United Pilot Cancels Flight Too Upset To Fly, Ever Heard of Road Rage?

OK so it's been quite a while since my last post. I know a majority of the posts on this blog are related to projects, this is just a little rant about a news item.

Link to USA Today Article.

Apparently everyone boarded up and was ready to go from Salt Lake City to Denver. The captain had been up in the gate area having a heated discussion with some fellow pilots on his cell phone. From what I understand the other pilots were not happy that he decided to wear his hat to work.

You might say "WHAT? WHO CARES!?"

Well it's a little more complicated. See pilots are unionized which means they are told to do certain things to show solidarity to management. The idea is if management sees the pilots sticking together on something small it means they won't be afraid to flex their power in other ways like strikes for example.

The United pilots decided to not wear their hats as a sign of solidarity. Management would plainly see how many pilots were not happy with their actions ( United management stock reward ) . Apparently this guy in Salt Lake was one of the pilots who liked wearing his hat and continued to do so. This upset his fellow pilots and apparently were arguing with him on the telephone.

According to the story the pilot gets all worked up and goes down to the airplane to tell the passengers he was too upset to do the flight to Denver. Pilots are required by the FAA to declare themselves unfit for flight if that is the case. Now are there pilots who fly even though they are upset? Yes I'm sure there are and you might ask yourself why. Well there are a lot of pressures on pilots to not only complete flights but also to complete them on time. The airline loses money when flights cancel, obviously this upsets management and can result in consequences.

Does that mean the pilot will be fired? No it doesn't, that would be much too easy for the FAA or the union to track. Most likely the pilot won't get fired but he will be asked a lot of questions about calling in "unfit to fly". Depending on the airline the pilot might have to fight for his pay, deal with a meeting in the Chief Pilot's Office, and have an inconvenient schedule.

The passengers on this United flight may have been upset about the cancellation but they often don't consider that they are traveling in an aluminum tube at 500mph. The passengers on that flight should have thanked the captain for being up front and taking a stand against what will surely be some type of backlash. Irregardless of his opinion on management vs. pilots this guy took a stand.

Do you want someone preoccupied with mental stress driving you around at 500mph?