Pilots Lose Jobs for Losing Uniforms
Southwest Airlines apparently doesn't think it's funny that two pilots were in the cockpit flying nearly nude during a flight, so the company fired them.
By Stephen M. Silverman
Originally posted Monday April 28, 2003 07:36 AM EDT
Talk about your friendly skies.
Two nearly naked Southwest Airlines pilots were recently fired after they reportedly took off all or part of their clothes in the cockpit while flying -- and then summoned a flight attendant to bring them paper towels and soda water.
"We conducted a thorough investigation and terminated the two pilots involved for inappropriate conduct," Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Ginger Hardage tells the Associated Press.
The pilots -- who have not been named, nor their flight numbers released -- have reportedly appealed their firings, arguing that they were flying that way after one of them had spilled coffee on a uniform.
That still doesn't explain why the second pilot followed suit.
As recalled by New York's Daily News, when the low-budget Southwest first took to the air in 1971, one of its selling points was that the flight crew showed a little skin. Flight attendants wore hot pants -- the females, at least.
But generally, Southwest pilots have always worn uniforms.
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