So here's the reality check folks... We can talk all we want about diversity or equal opportunity or whatever else you want to use as a label but the bottom line is really this; is that person in the cockpit a safe, competent pilot? I don't give a damn if the pilot is male or female, Black or White or what their sexual preference is or their political party affiliation. What I'm expecting when I board that airplane is that the flight crew is trained, competent and sober. Everything else is total B.S.

(Written on 2021/05/22)(Permalink)

The word is "Wokeness".

(Written on 2021/05/22)(Permalink)

Maybe UA should change its name to "Diversity Airlines". It would sound more appropriate. So will UA lower their qualification standards to meet this new goal? That's what has happened in other fields. It's cheaper and quicker to just lower the standards than to actually work with these folks to build up their qualifications/competencies.

(Written on 2021/05/22)(Permalink)

So are corporations who crap on their employees and shovel money into the execs pockets. Execs might dream up the plans but the employees make it happen. Signed, ex NWA aircraft mechanic

(Written on 2021/05/01)(Permalink)

Naw, Trump and the Retardicans will beat Hunter to it because Trump's smart. He said so himself.

(Written on 2020/12/26)(Permalink)

And what does this idiotic comment have to do with what is being discussed here?

(Written on 2020/03/05)(Permalink)

That "Blue goo" you mentioned isn't even a disinfectant, it's just a deodorizer. Unless the airlines have changed juices since my mechanic days at NWA ('92-'05).

(Written on 2020/01/02)(Permalink)

I have a question for Allen Burgtoff who was on the flight. Did the flight crew inform the passengers why the masks dropped and why they were making the rapid decent? I mean during the event, not afterwards. That would have helped reduce the fear factor tremendously.

(Written on 2019/09/22)(Permalink)

I totally agree! We bandy the word "Hero" around way too much these days. It also irks me to hear the phase "Sports Hero" and the like. Does any sports player really rate the label "Hero" just because he/she made the winning play?

(Written on 2019/09/22)(Permalink)

I can't speak for other airlines but I know that when I worked for NWA as a Mechanic (1992 - 2005) they had deicing crews made up strictly of NWA Cleaners and Baggage Handlers. These were seasonal billets of course. I worked MSP and DTW and Northwest never ran out of deicer fluid. It's a MUST HAVE item for the northern stations. If SWA ran out it's because they were trying to cut costs ( read "being Cheap") and ordered the bare minimum. That stuff is ordered months in advance and stockpiled. It was Chicago for Pete's sake, not Tampa. To say other airlines don't fly as many flights out of MDW as SWA really isn't a valid point as you stock for your anticipated usage plus unanticipated conditions. If you don't use it all then it's there for next years use.

(Written on 2019/09/21)(Permalink)