they held him for a trespass charge initiated by the hotel, which was subsequently dismissed. 

On or around February 13, 2020, Clay began an email correspondence with Wanda Garcia, JetBlue Crew Relations Field Generalist, to confirm his Type II Diabetes diagnosis. Please note that Garcia had also participated in the meeting where Clay reported anti-Semitism that was never addressed. Garcia requested a doctor's note to substantiate his diabetic claim, which Clay provided to JetBlue on February 24, 2020. The event was over.  So he thought. 

Clay and his recently graduated students in Santo Domingo

Clay flew during the months of January, February, and March. Then, on March 15, 2020, JetBlue notified Clay that he would be suspended without pay while an investigation was being conducted into the January 4, 2020 incident in Buffalo. JetBlue’s suspension letter promised a “full and fair investigation.”  

However, on March 16, 2020 – just one day after being informed that the circumstances surrounding his suspension required a “full and fair investigation” and more than two months after the Buffalo incident, Clay was issued a letter of termination from JetBlue. 

The Fastest Investigation Ever!

How long does it take to open an employee's file to see that the he has been pushing for nutrition and health reform, is now a diabetic, but also a trouble-maker because he reported anti-Semitic comments?  That file closed and so did the investigation. 

Why Did JetBlue Terminate Clay?

Clay is a 60-year-old, Jewish, heterosexual flight attendant who has done nothing wrong but made efforts for improvement. He is also a diabetic. Why did they really terminate Clay? Pick a reason, but it certainly wasn't for drinking on his layover. Their "less than 24-hour investigation" that began 3 months after the event doesn't cut it. He provided the medical documentation requested. There was no evidence he drank, and the Buffalo police didn't believe it or they would have tested his alcohol level. 

Clay leaving Bogata 

Clay Kallman is now headed to court 

with the list of charges against JetBlue: 

• COUNT I Violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act Disparate Treatment
• COUNT II Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Disparate Treatment Based on Disability
• COUNT III Violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act Failure to Accommodate.
• COUNT IV Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Failure to Accommodate.
• COUNT V Violation of Title VII Religious Discrimination.
• COUNT VI Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Religious Discrimination.
• COUNT VII Violation of Title VII Hostile Work Environment.
• COUNT VIII Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Hostile Work Environment.
• COUNT IX Violation of Title VII Retaliation.
• COUNT X Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Retaliation.
• COUNT XI Violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
• COUNT XII Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Age Discrimination.
• COUNT XIII Violation of the New York State Human Rights Law Sexual Orientation Discrimination. (Heterosexual) 

Why the Lawsuit?

Filing a lawsuit is not cheap---financially or emotionally. The employee will spend years financing a legal defense. The airline has unlimited resources and will do whatever it takes to hide the wrong doings of their executives. I wish there was a way for shareholders to know how much money airline management wastes defending indefensible behavior of management. The airline knows that many don't have the resources to sue. How can you stand up to injustice if your paycheck depends on survival, and the company just took that paycheck?  I asked Clay his purpose for the lawsuit, and he said: 

"My goal with this lawsuit is to make JetBlue airways stop being tyrannical in regards to their treatment of flight attendants. Many other flight attendants have been terminated unceremoniously, like me, but they didn’t have the resources to file a complaint."

Clay is suing for the right reason... 

to make change for others.

When you do it for the right reasons

You don't give up!

What I don't understand is why JetBlue is willing to face the negative PR that this injustice will bring. I believe if the founder, David Neeleman, knew that this was ongoing it would have stopped before it began. I wrote a paper on Neeleman during my MBA. His story is fascinating. The only reason JetBlue is in business today, is because of Neeleman's character, integrity, and perseverance... which I believe to be similar to Clay's. I asked Clay what he would say to Neeleman:

"I’d tell Neeleman that his once proud airline has turned into a money grab for management, a power play for team leaders, and a hostile work environment for its crewmembers. He should keep his next airline private."   

Clay's Current Plans  

"My goal now is to do my own travel vlog with all the modern equipment and social media, while speaking out against abusive airlines. Airlines like Jetblue that do not offer proper nutrition, fitness opportunities, sleep, and support for pilots and flight attendants while on pairings. Then when these pilots and flight attendants need medical assistance, these airlines will always support their people and have trained medical personnel at all layover hotels, ready with proper nutrition at all times and do not terminate them for their illnesses."

Contact Information: 

If you want to reach out to Clay, you can email him at cjkmedic@aol.com

You can also find him on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook by simply typing his name: Clay Kallman. 

If you would like to reach out to his team leader, Lenda Reyes, you can email her at: Lenda.reyes@jetblue.com. Clay tells me he believes the Wanda Garcia, the Director of the People Department, was behind his termination as retribution for making Whistleblower complaints and anti-semitic complaints. Please feel free to write to Wanda too. Wanda.garcia@jetblue.com

Airlines count on employees to walk away.

But change will never happen if they do.

Good Luck Clay!

You are a champion in every way...

Stay Strong!

Enjoy the journey!

