Mr. Grossman USA TODAY article!

[SKYW Pilot]

Here's the reply I sent...

Your article about your delayed Mesa Airlines flight is way off base. You sit there and slam the pilot and make him look like an idiot. That pilot could have been covering another pilot who was in a car wreck or other emergency. He could have been covering your flight as a favor to the airline last minute if they were short on pilots. Comparing your flight to the JetBlue incidents or the weather messes in Denver this year is just plain ridiculous! Then, you have the guts to say that maybe this pilot is late because he's "sitting in the bar on Concourse B, having one more for the road." Did you know that we can't even step in a bar in uniform? When was the last time you saw a pilot picking up a few "for the road" in a bar?

Let me tell you a little bit about an airliner. There are many doors on the outside of an aircraft. The large doors have switches on them which tell us if they're open or closed. These doors are extremely important for obvious reasons. There are a few small doors which when left open usually do nothing more than make some annoying wind noise during the flight. Yes, the ground crews have to check them, but sometimes they do get left open. Or sometimes they might open on there own if the latch gets worn out and we hit a bump while taxiing. If they happen to be seen by somebody while taxiing out, we go back to the gate and get it closed. Would you rather we ignore it and just take off?

What really drives me crazy about reporters is that you are just as ignorant as the rest of the public is about aviation, but you have access to a "podium" and soap box from which to shout your ignorance. Why not do an article on airline management and the mistakes they make with these companies on a routine basis? A delay is frustrating for a customer. As pilots, we are perfectionists and professionals. We don't like being delayed any more than our customers do. All I'm asking is that before you go writing an article that bashes us and makes us look totally imcompetent, you attempt to get the full story first. Isn't that what a good reporter is supposed to do? Thank you for your time.

 

[Beantown]

Here's the reply I sent...

Your article about your delayed Mesa Airlines flight is way off base. You sit there and slam the pilot and make him look like an idiot. That pilot could have been covering another pilot who was in a car wreck or other emergency. He could have been covering your flight as a favor to the airline last minute if they were short on pilots. Comparing your flight to the JetBlue incidents or the weather messes in Denver this year is just plain ridiculous! Then, you have the guts to say that maybe this pilot is late because he's "sitting in the bar on Concourse B, having one more for the road." Did you know that we can't even step in a bar in uniform? When was the last time you saw a pilot picking up a few "for the road" in a bar?

Let me tell you a little bit about an airliner. There are many doors on the outside of an aircraft. The large doors have switches on them which tell us if they're open or closed. These doors are extremely important for obvious reasons. There are a few small doors which when left open usually do nothing more than make some annoying wind noise during the flight. Yes, the ground crews have to check them, but sometimes they do get left open. Or sometimes they might open on there own if the latch gets worn out and we hit a bump while taxiing. If they happen to be seen by somebody while taxiing out, we go back to the gate and get it closed. Would you rather we ignore it and just take off?

What really drives me crazy about reporters is that you are just as ignorant as the rest of the public is about aviation, but you have access to a "podium" and soap box from which to shout your ignorance. Why not do an article on airline management and the mistakes they make with these companies on a routine basis? A delay is frustrating for a customer. As pilots, we are perfectionists and professionals. We don't like being delayed any more than our customers do. All I'm asking is that before you go writing an article that bashes us and makes us look totally imcompetent, you attempt to get the full story first. Isn't that what a good reporter is supposed to do? Thank you for your time.

Nicely done. To bad idiots like ths have a pen. -Bean

 

[acaTerry]

COOPERVANE AND SKYW PILOT:

Nice job. Well written. And may I especially THANK YOU for not making pilots look like idiots by spelling like half of the posters in this website!! Nothing would look worse than a letter correcting Grossman with the spelling and grammar of a fifth-grader.

 

[ex j-41]

And Grossman was an "Airline Executive" previously. Now we know what total idiots they have in Management. Don't even know the first thing about airlines and how they work, yet become an executive.

The drinking comment pissed me off the most. For what they pay us he got exactly what he deserved.

 

[acaTerry]

Airline executive...kind of vague. I have to raise the BS flag on his credentials.

 

[jpeace02]

Mr. Grossman,

Good afternoon. I would first like you to understand that I don't read your column, blog, etc. That being said someone sent me you column concerning your delayed flight to Oakland and I did want to respond.
I am an airline pilot at US Airways express. I'm not sure if you know this or not but pilots are typically very organized, and ambitious people. I don't know the actual reason your captain was late and it sounds like neither did you or the gate agent but I'm sure he had a good reason or the company screwed up a schedule (happens all the time.)
Your comment about the bar is tired and not funny. Comedy is odviously not your forte and maybe you should shy away from such style. Pilots are working longer and for less than they ever had. This is not a complaint but rather the truth.
Lastly you say you were former "airline management," but yet you don't understand the safety involved with airplanes. Of course we check the doors on the airplane and we even have indicator lights in the cockpit but that doesn't' override good old common sense which is odviously what this captain was displaying.
In conclusion I want to again reiterate that I don't read your work and I don't plan to in the future but I do wish you all the "airline karma" you deserve. Please take some responsibility and pride in your work, as we do, and do some research next time.

Sincerely,

Captain XXXXX

 

[Weasil]

Well you guys wrote much better replies than I did, I hope this ******************************bag reads them.

 

[SKYW Pilot]

COOPERVANE AND SKYW PILOT:

Nice job. Well written. And may I especially THANK YOU for not making pilots look like idiots by spelling like half of the posters in this website!! Nothing would look worse than a letter correcting Grossman with the spelling and grammar of a fifth-grader.

Thanks acaTerry. I figured since I'm writing to somebody who writes for a living, I should watch my spelling and grammar. I try not to give anybody crap for spelling and grammar errors on this board, but when writing a letter to a newspaper reporter it should be correct. Especially when you're telling the guy how we're perfetionists and professionals. Either way, all the letters are great, and I hope we get a response out of this guy! Keep flooding him with them, even if they are short and sweet!

 

[Simon Says]

Anyone get a reply from this guy? If you do.....POST IT!

 

[SKYW Pilot]

...perfetionists and professionals. Either way, all the letters are great, and I hope we get a response out of this guy! Keep flooding him with them, even if they are short and sweet!

Whoops... I meant perfectionist!!

 

[higherflyer]

I doubt that any of us will hear anything, but this is my response to the tool.

Thanks for the cheap shot. A flight is delayed because a crewmember is missing and you immediately throw out the 'pilot must be in the bar' line. Thanks. I appreciate your dig in an opportunity to sell your column. As a pilot for one of the largest airlines in the US, I think I can speak for all of the responsible, well-trained and educated coworkers, when I say: good on ya, mate; thanks for the dig.

The vast majority of airline pilots are responsible members of the profession. While a very small group of pilots do bring an alcohol/drug problem with them to work, you don't need to malign an entire group for the actions of a few. As a 'former airline executive' you should be sensitive to the fact that alcohol abuse is something the airlines and their pilots take very seriously.

I have delayed a flight or two when an insensitive clod such as yourself makes a very poor joke regarding alcohol use by working crew. We don't need your poor attempts at humour: keep them to yourself. I hope you feel better about yourself after that cheap shot. Count me as someone who will boot you from my aircraft if I find you on board. Who knows, you might have been drinking.