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And losing jobs. I was distracted from my job of reviewing media coverage of the US election, when reading the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), by the extraordinary things that go on in the airline industry. The article that caught my eye was one on 13 Virgin Airline employees being sacked for what they said about passengers on Facebook. The airline reminded them that the customer pays their salaries. I’m with the airline on this one.

Cablecom should read this. I had an unpleasant conversation with one of their technical staff that went something like this:

Me: Hi. Our office phones only work for outgoing calls, not incoming ones, since I switched to the new modem you sent. May I please speak to someone who can help me work out the problem with the switcher we use with the modem?

She: Can you describe the piece of equipment?

Me: Switcher? Splitter? It’s a cable, really, not a piece of equipment.

Turns out she’d never heard of a splitter (delivered to us by her company) and she continued to talk over my explanations, insisting I give her a description of the equipment. When, exasperated, I asked to speak to her boss, she hung up on me. She probably has a terrible job, listening to complaints all day, and she sounded young so maybe she hasn’t had a chance to learn that such a job requires patience and good listening skills. I’m sorely tempted to cancel our business Internet, phone and TV account with the company; the only thing stopping me is the hassle.

Back to the airlines. It turns out Facebook isn’t their only problem – check out the “related coverage” stories on the SMH page. Polynesian Airlines lost a body in transit, en route to New Zealand for the person’s funeral. A Jetstar plane flying from Darwin, Australia to Singapore had to return home because of five drunk men whose pre-flight duty-free drinks caught up with them. Meanwhile, in the US, a cheetah got loose in the cargo. And in the Philippines a man lost his 20-year battle with the national airline that grounded him permanently because he was obese.

US elections are starting to sound rather dull.

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