The perception is partly our own fault, for years we've been telling people, when asked if flying is 'hard', "Awe shucks ma'am, ain't nutt'n to it, you just relax, ain't nutt'n to be skeered of up there, it's just like ridin' bike..."

What we should be saying when ever someone asks is, "Holy CRAP! I thought I was going to DIE! That thunderstorm we went straight through was UNBELIEVEABLE!! I was sure the wings were going to come off, man, I need a drink! And a line of blow would help too, any idea where the hookers hang out in Cleveland?"

But we don't, we sugar coat it, and they all think we do nothing more than push that FLY button, sit back and let George do...everything.

Years ago, when I was on the MD88 in CVG I had a little old lady poke her head into the cockpit while boarding, she said, "I know all you guys do up here is push buttons!"

I jumped up out of my seat, and said, "Hi, how are you? Have you ever sat in the Captain's seat? Here, sit down." She sat down, and as she did, I pulled her boarding card out of her hand. She asks, "Where are you going with that?"

I said, "I'm going to go sit in your seat, in the back, and you can push the buttons, and take us to Atlanta. Don't worry, he'll help you." (pointing at F/O).

She jumps up out of my seat and says, "I can't do that, I don't know how!"

I said, "Sure you can, it's just pushing buttons, he'll even tell you which ones to push..."

She scrambled out of there in a hurry, and I never heard any more from her.

I love to put them in the seat and say, "Yeah, it's really easy, so why don't YOU do it, and I'll sleep in the back..."

That shuts them up pretty quickly.

 

Well played sir.

 

+1. We are "awe shucksing" our worth all the way down the toilet.

TEN

 

Years ago when I was on the 727, I had one of those FLAPs ask me if I thought he could land the 727, since he was a private pilot, you know, if the three of us all died of food poisoning or something...and they needed a pilot to land it.

I said, "I seriously doubt you could land it, I know some 727 Captains who can't even land the 727, and they've been trained on it for YEARS!"

 

I can't believe the fly button has now been removed from the new safety videos on youtube. That didn't take long.

 

I agree. We are our own worst enemies sometimes. I would argue the job is becoming more difficult with automation. More responsibility being put on us with regard to separation from ATC, more restrictions etc..Responsible for managing much more complex cockpits. Trying to do more with cockpits that weren't designed for today's demands ie 88. IMO hand flying and doing ILS's everywhere was much easier (NDB exception, of course ). Much more complex in today's environment.

 

Can someone please explain to those who didn't see it? What did we miss?

 

The subliminal message of "pilot putz" has been fashionable for years and years and years, but most are above responding to it, unlike the keepers, who are very thin of skin.

 

Well, I guess I need to fess up as I'm the one who called the MEC Duty officer and told him about the "FLY" button. He told me he would call me back after he watched it, then did and said he showed it to the MEC Vice Chair who was not amused and put in a call to Ed.

 

At the end of the safety videos the aircraft was taking the runway and the pilot reached down and pressed a red button that said fly. I think FTB or someone posted a picture of it a few pages back.