pilot

Tag Archives for pilot.

EEOC Is Suing United Because They Won’t Let Alcoholic Pilot Fly Without Attending AA

by Gary Leff on July 21, 2020

Jul 21 2020

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit Monday against United Airlines arguing that they violated a pilot’s religious liberty by insisting he attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, arguing he should be permitted to substitute a Buddhist alternative.

In 2018 the entered an alcohol treatment facility and lost his pilot’s license. There’s a process to regain his license. This includes completing a substance abuse treatment program geared towards pilots. At United Airlines that includes attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and completing “at least the first five steps of AA’s 12-step programme.”

It Was Illegal For This American Airlines Pilot To Fly, But Refusing To Let Him Fly Was Illegal Too

by Gary Leff on July 10, 2020

Jul 10 2020

Companies are frequently faced with a dilemma where they have to choose between acting ethically and acting legally. But it’s shocking to find a situation where a company is faced with a binary choice, and either option they choose is illegal.

That’s apparently the situation American Airlines found itself in when pilot Major General Thomas Harwood III ended his tour of duty with the U.S. Air Force Reserve and sought to return to active status with the airline.

United Airlines Pilot Sues The Westin Denver Airport Over Indecent Exposure Arrest

by Gary Leff on April 21, 2020

Apr 21 2020

A year and a half ago police stormed the Westin Denver airport room of a United Airlines pilot, arresting him for dancing, gyrating and waiving” naked in front of the TSA screening checkpoint below the window of his room.

Police entered with guns drawn. He was naked. He took a phone call, he said, just as he was about to get into the shower…

American Airlines Pilot Caught In Gunfire Outside Puerto Rico Strip Club

by Gary Leff on February 5, 2020

Feb 05 2020

American Airlines flight AA1528 from San Juan to Philadelphia was delayed 7 hours and 45 minutes on Monday when pilot Mathew Stapula didn’t show up at the airport. He was killed outside a San Juan strip club early Sunday morning. American sent a new crew member to operate the flight.

The strip club was the scene of another fatal shooting in late September.

Last Night My Pilot Took A Bottle Of Wine From The Galley On His Way Off The Plane

by Gary Leff on December 19, 2019

Dec 19 2019

Two years ago American had to apologize to its pilots over a photo of pilots mixing cocktails in its inflight magazine – the image of pilot drinking is that serious – and that’s even without getting into issues of stealing the bottle from the plane.

Man Identifying Himself As An American Airlines Pilot Is Making Threats On Twitter

by Gary Leff on December 16, 2019

Dec 16 2019

A man identifying himself as an American Airlines pilot is threatening a travel blogger on twitter because the blogger has exposed the poor service offered by the airline in international first class, in a flight attendant’s own words.

The pilot is threatening to abuse his authority and kick travel blogger Ben Schlappig off of American Airlines flights if he finds himself piloting a plane Ben is flying. The chances this could happen are reasonable as Ben is a long-time American Airlines Executive Platinum member.

United Sioux City Crash Pilot Al Haynes Has Died at Age 87

by Gary Leff on August 26, 2019

Aug 26 2019

The Sioux City crash is one of the most famous of the last forty years. A DC-10 from Denver’s old Stapleton airport to Chicago O’Hare had 296 passengers and crew on board. 111 people died in the United Sioux City crash, but it’s considered a miracle and a testament to the crew on board that the rest survived.

I Just Cried: Southwest Pilot Brings His Father’s Body Home From War, 52 Years Later

by Gary Leff on August 8, 2019

coffin with american flag being carried off tarmac

Aug 08 2019

On May 19, 1967, Roy Knight, Jr. was shot down in Vietnam. The Air Force major was “attacking a target on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. He was missing in action, promoted to Colonel, and seven years later declared killed in action.

The Southwest Captain, who brought his father back to Dallas where he’d said his goodbyes 52 years earlier, can now close a chapter on a life that was “posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and six Air Medals for his actions.”

Boeing 747 Pilot Takes a Nap in Cockpit Mid-Flight, the Co-Pilot Rats Him Out and Gets Disciplined

by Gary Leff on February 23, 2019

Feb 23 2019

A pilot of a China Airlines Boeing 747 is filmed – by another pilot int he cockpit – taking a nap during a flight. The SkyTeam member airline and Delta partner has disciplined the sleeping pilot along with the co-pilot whose video ratted him out.

American Airlines Cancels Transatlantic Flight Due to Drunk Pilot, Everyone Entitled to Over $500 Apiece

by Gary Leff on February 7, 2019

Feb 07 2019

Confronted with proof that American Airlines does, in fact, offer predeparture beverages up front a spokesperson says “Safety is our highest priority and we apologise to our customers for the disruption to their travel plans, we have rebooked them on alternative flights.”

I asked what was being done for customers and was told that everyone on the flight is being offered 15,000 miles. Of course that is separate from the compensation that passengers are entitled to under EU Regulation 261/2004.