Complaint Review: America West Airlines - Phoenix Arizona

Just had to say this, but Stefan, do you think that the pilot wants the plane to 'fall out of the sky'? What kind of thing is that to say...America West has one of the cleanest safety records in the industry...

Just had to say this, but Stefan, do you think that the pilot wants the plane to 'fall out of the sky'? What kind of thing is that to say...America West has one of the cleanest safety records in the industry...

Just had to say this, but Stefan, do you think that the pilot wants the plane to 'fall out of the sky'? What kind of thing is that to say...America West has one of the cleanest safety records in the industry...

Just had to say this, but Stefan, do you think that the pilot wants the plane to 'fall out of the sky'? What kind of thing is that to say...America West has one of the cleanest safety records in the industry...

While I do not Work directly for HP I am very familiar with their rules and regulations as a affliate. The bottom line is with any job there is a certain "need to know basis." I do not mean to make that sound as it does. The fact is pilots have to go through many many many hours of training BEFORE they even get into the pit. They need to know just about everything about their bird. You know less about your car, but you still drive it yes? If your car broke down on a log road can you get out get under the hood and pull the egine apart and fix so you can be on your way? The moving of the throttle was not to find an easy way to reduce noise. It was most like to make sure the flaps were operating as the should. If he took the time to explain it to you he would not be DOING it and you would have ended up screaming at the agent on the ground because you did not make it to your destination. Trust me pilots do not want that plane to go down any more than you do. The pilot also has another obligation to you as a passenger. That is to control the aircraft in ALL manners. Telling there is a problem but Im not sure what it is only leads to panic. And I will tell you there is nothing worse that 138 paniced people in a very small inclosed space 25 miles above the ground. He has to control all aspects with out being in the cabin with you as well, I bet he did come on afterwards and make a comment, and if he did not then yes he needs customer service training. If it is unsafe it wont fly. Do you know there are no-fly and okay to fly mechanical problems? If a tray table does not stay up the whole plane is grounded. Silly? Yes, but it is so that the passenger sitting there is not smacked on the head when they bend over to get something off the floor or say shake loose when your infant is sleeping in your lap. We are travelers have to take some responsiblity for what we are unhappy for. Know what can and can not be done for instance. Understand that while you may be unhappy about something YOU are not the only or most important issue at hand. You are concerned about YOU while they are concerned about all 138 passengers, and 5-6 members of the crew. They do not want any of you hurt....or worse. I encoureage even challenge passengers to find, read, learn, and most importantly understand the rules and regulations that govern air travel. In the end everyone would win. Will people be unhappy? Yes. Will employees still be berated and screamed at? Yes. But as an agent that worries about you from the time you walk in to the time you land, nothing makes me giggle more after all is said and done then imagineing the look on the faces of the people that contact lawyers and try to sue because it rained or a plane was so noisy it gave them a headache. Common sense should tell you that airlines are in the business of making money, not paying it out to people as settlements. I am not making light of your complaint, you always have the right to complain, but an educated complaint in any issue will always get better results. Just because you have flown millions of miles or hours does not mean you are in tune with a plane (that you may never have flown on before.) But chances are that this pilot has flown "Ol Noisey" before, because despite what people think, airlines do not have millions of planes. They have a fleet and most are used locally with a portion of the fleet going on long hauls. So I am with the pilot when he tells me he knows his plane. And believe me I know some Prima Donna that will not get in nor fly it if it just smells funny. Now thats knowing yur plane. ;) AGain contacting the DOT instead of the company if you feel that the plane was unfit to fly should be the first step. A company will offer you a free ticket, but if it your safety that is the cncern, please for all of us contact the people that will take the bird out of the air, and keep us all safe.

I am a commercial pilot. I do not fly for America West, but I do fly quite a lot of aircraft and have had to deal with both passengers and mechanical problems. The fact of the matter is this; if something is wrong which puts you in danger, it puts the pilot in danger as well. Believe it or not, they're on the same flight! So if it's something they've dealt with before and are aware of, they'll deal with it. If they have to turn back, THEY WILL! An airline is a lot more interested in spending some money keeping passengers safe than spending millions or more on settling families' lawsuits. As a pilot, I can tell you that the cockpit - even in what seems like a monotonous or boring time - can be a very busy place. At the risk of sounding elitist or rude, we don't always have time to make a full explanation of what's going on up front. It's taken us years of studying and practice to know ourselves, we really need to get down to the business of doing it rather than teaching you what we're doing. That said, I will admit that we're really prompted to keep our comments as innocuous as possible. It's like Seinfeld said, "we have a little problem, there'll be a short delay, some slight turbulence." If we were to come up on the speakers and tell you, "we could take off in ten minutes or we could be delayed an hour," there would be a riot. If we tell you "there's moderate to severe turbulence reported" and fail to tell you it was by a single-engine Cessna and we're in a 777 (whatever), you're going to be terrified. It's part of the cockpit pre-launch checklist but we wouldn't include the passengers in the conversation about what we'll do in case of an engine failure or fire during takeoff. Suffice to say, the guys and gals who need to know what to do, know. Flight attendants are told as much as we can tell them, and it is in our interest to have the passengers know the general situation. And airplanes can be fidgety, tempramental things, especially the (very noisy!) Airbuses. (Remember, if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going!)