Tag Archives for pilot.
A Malaysia Airlines first officer was detained in Jakarta after customs officers allegedly found 70,114 ecstasy pills and methamphetamine in his bags following a flight from Kuala Lumpur. Investigators say he admitted to earlier drug runs, tested positive for meth, MDMA, and cocaine, and could face Indonesia’s severe narcotics penalties, including the death penalty for large-scale importation.
A few months ago, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom was under pressure from unions, operational failures, takeover chatter, and questions about whether he would survive. Now the pilots union is still unhappy, but the complaints have shifted to more ordinary contract-positioning issues: lost internal tools, layover hotels, and whether pilots should be reimbursed for Uber Black.
Delta’s pilot union has launched a passenger-advice site that points travelers to delay tips, DOT complaints, compensation rules, and Elliott Advocacy, but the real message is aimed at management. As Delta struggles to recover from disruptions, pilots are trying to frame cancellations as a management failure of staffing, scheduling, technology, and operational investment ahead of contract negotiations.
American Airlines has reportedly removed broad employee access to a boarding tool pilots and flight attendants used to see boarding progress, inbound connections, likely misconnects, elite passengers, and gate details in one place. The read-only tool could help crews take care of customers, but American has long preferred centralized control over holding flights, even as it says it wants better customer-service scores.
An Air Canada Express flight from Newark to Halifax diverted safely to Boston after the captain suffered an apparent seizure midflight. Passengers helped restrain him in the cabin while the first officer flew the PAL-operated Dash 8-400 to Boston, where medical personnel met the aircraft and took the pilot to the hospital.
A Royal Jordanian pilot told passengers while flying over Israel that they were over “Palestinian lands” and called Jerusalem the “eternal capital of Palestine.” The announcement drew anger in Israel and talk of treaty consultations, though threats to pull Jordanian overflight rights are unlikely to go anywhere.
An Air Canada captain was arrested after allegedly flying hundreds of flights without the required captain-level license, though the airline says he held valid co-pilot credentials and recurrent training.
A viral video showed a Colorado Rockies coach sitting in a United cockpit midflight. The pilots were fired, the FAA investigated, and the captain now argues she was retaliated against for reporting the incident, but the security breach happened on her watch.
Delta passengers say they flagged a first officer who appeared intoxicated before their Charlottesville–Atlanta flight, and law enforcement ultimately removed her from the aircraft. Delta called it a “safety issue,” but the flight did not leave for nearly 10 hours — finally departing after midnight with a new crew.
Shortly after takeoff from Las Vegas, a Southwest captain was struck in the head by the cockpit heads-up display hard enough to leave him seeing stars and vomiting, forcing the flight to turn back.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
