JetBlue flight attendant emerges as cult hero

A day after grabbing headlines for his dramatic exit from a JetBlue plane, Steven Slater has become a cult hero for venting his frustrations at passengers.

With his profane rant and trip down an emergency slide, Slater enacted the fantasies of those frustrated "with rude people," said Alan Hilfer, director of psychology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn. "It is everyone's fantasy when they get fed up to go out in style - he literally bailed," Hilfer said.

On the social networking website Facebook, dozens of groups sprang up literally overnight dedicated to Slater, with one founded hours after the incident now having more than 25,000 fans. Many have left messages wishing him well, and a few even offered to pay his bond, set by a judge at $2,500.

Flight attendants face harsh abuse on a regular basis, as confined space in an aircraft cabin amplifies tensions, Hilfer said. "I think it is a tougher job than a lot of us make it out to be," he said. "It's hard to deal with tired and belligerent passengers who don't want to fasten their seat belts or stow their baggage."