He was a hero on Alaska Air 1282. Now he’s picketing for ‘livable’ wage

Steve Maller, a flight attendant for nearly 20 years, was one of the flight attendants on the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 when a door plug blew out.

Steve Maller, a flight attendant for nearly 20 years, was one of the flight attendants on the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 when a door plug blew out. With the plane at 16,000 feet, the air pressure in the cabin plunged. Clothing and phones ripped from terrified passengers and flew out through the gaping hole. Maller helped make sure passengers were safe and breathing oxygen during the plane’s harrowing descent. For his work under pressure, he and other flight attendants on board received praise and thanks from many of the airline’s top executives, including an email from Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci. “He was very complementary of the crew for our actions,” he said. But Tuesday, Maller was on picket lines, along with thousands of other flight attendants from most of the nation’s major airlines, protesting for better pay. “It’s kind of a strange juxtaposition,” Maller said recently about the upcoming picket plans. “I appreciate him reaching out. That’s great. But there’s more work to do.” Maller said he can’t speak about details of the flight because of the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. But he did say he’s also proud of how the flight attendants on board responded.