KSATflyer,

First off, congrats on enjoying our job in ATC. You all do a great job overall.

Most of the questions regarding AA taxi speed have been answered. Like all stories go, there is a bit of history behind this:

A couple of years ago, we had an MD80 land in DFW on the west side. They were told that their gate was occupied, so they taxied slowly, including across runway 18L which was not being used.

Right behind him was a 737 that had just landed. The 737 CA just happened to be the 737 fleet manager. This guy became SO INCENSED at what appeared to be a job action unraveling right in front of him, that - while taxiing - he whipped out his cell phone and made a phone call demanding that the MD80 CA be met at his gate and taken off the trip for conducting an inappropriate job action.

The MD80 CA was indeed met at the gate and removed from his trip without pay.

After word of this got out, a couple thousand AA pilots immediately called/wrote the FAA to complain about one of our supervisory pilots - someone who is supposed to set a professional example - violating sterile cockpit AND company policy by making a phone call while taxiing.

This fleet manager supposedly had his license pulled and is now in charge of dispatch in a non-flying position.

After that incident, AA taxi speeds dropped at an astronomical rate. Throw in a ticked off pilot group, pilot harassment, contract negotiations going nowhere, and you probably get the picture. AA pilots want to be as safe as possible in this era of pilot hostage-taking.

Our sincere apologies to those stuck behind us. If I'm with a CA who taxis slowly and someone behind us speaks up, I encourage them to ask Ground or Tower to taxi around us, we will gladly give way.

Hope this clears some of it up. Thanks again for the great job you ATC folks do, day in/day out.

73