![]() ![]() Prior to being reinstated, he underwent additional diversity education to reinforce the Company's expectations for all Employees to demonstrate respect for others. The Pilot in question has been addressed by Leadership and was suspended without pay. The actions of this Pilot are, without question, inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect that we require from our Employees. In an email, King wrote, "We are committed and dedicated to maintaining the highest standard of ethics in the industry in fact we’ve built our Company’s reputation on the Golden Rule: treating others as you would like to be treated. Southwest Airlines responded by saying the pilot was suspended without pay, but the airline would not say how long that suspension lasted.Īirline spokesperson Brandy King declined to answer questions about the punishment, saying the airline considers it a "family matter." I hope they look and see what's happening in their culture because clearly this incident shows that there's something happening in this culture that allowed this person to make those kind of remarks and exhibit this kind of hostility, discrimination, and hate," she said, adding that means people who were targeted in this rang may not feel safe flying with the airline. She also said, "I hope it's an isolated incident. Nevertheless, the FAA expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews, regardless of the circumstances."Ĭece Cox, the CEO of Resource Center Dallas, which advocates for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) issues in the city where Southwest Airlines is based, said, "This individual has made statements that are anti-woman, anti-age, and anti-gay in a way that can't be disputed and they're hateful and they're damaging to the employees of Southwest Airlines as well as consumers of Southwest Airlines." The incident occurred during a phase of flight in which personal conversations are permitted in the cockpit. The FAA determined that the broadcast likely came from a Southwest Airlines flight and sent an audio recording of the conversation to the airline for further action. An air-traffic controller in the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center alerted all of the airplanes on the frequency to check for a stuck microphone and indicated that the conversation being broadcast was inappropriate over the air. "On March 25, 2011, about two-and-a-half minutes of conversation that included offensive language and disparaging characterizations of certain groups and individuals was transmitted on an FAA air traffic control frequency as the result of a stuck microphone in an aircraft cockpit. In a statement issued to Local 2 Investigates about the ordeal, the FAA wrote the following. He described that trip to the bar by saying, "Once with the granny and the (derogatory term) and I wish I hadn't gone." The pilot used a slur against gay flight attendants, saying he had gone to a bar with a group of flight attendants. I hate 100 percent of their (expletive)." It is unclear whether the co-pilot refers to people who are gay, or people who are older, or people who are overweight, and the pilot is then heard responding, "Well I don't give a (expletive). His co-pilot then responded inside the cockpit about one of those groups, but his response could not be heard on the recording. ![]() "Eleven (expletive) over-the-top (expletive) ass (expletive) homosexuals and a granny," the pilot said as he complained to his co-pilot about the lack of flight attendants who caught his interest. ![]() Pilots within certain altitude guidelines over that entire geographic area were unable to communicate with Houston Center air traffic controllers for the entire four-minute duration of his conversation since his headset microphone was stuck. "A continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes," the pilot said over the Houston Center air traffic control frequency, which covers hundreds of miles over Texas. The Southwest Airlines pilot, who was not identified by the FAA or the airline, could be heard talking to his co-pilot in the cockpit, expressing frustration over the airline hiring so many flight attendants that he found to be unsuitable for dating. and those supervisors forwarded a tape of the episode to Southwest Airlines to take action against the pilot. Houston Pilot Suspended For Slurs, Swearing Over Air Traffic Radio - Houston News Story - KPRC HoustonĪir traffic controllers in Houston first alerted Federal Aviation Administration supervisors on March 25, 2011, around 1:30 p.m. ![]()
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