I got a call from the CP's office chastising me for helping the lone ramp agent unload the yellow tag bags on a 1 hour turn. Pax were off and the APU was shutdown, I walk off the airplane to burn one and there's everyone still standing there waiting for their gate checked bags. I help the ramp guy drag those around, then helped unload the checked bags.

7 days later I got the call telling me not to do it again since I wasn't trained in lifting heavy stuff. Went to a fractional shortly thereafter. Screw 'em.

 

Seen it, experienced it, and I think 90% of Delta pilots would do the same as long as they had time between flights. That being said, the fellow professionals I run across from other majors would gladly do the same, IMHO, and probably do. I don't think DAL has the market cornered on the golden rule. But it's great to hear a word of appreciation when one witnesses a gracious and courteous act as this.

 

IMHO I don’t think it’s a Delta thing. It’s not just a customer service issue either. Had this Skipper been in a different uniform with a different carrier under the same circumstances, he, along with the majority of us would have done the same thing. This thread would have a different title… “Are you this Brand X Captain?”

Delta did not train this person to be a decent human being… That came from his upbringing and his heart. Bottom line is he’s a good person, and would have done the same even if he were not a pilot.

 

^^^ This..

 

I am first and foremost a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ. I work for a company that doesn't have a favorable opinion of it's pilots or other employees. However, because of my love for Christ I must help passengers who need help. Many in our employee force say I should only do my job and nothing more. I understand and mostly agree with that. However, when it comes to helping those who are not being helped by those at my company that are not doing their jobs, I must help them. It's in my DNA and I can't help it. I will always help older people in wheel chairs and mothers traveling alone and so forth. I have changed flats in my uniform on the way to work and given rides to stranded people(probably get killed someday for that). I went down and got a woman's scooter because no one else would. I have retrieved strollers many, many times. I have gotten wheel chairs many, many times. Even though it's not my job, I will continue doing those things.

 

Bravo......I'm glad you mentioned older people. If more people treated others as they would want their parents or grandparents to be treated-----this planet would be a much better place! (Also parents traveling alone with more than one child and UMs.)

 

I didn't get a PM so I must assume the Captain I saw that day in ATL is not a member of APC or too modest to call attention to himself.

However, I am pleased to see the direction this thread has taken. The title of the thread was deliberately nuanced in that it can be read to mean I am looking for a particular person, or it could be a rhetorical question about yourself and your own behavior, motivation and initiative.

I have found that many times, it doesn't take much to lend a hand and this little bit of help makes a tremendous difference to someone else. My philosophy is that if I can help, why not do it? I'm sure that one day, I will need some help and hope that someone would do for me what I try to do for others.

This discussion reminds me of the time I was waiting in CPH for a connecting flight to Budapest. I saw an elderly man from India staring at the monitor obviously confused about where to go. I went up to ask him if I could help. He said he just arrived from New Delhi and was looking for the flight to Bergen to visit his son, who was living and working there. Checking the monitor, I saw that the flight was boarding ... and in a gate far away. So I grabbed the man's arm and his little carry on and did our best OJ Simpson run through the airport, dodging fat businessmen and strollers along the way. At the gate, I practically shoved him into the hands of the agents, but he made it. I still think about him sometimes and hope he had a good visit.

Another time in Dulles, the customer service agent near my gate asked if anyone nearby spoke [a foreign language]. Since I happen to speak that language, I went over and interpreted a little bit for some guy who had just arrived from somewhere and didn't understand they did a gate change on him and that he'd better do his own OJ Simpson real quick.

My point is that whether you are flight crew, ramper, or passenger, it's a good thing to help out someone else whenever you can. If nothing else, it feels good and beats sitting there watching CNN.

 

Pretty much.

This is a word for paraphrase of something I heard once at slightly informal meeting with an HR rep. The company doesn't really matter, it was just funny to hear it said in the way it was;

"Look, you can teach any ********* how to fly a plane. We're ALL proof of that. We wanna hire good people that want to work here".

 

...Tim Tebow? Is that you!

 

There's only one way to tell. Post a pic of your GF ASAP!