Back in the day I heard of a guy that brought his dog to work for a trip because it was his “emotional support animal”. I wouldn’t have wanted to be either the chief pilot or the union rep involved in that one.

That one's easy: 1-800-FAA-DIME

Another call to 1-800-FAA-DIME

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the
villain...

I laughed way too hard about flying through angels.

I think I know that guy. He also would not accept 666 together like in a close out or transponder code and request it changed.

Imagine being afraid of numbers.

I did know of a captain who was afraid of the alien ships in the clouds. Don't know if he has retired yet.

But back to CP's. The only time I had issues with CPs was when they were wishy-washy and wouldn't make a decision. Because if they made a decision it might be wrong.
I knew some who were "jerks". But really, if you did what you were supposed to do they left you alone. If you showed up to work wearing a goatee or were caught wearing a fleece jacket in the concourse yeah, he would jump your drawers. These usually were also the same CPs who would go to bat for you when someone was messing with you or you needed help. Anyone from ASA will remember JA. He was "rough around the edges". You didn't want him to catch you out of uniform. If you messed up he would chew your butt. But I also remember going to his office once. The door was closed and I was about to knock when I heard him yelling into his phone, "You don't (*&^ with my pilots. I'm the only one who *&^%'s with my pilots." I figured it could wait and came back later. That's the kind of CP he was. He would lay down his life for "his pilots".

I've flown for a lot of different chiefs and worked for them on special assignments. I even became a Base Chief for a brief time at my first airline (regular ol' line pilot now). I can tell you that almost all of them genuinely wanted to help pilots to the best of their abilities. A base chief at most airlines definitely doesn't get enough of a pay bump, power boost, or other incentive to do it otherwise. I actually had to take a pay cut when I became Base Chief.


As Base Chief, I wanted to be out of the office seeing the pilots, helping them get the job done if they needed anything, not glued to a desk solving petty problems. What a bunch here have said is mostly true. About 95% of pilots are good and just show up and do their job and you never have to see them unless you can actually help them with something. The other 5% overwhelmingly create most of the issues, whether its not showing up to work, calling in sick a million times, or mostly just acting like a child. They are the ones that never allow you to leave the desk and drive your blood pressure through the roof.


Someone else here mentioned what they saw as an ALPA rep and the actions they had to defend. This is 100% true. It is absolutely amazing what some pilots think they will or can get away with.

I can also tell you that as much as you might think a Chief has a power trip a few ALPA reps have it too. I understand that motivation but I've had several meetings where an ALPA rep came in to defend a pilot with chest puffed and hostile tone and all of a sudden things require deescalation before they even start. All I can say is the most productive meetings happened when the rep came in and we just had a conversation. The rep wanted to protect the pilot and I wanted the pilot to not do that dumb thing ever again and to get it off my desk. In those cases the planned resolution was in place before the pilot ever stepped foot in my office.


People have to remember that as a Base Chief, we are the middle men and a buffer between the pilots and upper management. Many issues we can solve ourselves. The pilots learn the lesson that they shouldn't do that stupid action again and upper management never has to know about it. This situation happens more often than not. But then there are the pilots that paint themselves in magenta on the radar map and get the attention of the higher ups. Well, the Base Chiefs get their marching orders too and at that point we may not have much choice in how to handle a situation.


A lot of pilots complain that they are always getting phone calls about late departures, or sick calls, or name your issue. Most of the time we just need a little info to remove the delay that was placed on the crew incorrectly, but since they were too lazy to input the real reason for the delay in ACARS, now I have to call. I always trusted the pilots version of events but if they don't give the up the info, I have to go get it to defend or reassign the late code. As far as sick calls, we can't legally ask whats going on, but when a guy calls in sick for the 10th time this year, there's a good chance something is going on. A lot of times, that pilot may forget that there are people and groups that might be able to help them so they don't get dinged in the sick policy. We are trying to help. We are trying to help. We are trying to help.


Bottom line, it is absolutely a thankless job. Everyone, from your bosses to the pilots need you to do "something" and they need it done yesterday. It's also a stressful job where you are basically on call 24 hours a day. There absolutely are some chiefs that get on a power trip but the majority I've known and worked for are guys/gals that genuinely want to help. Just don't create a reason to exert any power and you will be fine. Most want to help you in any way they can to make your life better. Its why they took the job in the first place.

When incentives change, behaviors change. So much gets misattributed to character that is really environment. I bet if the CPs in question gave up their position and went back to flying the line then they would be cool again, assuming that they hadn’t burnt so many bridges that they’re no longer welcome.