Public perception
 

Dear coworkers;
If you have a domestic problem, life changing event, can not handle the current political situation ;), or any other issues that may affect your professional performance or ability to perform your duties; please don't show up for duty. It's your responsibility to self evaluate and make sure you are at 100% fit for duty. Public perception is extremely sensitive, especially in our position of responsibilities.
Enough is enough! Please No More weirdo, or your medical will require psych evaluation.

In my honest opinion we should have at least once every 5 years psych interview to weed out some individuals out of the ranks of professional aviation.:D

In my honest opinion, we should not. For the same reason that one should never volunteer for drug or alcohol screening outside of required tests.

She may have had 15-20 years of flawless service. Now a life event has upended her. If her "test" was two months ago, she may have been fine. What't the point? And have you seen some of the guys who have already passed a psych eval in order to defend the cockpit?

Say this is implemented and everyone tests fine. How do they deal with that? Someone comes up with a statistical number and next check they use that number to bounce X amount of guys out of their career. No thanks. This reminds me of a former FAA examiner who felt that X amount of guys "should" fail their check-rides just "because." He puts that pressure on Check Airmen and sooner or later guys start busting a check ride for some trivial oversight or temporary and arbitrary exceedance. Foxtrot that mentality. This job is already tough enough to get and keep. We don't need more hoops to jump through on the path to retirement.

I thought they only worked at Delta. Whew! I'm relieved.

Agree 1000%.

Okay...you go first and let us know how it works out.

I agree 100%; however, one more public outburst and it will be difficult to keep our medical out of reach of shrinks evaluations. UE is already drafting new regs for medical required psych evaluation.
All I'm asking is to keep your uniform clean, act professionally, and stay the flight away from PAs and public youtube reporters.

I'll do that if you agree not to work in the flight office, or volunteer for union work that will put you near flight ops management.

;)

How about we drop this subject. If you want everyone to see a shrink every 5 years and put your career in the hands of the likes who gave the German Wings pilot the "good to go" than why don't you set the example and go voluntarily; share your results with the rest of us.

I'm asking the Moderator to remove any posts that reference the Austin events in the last few days.

Funny thing about going crazy or having a mental break.....the person affected has no idea it's happening. You think the dude outside the Hilton in SFO talking to himself knows he's nuts? No, he thinks someone is talking back at him.

Something's you don't know are going to happen until they happen.

What's this supposed to mean? What breakdowns have you seen with FFDOs?

The docs in Europe didn't certify him. They gave him paperwork for grounding purposes. The system there relies on the pilot to self-disclose their paperwork and remove themselves from flying status. The Germanwings FO of course did not.


Why? What TOS does it break to mention this incident?

Did I miss something?

Did someone have a public temper tantrum or something?

I see. I saw the picture of a female captain in a baseball cap and flip flops at Austin airport. I guess that's what it was.

This thread does no good. Literally. It should be closed and pulled.

A United Airlines pilot was reportedly removed from the aircraft while on duty. You think pulling the discussion from this venue is going to put that genie back in the bottle?

Classic! Don't talk about & it'll go away!

No it won't. It won't make it any better and could make it worse for those involved.

Can't agree more with you. Not discussing something in a public forum isn't the same as just ignoring it. Professionalism doesn't just mean conducting yourself while on duty; rather, it means not engaging in behavior that is unbecoming. Gossiping and the like about a fellow ALPA member on a public forum is immature at best, and probably violates some ALPA ethics code.

None yet. I'll say no more.

You are playing the ALPA code of ethics card on a public forum? See these violated on almost every forum regularly. Especially around contract time:


He will do all within his powers to operate his aircraft efficiently and on schedule in a manner that will not cause damage or unnecessary maintenance.
He will respect the officers, directors, and supervisors of his airline, remembering that respect does not entail subservience.
He will faithfully obey all lawful directives given by his supervisors, but will insist and, if necessary, refuse to obey any directives that, in his considered judgment, are not lawful or will adversely affect flight safety. He will remember that in the final analysis the responsibility for safe completion of the flight rests upon his shoulders.
He will not knowingly falsify any log or record, nor will he condone such action by other crew members.
He will remember that a full month’s salary demands a full and fair month’s work. On his days off, he will not engage in any occupation or activity that will diminish his efficiency or bring discredit to his profession.
He will realize that he represents the airline to all who meet him and will at all times keep his personal appearance and conduct above reproach.
He will give his airline, its officers, directors, and supervisors the full loyalty that is their due, and will refrain from speaking ill of them. If he feels it necessary to reveal and correct conditions that are not conducive to safe operations and harmonious relations, he will direct his criticism to the proper authorities within ALPA.
He will hold his airline’s business secrets in confidence, and will take care that they are not improperly revealed.