XO Karlene 

Who is Serving You Coffee?

Friday's Fabulous Flyer

Clay Kallman

I'm not waiting until Friday to post Clay's story. Friday will be dedicated to the continuation of this story. Today is to introduce a man who has found himself fighting for justice. 

I have met some extraordinary Flight Attendants throughout my career and have flown with some that became pilots. To have a fireman, nurse, pilot, bodybuilder, or police officer on my plane as a Flight Attendant always added comfort in the event of an emergency. Everyone has a story, and Clay's could be a novel. Enjoy the little snippet of the first few chapters of his life, as what happens next will leave you dumbfounded. 

Clay told me his father was a New York City detective for 20 years whose career advice was to “Be A Cop.”  Instead, in 1981 Clay graduated from the University of South Florida with a BA in Public Relations and Journalism. Yet timing in life is often everything.

"Just my luck, 1981 began the Great Recession and most jobs dried up. I took a job as an assistant manager with Showbiz Pizza Place with an additional responsibility as the regional marketing director in Jacksonville. Florida.  After two years the company began to have its sales drop dramatically so I left and moved back home with my mother in North Miami Beach, Florida. While waiting for something to pop up I became a server for TGI Fridays in the Aventura Mall."

My friend was a waiter with Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL). The cruise line seemed like a nice job, but not as a waiter, as an officer. I put on a suit and tie and brought my resume to their headquarters and asked to see the operations manager. The receptionist asked if I had an appointment and of course I did not. I told her that I would wait. Two hours later she told me that Mr. Horton would see me now.

We got along great and talked for about thirty minutes. I told him that I was interested in the purser position, left my resume and said goodbye. This was in 1985, just as CCL was dramatically expanding."

A few months later Clay's phone rang and Mr. Horton from CCL called to tell him he was hired as a purser. He flew to Los Angeles the following week at his own expense and started his new job. 

 "Viola, I was an officer on the MS Tropicale, the newest cruise ship in the world. It was a great year of cruising and life experiences."

Despite the many adventures and 

hobnobbing with famous people, 

he left after a year. 

Clay with Kathy Lee Johnson (Gifford)

"Wanting to leave south Florida, I settled in the beautiful beach town of Melbourne. I wanted to use my abilities as a public relations professional, so I put on a suit and tie and walked into the PR firm of Baumbach and Fisher. I talked with Dick Baumback for about thirty minutes and viola, he hired me on the spot.

Clay was an account executive, for about a year, handling public relations for aerospace and high-tech companies. 

"I had a knack for this and did very well. The constant brain strain of creating new PR plans and implementing them was fun for a while but quickly waned. I had my eye on a fledgling restaurant/bar directly on the beach in Indialantic, just over the Melbourne Causeway bridge in the seaside town of Indialantic.

One day I walked into the construction area where they were rebuilding the restaurant/bar and introduced myself. We talked for about 30 minutes and viola, I was the new manager and bartender. The Owner, Joe Foley, had a restaurant/bar on Duval Street in Key West, right across the street from the famous Sloppy Joe’s. He also had a 50’ sailboat docked a few hundred yards from the restaurant called Foley Square.

Clay lived on Joe’s sailboat and managed the bar for about six months until he returned to Indialantic to run the newly remodeled Beach Club. Burned out, he began looking for something different and left for Israel, and ended up staying for four months.  

"I had family there and my friend’s father had a business breaking boulders on the side of rock mountains in the town of Shaarei Tikva in the West Bank. I borrowed a car from my friend’s dad and travelled throughout Israel and stayed at my cousin’s Kibbutz named Ein HaMifrats, just north of Haifa. For three weeks I was a fish farmer. We were the tough guys of the Kibbutz. We started work before the sun rose and the six of us would drag large nets through the freezing water and gather the fish, squeeze out and collect the eggs from their gills and send the fish to market."

Working on the Rock Breaker in Sha’arei Tikva, Israel.

"While I was in Israel in 1988, the celebration of Israel’s 40th anniversary, the Palestinian uprising was occurring, the intifada. I had many close calls while driving through Arab areas. Jews had green license plates and Arabs had blue license plates. I became keenly aware when the color of the license plates went from green to blue. While getting this car inspected, I drove this car to the Arab town of Nablus with my green license plate, all by myself. As I left to get back to Shaarei Tikva, rocks were thrown at me as I drove. I ran all red lights and stop signs and got out safely. Now I had a legal car to explore with."

Posing at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

"I also studied with a friend at the Yeshiva Ohr Somayach, a college of study of the Torah in Jerusalem. I was raised an Orthodox Jew but not currently practicing. I did find meeting with the rabbis and fellow students very interesting. Mostly, they used the teachings of the Torah as tools to explain life. After spending about a week at the seaside resort area of Eilat, it was time to go home."

Clay's Bar Mitzvah

"I decided to visit my friends in Melbourne, Florida. I stopped by Indialantic beach and saw a guy from the gym I worked out with a few times, wearing a Palm Bay, Fl, firefighter tee shirt. We began talking about his firefighter job. He told me that he worked 24 hours on and 48 hours off and it was the greatest job ever. He explained that I needed to get my EMT certification and go through a firefighting course called Minimum Standards. The next week I was enrolled in the fire academy in the north Florida town of Middleburg."

