My husband and I had a fairly long wait in ATL on our way home from SJU yesterday. So we were sitting and waiting in Gate T03 when we saw a captain push a wheelchair (with a disabled woman in it) with his right hand and pull his own rollaboard with his left. It became apparent very soon that she had asked him which gate to SEA and he decided to take her there himself instead of calling someone else.

He parked his rollaboard in front of the customer service counter and pushed her wheelchair towards the window. He was very solicitous, asking her if she would be ok where she was. She assured him she was ok and thanked him profusely for taking the extra effort. He then went to get his stuff when he suddenly went back to her and asked if she wanted to go to a restaurant or something since the wait was at least another 2 hours.

In the many years I've been on APC, I have heard stories of passengers mistaking pilots for skycaps and how some pilots are not too happy with this. Well, I think part of being a professional is to go take that extra step for someone else. The woman in the wheelchair will certainly remember this, and so will the other passengers who saw this. Being a professional is not going on the internet to nit pick with others, complain and whine about certain regional pilots, make snide remarks about FAs, disparage the passengers who pay your salary, and some of the many things I'm seeing regularly here. Remember, it's what you do, not what you say.

If this captain is an APC member, could you send me a PM? If not, I'd like to publicly acknowledge you.

 

I hope she tipped him.

 

I think APC is a fine resource. However, I am willing to bet that an overwhelming majority of pilots do not frequent this site. To see if this Captain is on this site is taking a shot in the dark.

Good story though

 

I would have to agree with the above, chances are someone at that level isn't on here. I'm a commuting reserve FO, that's why I have the time to post. It's still nice to hear stories like this. I've flown with some really classy guys and gals. I think Delta has a lot of pilots of this caliber. Now that I think of it I've met Alaska, United, US Airways and American pilots I didn't like, but never a Delta or Northwest pilot I didn't like.

Bean

 

Definitely a nominate for cool of the day! Even if it were not a customer service thing, I still take my hat off to this captain for his kindness.

 

Funny, I, and most pilots that I know in this industry, have had just the opposite experience with respect to airline pilots as a whole versus Delta Pilots (former Northwest Pilots excluded of course).

 

What can I say, jumpseated on Delta in the states and several times to Europe, all great experiences. The funny thing is the worst non-rev experience I've ever had was on my own airline. It wasn't an east/west thing, the guy was a west captain.

Bean

 

Why? It's not like he was the hotel van driver or anything.

 

That captain is a class act. All airlines have those in the top and bottom 5%, he is obviously a top 5%er, at least in the customer service department. Thanks for sharing the story.

 

Sorry guys, this has nothing to do with being a professional. It's being a good human being.