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Mr. Grossman USA TODAY article!

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It was a late notification by crew tracking to the captain. (99% most probable cause, anyway)

The flight left 23 minutes late.

Mr Grossman somehow thinks this is equivalent to the THOUSANDS of passengers stranded for DAYS in Denver and the JetBlue meltdown in JFK.

A 10 minute delay to double check an external access panel is exactly equivalent to "one of of the worst crashes in aviation history".

Mr Grossman only raises two legitimate points:
  • The barrage of conflicting PA announcements to the passengers. That, more than anything, made it look like no-one knew what the hell was going on (if what he writes is true, which, I doubt.)
  • "Baby (ies) cried, children whined" . . . yeah, and the biggest baby there was named "Mr. Grossman."
By immediately assuming the pilot was lazy, forgetful, stupid, asleep, drunk, careless, caviler about safety, or anything less than a highly trained and responsible airline professional, Mr. Grossman has let you know EXACTLY what he thinks about pilots in general.

I submit that you drop a note to Mr. Grossman and let him know what you think of him.

[email protected] (c/o Mr. Grossman)
 
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Mr Grossman,

I read your article about the late pilot and your unfortunate experience. As a pilot, I take offense at your comedic assumption about a pilot being at the bar. In this day and age we take these types of allegations VERY seriously. Perhaps if you had questioned him when he arrived, you would be greeted with "flight cancelled" I have done this because of a flippant comment about a passenger maybe seeing me at a hotel bar Ha Ha. Very funny....I want a breathalyzer right now, flight cancelled.

In addition, I find it irresponsible to complain about a pilot being late. Of ALL the myriad reasons why an airplane does not leave on time, a pilot arriving late on his own accord is almost never a reason. About 2327 things have to happen in a certain order for a flight to depart safely and on time. We usually sit up front, captive just as you do, wondering when this circus we call air travel will allow us to leave. I have never seen a pilot being late as a delay at MY airline. Maybe he was coming in from another city on a schedule that the airline created. Maybe he was called at the last moment. Gate agents love to shift blame to anybody to avoid counter pounders such as you, who demand to know exactly why they can't make their meeting that they allowed NO buffer for.

If he WAS late, kudos for being honest although it did him no good in your eyes. Most pilots would have blamed it on something else. Then you would be complaining about airlines lying to you. I suppose you have NEVER been late to work?

Yeah, the cargo door was open, happens all the time. Sometimes ice builds up on the wings, sometimes oil pressure fluctuates, other times the engine fails. Your cargo door was most likely spotted by the pilot of another airline looking out for one of his fellow brothers. Air travel is very safe, but EVERY DAY we make a thousand decisions that enable us to deliver you safely to your destination. We don't expect or want a pat on the back, we am simply doing our job. All we want is a little respect and trust. We deal with these incidents that are usually invisible to the passengers, who then blame us when we arrive late. When they are not invisible, you seem to be astounded by the vulnerability that mechanical devices inherently posess.

But hey, you gotta sell papers, so why not overdramatize an otherwise mundane experience.

XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
ASA Airlines
 
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I seriously doubt a "cargo door" was open. If it was, the pilots ignored the EICAS Warning message at the gate, during and after pushback, and during taxi until some good Samaritan pointed it out after dodging bags on the taxiway. Unlikely. It was probably an access panel for the gpu or ground communications, which the pilots have zero control over.
 
While writing a letter to this bonehead might make you feel better, it's not going to change his mind or behavior. He probably gets 50 letters a day slamming his blogs. If he didn't get them, he's probably not doing his job (in the eyes of the media). The press plays fast and lose with the facts and a few complaints from pilots aren't going to change a thing.

ALPA needs to respond to this kind of pilot bashing. Perhaps a letter to the editor or a phone call to his boss. And don't think for a minute that this isn't a problem because it was for a regional airline.

Ironically, it doesn't help our cause when a NW pilot has a cuss fest in front of a bunch of passengers though.
 
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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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 

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