Clay on the left after an all night fire

"I knew nothing about firefighting. I remember asking how the water gets from the fire hydrant to the fire. The class laughed at me. By the end of the five month course I was as sharp as anyone. I passed the state exam and moved to Orlando to take my EMT course while shucking oysters at a Calico Jacks restaurant. CJ’s gave firefighters 50% off all food and alcohol, thus I got to know many Orange County firefighters. Once I graduated from my EMT classes the firefighters guided me through the process of getting hired. In February of 1990 I was an Orange County firefighter."

Getting promoted to Lieutenant

1995 Fireman's Calendar

Proceeds benefited the Orange County

Firefighters Children's Burn Fund.

Clay also became a father and raised a beautiful and successful daughter. He was the public information officer for three years, and became a paramedic and a lieutenant.

"My firefighter career lasted 20 years."

Clay's Aviation Career was about to take off!  

"Meeting a friend one night at an Orlando Ale House, at the end of my firefighting career, about 50 years old now, I met several girls at the bar. They told me they were instructors at JBU, Jetblue University, and thought I would be a great flight attendant and they like to hire firefighters. About a year later I retired from the fire department and applied to JetBlue Airways for the flight attendant position. I was not hired."

Clay began a Vlog, a video blog about his travels. This was before YouTube. He called it the “FAN Club” FAN standing for Fitness Adventure Nutrition. 

"I bought a kayak and fastened it to the roof of my Aztek sport utility vehicle, put a bed where the backseats were, a mountain bike, in a new town, on my bike rack and took off up the east coast of the USA for an adventure. I posted photos and videos of my travels while writing a story about it every morning at a coffee house, in a new town, with internet. Then I would do it all over again. I had business cards made up and would pass them out to people to follow me on Facebook and to access my Vlog. It was quite a success."

Once he returned home to Orlando, he received an email from Jetblue which stated that he could re-apply, so he did. This time he got an interview and was hired. In his words, "I was so excited." But as many of you know being a new employee, pilot or flight attendant, the pay was nothing and the challenges were many. 

Clay with two of his classmates at flight attendant graduation

"Being on reserve in Boston, living out of my car until I could find an apartment was a challenge. Jetblue gave us no assistance with finding a place to sleep. I contacted Captain Joey in Gloucester, MA. I met him during my Vlog days. He has a daily blog called Good Morning Gloucester. I had featured him in my Vlog and he featured me in his blog. He knew someone in Gloucester that had a room for rent. I wrote them a check for $1,600.00 on the spot and had a home for the next two months."

As Clay said, the job as a reserve flight attendant had many challenges. But nothing that he could not handle. I suspect this was due to his initiative, attitude, and experience. Experience is an interesting thing. It provides abilities you would not otherwise have, but it also provides perspective and confidence. Being a flight attendant was not what he expected, but he tried to make it as enjoyable as possible. He also was not afraid to speak out to management.  

"I became an initial inflight instructor at JBU and found my time there to be in an abusive setting. I was mostly an errand boy and was not accepted by the staff there. None of my medical or firefighting training was utilized. They were abusive to the recruits with multiple students breaking down and crying every day. The pay was terrible and most mornings at 3:00 am that cell phone would ring and I was off on an adventure." 

"What a great job!" 

"Once I got a ‘Line” after three years, the job changed dramatically. I was living at my house, based in Orlando, and got to have layovers in exotic and wondrous places. I fell in love with Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Bogota, Colombia. The beaches of San Juan were wonderful. New York City, Long Beach, Downtown Boston, Portland Maine and Oregon were also my favorites."

Flying to Santo Domingo with Carlos Peńa,

an ex Major League Baseball player now an analyst.

During an Emergency

"I loved being able to use my paramedic skills to assist customers that were experiencing medical emergencies. I saved a few lives with simple maneuvers like opening an airway or giving juice to a low blood sugar diabetic, or diagnosing chest pains as not a cardia problem but anxiety. The pilots liked having me on their planes because they told me they could relax knowing I was there."

Then the unexpected happened

Jet Blue

Terminated

Clay Kallman

Not to leave you hanging... but I am. Friday April 30th, you can return to learn the details of Clay's termination. Appalling in every sense of the word. A lawsuit has been filed. While I am not an attorney (yet), I have learned a great deal about our legal system. A few things I know to be true: 

It's not about Truth, Honesty, and Justice, 

It's what you can prove in court. 

If you're lucky, you can prove injustice. 

Second, if you take the time to read legal cases and associated appeals, you will learn that Airlines often are not defending their illegal actions, but instead they are looking for legal loopholes to get away with what they did. I do not believe Jet Blue will get away with this. But you can decide. I invite you to return on Friday and learn why Jet Blue terminated Clay Kallman.

 

Until then... 

Enjoy the Journey!

XO Karlene