Two American Eagle regional pilots were caught by a boarding passenger watching cartoons prior to flight. The captain and co-pilot of the Bombardier regional jet flying for American Airlines’ wholly-owned regional airline PSA didn’t instill passenger confidence, but the flight wound up… fine?
Should I be worried @AmericanAir? pic.twitter.com/UphaNYXfwW
— stellafly (@stellafly) October 24, 2023
PSA is owned by American Airlines Group. It derives its name from Pacific Southwest Airlines, which was the first large discount airline in the United States.
- Operating initially within California, it wasn’t subject to federal regulation that specified where airlines could fly and what they could charge. They painted a smile on the nose of their planes, to connote that they were the friendliest airline. Their business model, including their choice of aircraft, was copied by Southwest Airlines within Texas.
- The carrier was acquired by US Air in 1986, giving them a West Coast network around the same time they purchased Piedmont Airlines for its East Coast network.
- Jetstream International Airlines, owned by Piedmont, was renamed PSA in order to protect the Pacific Southwest trademark as Pacific Southwest itself was merged into US Air.
Today PSA, the former Jetstream International which had become a feeder airline for Piedmont, operates as a regional subsidiary of American Airlines, flying two-cabin Bombardier regional jets. And its pilots… watch cartoons in the cockpit?
Non-issue. Yesterday someone tried to crash a plane. Stella needs to get some perspective.
Maybe not the right place/time but really a non-issue.
As long as it did not take away time for safety related issues, a bit of cartoon humor probably releases some stress.
Props to the pilots who didn’t have any shame in watching even if they didn’t expect to be seen — cartoons are a lot of fun. If that’s what relaxes you, all the power to you!
Now if it was a cartoon “how to fly a plane” tutorial video that would be a different story 🙂
Quite frankly, imo, If I ever caught a public facing employee watching cartoons or playing video games in plain sight of customers, and while on duty, they would be fired on the spot. It is completely unprofessional and a liability to the airline in many different ways. If he has nothing else to do how about greeting passengers at the door? Or offering help to FA’s with the boarding? Anything but watching cartoons, or a movie, or leisure focused. The guy is a Captain as well…great example.
I’m kind of confused as to what I am looking at here…I believe the jet bridge is not connected, no? While I know there are different configurations, I don’t believe I have ever seen one where the passenger could just walk off a precipice if they weren’t careful. But if that were the case, and the bridge wasn’t connected, why would a pax be standing right there filming? Seems like something is off.
@CW Many of the RJ’s need a small metal attached bridge to the jet bridge to connect them. I’m assuming that this is the case here.
@Stuart I agree but usually it is gated off so pax can’t, you know, accidentally fall to serious injury or death. Hence why I was wondering what a pax was doing out there at that time.
The only scenario that I can kind of piece together, since the poster is Michigan based and the post is tagged as “From Arlington, VA”, so DCA, would be that if they were somehow the very, very last person waiting for their valet tagged bag (since the PSA RJs have minimal overhead space), and the aircraft was being shut down…but this still doesn’t entirely make sense.
@CW The ramp attachment is always with side rails but can’t recall if the rest is somehow blocked off. I’ll have to look next time. My memory tells me that there might be a simple stanchion blocking the other areas, but not always?
@Stuart for fun, I watched the boarding portions of a couple of CRJ trip reports just now and it confirms what I recalled – either a yellow metal gate that opens onto the ramp you described or a plastic / cloth cattle chute type thing that guides pax onto the aircraft. So pretty sure pax shouldn’t be able to just be standing there with an unobstructed drop to the tarmac.
What a joke of a post. Typical for this “blog”. Truly cannot just enjoy informing people about travel. Far left media over dramatization of everything is over running the boarding area. Pathetic.
What would Gary Leff like the pilots to do once finished with their pre flight duties (and not getting paid ). And the flight… it wound up… fine ? What are you implying by that comment
What does it matter? The flight crew has certain obligations to perform before the flight and the pilots and flight attendants have completely separate responsibilities. Whether the captain decides to read a newspaper, a book or watch a cartoon is a non issue. For the guy saying you would fire a public facing employee for this, show me where in that pilot’s contract he is not allowed to watch a cartoon while in between flights. While he may be on duty he’s not getting paid as the parking brake is most definitely set and the doors are open. This is just silly.
It infuriated me when idiot captains wanted to show me YouTube and BS videos unsolicited and force me to watch a video loudly during a preflight. It is unprofessional and I don’t need to see your crap and fake laugh with you. Your duty is to your pax and crew. The time for cartoons are on the layover. I wouldn’t want them fired, just a verbal warning to cut that crap out.
@SMR “And the flight… it wound up… fine ? What are you implying by that comment”
That it was no big deal.
Imagine what she would have said if she saw the vast amount of porn hidden in many airline cockpits (rolled up in hand holds, inside panels, etc).
@Tyler Because perception is reality in the eyes of the public. And pilots have a job and responsibility to convey leadership beyond their trained skills in flying. A duty that a pilot is paid very well for. It’s common sense. Basic stuff really. It’s exactly why a pilot wears a uniform. And has a rank. This is not decorative. It has purpose.
How is this “news”
A little Homer Simpson prob better than watching porn