As it pertains to this incident perhaps the pilot in question violated these ethics herself.....

He will be a good citizen of his country, state, and community, taking an active part in their affairs, especially those dealing with the improvement of aviation facilities and the enhancement of air safety.
He will conduct all his affairs in a manner that reflects credit on himself and his profession.
He will remember that to his neighbors, friends, and acquaintances he represents both the profession and ALPA, and that his actions represent to them the conduct and character of all members of the profession and ALPA.
He will realize that nothing more certainly fosters prejudices against and deprives the profession of its high public esteem and confidence than do breaches in the use of alcohol.
He will not publish articles, give interviews, or permit his name to be used in any manner likely to bring discredit to another pilot, the airline industry, the profession, or ALPA.
He will continue to keep abreast of aviation developments so that his skill and judgment, which heavily depend on such knowledge, may be of the highest order.

:D...............;)

He will not publish articles, give interviews, or permit his name to be used in any manner likely to bring discredit to another pilot, the airline industry, the profession, or ALPA.

Whatever .. you want to talk trash about a fellow pilot that might be having a life crisis, go ahead. As I said before, it's immature at best. Have fun.

What about the regional kid who was doing traffic stops as an FFDO? I know that's a one off, but certainly fits the profile.

On what grounds have the two prior threads about this incident been shut down on? Can one of the hypersensitive moderators on this forum please answer that?

Personally, I'm just a tad outraged about how she made my (our) profession look in the pax's eyes. Showing up to your aircraft in a ^*+#ing baseball cap and flip flops and then continuing to further embarrass yourself and your crew with psycho babble on the PA in front of everyone?! YHGTBFSM. What possible good excuse or justification is there for this?!

We all have bad days, but it's up to us individually to pull the plug on reporting for duty if we're not fit for it. Above all the public expects us to be sane and grounded mentally. Sad to say, but she has no business getting back in that cockpit......ever.

That video was sad... she should have not selected that box on our iPads for FFD and seeked some much needed help. It's my guess she will not fly again for United... any case I'm sure she is now sorry for showing up for that flight.

I sincerely hope that many of you never have to deal with a family member that has developed a mental illness. It's heartbreaking and NOTHING is cut and dry.

I can now honestly say that from what I'm reading on this forum I'm ashamed to be a United pilot.

It's an easy fix to that: resign.

No, I think I can better represent what it means to be a United pilot by flying the line. You folks enjoy your egos, I know best, and it would never happen to me attitudes.

My fraternal best to the pilot in need.

"Colton Burpo"

Nah you can get lost flame. I'd put it far rougher but mods will ban that language. Speaking of Mods, you locked the other thread in Safety on this subject. Why not this one?

Exactly. This is not as simple as showing up rested and sober, and I give the American public more credit than I do the thread originator for understanding that.

So let me get this straight. You are equating mental illness with people that are religious? ***

Like those nutty Apollo 8 astronauts in a lunar orbit that read from the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve 1968 to a live global audience?

At least they wore their uniforms.

That being said, I sincerely hope she gets psychiatric help but her time as a United pilot are over after this incident.

I wouldn't be so sure. That's why we have a union to protect from management overreaction and to protect your rights as an employee. Don't be so quick to presume guilt.

Professional standards committee, EAP, and just plain normal counseling. Nothing wrong with any of those. The FAA endorses all of the above.

Seems many here live in glass houses. :mad:

I'm afraid that's the new United mentality we find ourselves in. Be it fire them, take them to the flight office, quit, or what have you, I only started hearing this mindset three to four years ago.

For what happened to her personally I do feel very bad for her, however that's where the sympathy should end, at a personal level. On a professional level there is absolutely no excuse for what she did. Never should have clicked the FFD button and after flying for as many years as she has, and no matter what state of mind she was in, she should have known better than to show up to the airport like that and say the things she did. I have tried very hard to see this from the eyes of some of the more sympathetic posters but knowing what things like this can do to our profession, I simply see no excuse.

Fortunately the system worked in this case. She had a breakdown, apparently precipitated by outside factors, but she didn't get to fly the airplane.

Yeah, kind of the same here. I have no tolerance for those who are belittling her, but she should have known better. Assuming she wasn't completely off the rails...who knows?

She'll either have to face disciplinary proceedings for her bad judgement, or claim mental health issues. The later would mean a long, and very likely permanent break from aviation courtesy of OKC.

My guess is UAL will probably pull out all the stops to keep her off the line.

Oh boy here we go again....blame CAL