I'd like to have my say on the subject of cabin crew being unskilled and overpaid.
Many years ago (approx 16) I checked in to work a flight from LHR to BFS. I was the Flight Service Manager on that particular flight.
Shortly after take off there was an engine problem which resulted in the skipper making a diversion to EMA.
The engine problem was in fact one of the fan blades breaking off and getting sucked into the engine which resulted in the engine having to be shut down because of the damage that was caused.
The aircraft started to vibrate badly and the 126 passengers onboard were starting to panic. Including myself there were 6 cabin crew. We really had out work cut out for us in trying to keep everyone calm, collect in meal trays and secure the cabin. I took it upon myself to tell the crew to prepare the cabin for a emergency landing (ie absolutly no baggage on the floors etc) even though at this stage it was just a diversion.
The crew were fantastic, all remained calm and kept everyone else calm.
I think anyone that has been around a while may remember the outcome. We crash landed on the M1 motorway and the aircraft broke into 3 parts with the loss of 47 lives.
Please do not refer to cabin crew as over paid glorified waiting staff. I know and appreciate what happened to me was the exception, these incidents don't happen every day, but it did happen and it did happen to me.
Even to this day I can still re-call people screaming for help after the impact & the sight of dead bodies.
Lets all treat each other with a little bit of respect - its really not that much to ask for is it?