What Do You Think?
Here is a video of a guy that used a mini camera on board a CRJ recently at JFK. The flight was delayed for about 4 hours due to severe weather. The flight was finally cancelled when the crew timed out.
I'm curious about opinions on this. There seem to be a lot of negative ones from the general public who have a difficult time understanding why a passenger can't just disembark from an aircraft at will, even if the plane has built-in stairs.
Another interesting tidbit. The guy that shot the video used a new video camera that he is marketing. It just so happens to be going on the market in a week or so. I don't personally care for the manner in which he conducted himself and don't want to provide the name of his company. I think he acted like a child and that the captain showed great restraint in dealing with this guys aggressive tactics. I personally think he was right on the line of violating the law by interfering with and intimidating a flight crew.
Did the guy really think the crew wanted to be sitting there for that amount of time, not being paid block time? Did the captain appear to be enjoying keeping the passengers on board? Was it the captain's fault that they couldn't depart or deplane? Does it seem like self promotion that the guy has appeared on The Today Show?
5 comments:
I think it is much wiser to take a larger view of the perfect storm of events at work here. Firstly, since 1960, available seat miles (ASM, for those not in the industry) has grown from ~100 billion to ~900 billion(1), with an annual average growth rate of 4% (US) and 4.7% (world-wide). In other words, despite airline failures (Pan Am, TWA, etc) and mergers (US Air & America West, e.g.), 30 years of deregulation has brought more miles to the US skies at a faster rate than the previous 30 did. Compacting these issues is that the airline industry’s bottom line is rhythmically feasting or in a famine. All said, more seats + tighter budgets + slowly expanding airports = very busy terminals.
Secondly, citizen journalism is alive and well; a fact you are intimately familiar with. Almost all new cellular phones offer video and rich messaging capabilities, meaning if it’s happening right now, I can find out about it. No longer are consumers relying on industry or FAA statistics to tell me who’s the best carrier. Rather, they’re remembering the last YouTube or blog XYZ entry they read about the airline who treated some travelers roughly.
Events similar to this one have been taking place for years, but the internet is making them transparent. Search for “airline false imprisonment” in your favorite engine and you’ll find story after story, ranging from NW in 1999, AA in 2006, to JetBlue’s PR disaster in 2007. Note that this is not a phenomena unique to the US. A German BA flight also appears in that dubious list, and that’s just on the first page of results.
In my opinion, a tighter restriction on passenger behavior is not going to help the situation. Unless airlines honestly deal with the challenges facing the industry and come up with something more bite than the laughable 1999 Customer Service Initiative, the airlines will finally find the US legislative branch crafting a bill similar to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which followed the Enron scandal.
I’m very happy that you’re finding a dream job in an industry of your dreams. That said, you’re going to finally see the sausage being made, and it’s not going to always be pretty. I always recall fondly my years in the industry, as I’m sure you will as well. But this is going to be a trying time for all involved; passengers, industry workers, and lawyers.
(1) A great article on the cyclic nature of industry earnings
Mike, the final paragraph in your post summed things up nicely. We all know and acknowledge that keeping pax aboard a grounded plane for hours and hours -- whatever the reason -- is an exasperating experience for them, to say the least. But it is rarely, if ever, the fault of the crew on the plane. They are just as "stuck" as the pax -- and just as exasperated by the whole experience (not to mention equally inconvenienced).
I suppose the videographer believed he was being a hard-hitting citizen journalist, but he was hitting at the wrong person. Kudos to the captain for managing to hold his temper in check during this undeserved barrage.
I'm a pilot for a major domestic airline and I can say with certainty that incidents like this will become more frequent.
The infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand for air travel. Airports like JFK are not designed for the passenger volume they see. The airspace system is so antiquated that one little raindrop in the NY TRACON and all hell breaks loose.
The flying public doesn't understand and unfortunately, the crew becomes the target for passengers who really should be angry with the airline, the airport authority and the FAA. As a new pilot, I certainly hope you have thick skin. You're going to need it.
By the way, great blog. You accomplished a lot in a year and are lucky to be in the current hiring environment.
matthew,
Your points, although wordy, are obvious.
My point was basically that the pilot in command of the aircraft was probably doing the best he could to protect his job.
Being PIC gives him the power to make the final decision. Would his employer have supported a decision to deplane? Would the PIC have suffered repercussions? Would he possibly have had to go to ALPA to defend a decision to deplane?
Questions. Just questions.
By the way, why is your profile hidden?
Obvious!? I actually had to look up the 47 year averaged growth rate...
/My point was basically that the pilot in command of the aircraft was probably doing the best he could to protect his job./
In reading (and re-reading) your original post, I don't see it defending the PIC, as much as assailing the videographer.
I look at it this way: there's ultimately only one person on an aircraft that can truly answer the questions the videographer had, so he went to that person, the captain. Was he a jerk about it? Sure. But my feeling is that at some point (is it 2 hours? 3?) keeping people stuck in a plane without helping them understand what's going on is just asking for trouble.
/Anonymous/ said, "the flying public doesn't understand" and I completely agree with him/her. So what's the solution? Help them understand. Talk with them regularly. If the weather is "severe" and there are no gates available, explain that. If the weather might clear up, explain that. Treat the entire load as if they were 5 years old and give them gruesome details. Empathize with them.
This recent event shows that constant communication and true empathy will make cooler heads prevail. It also shows how people crave information. If you're ever in this situation, explain what "paperwork" means; explain the FAA rules forbidding pilots from working long hours. Just... be humane.
(Re: my bio, there's really nothing to note. I think it's public now, but I'm not a fan of populating those non-required elements. I'm happy to tell you about myself if there's anything particular you want to know...)
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