United's pilots are understandably pissed that management is saving costs by axing 1,600 employees while simultaneously funding a $130 million executive cash bath. As a form of Ghandi-esque protest, the pilot's union has asked its members to take off their hats in management's presence—which seems counterintuitive, since we always thought taking your hat off was a sign of respect, not a way to flip a finger to The Man.

Anyway, this poor pilot KEPT HIS HAT ON! He was busted by another flight crew, and was so bent out of shape by the ensuing "interpersonal confrontation" that he decided to cancel his flight—which is much better than flying angry, because you really don't want your pilot cutting off other planes or tailgating.

United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said in an e-mailed statement that the flight was canceled according to company procedures designed to ensure flight crews are prepared to fly. The airline re-accommodated its customers on other flights and will give them "goodwill gestures," which may include miles and travel certificates, she said.

Urbanski declined to identify the pilot or provide details of the incident, but she did not dispute the passenger's account.

"We will conduct a full investigation of the events leading up to the cancellation and take appropriate, necessary action," she wrote in the e-mail.

David Kelly, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents United pilots, said the union won't comment on the incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it's up to the airlines to determine when and how pilots can walk away from the cockpit if they feel unfit to fly. "But we'd expect that if the pilots aren't fit to fly, they would not fly," said FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette.

And now we know how airline labor negotiations can directly impact customer service.

United flight canceled after upset pilot refuses to fly [USA Today]
(Photo: Getty)

I was on Jetblue flight 324 that left Las Vegas Christmas night and arrived in Washington DC this morning.

I fell asleep and slept through most of the flight. I remember waking up as I heard the captain announce that we were close to Washington DC.

Around then a short blonde female crewmember with a nasal voice (didn't catch her name) began loudly arguing with a lady in the row across from me. The crewmember kept yelling at the lady to put up her young son's seat, and the lady was trying, but the seat wouldn't budge. The crewmember repeated her request to put the seat up several times, and the woman struggled with her seat, arguing that it wouldn't move.

The crewmember said that she was putting in a "warning card" and that the woman and her kids would be met by airport security on the ground.

The crewmember went to the front of the plane, then came back and started yelling at the woman again. At this point, the woman asked the crewmember to try putting up the seat herself. The crewmember struggled with it, admitted that the spring was broken, but said that since the woman was so rude, security would still be meeting her.

About then, the plane touched down. I looked down and noticed I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and that none of my stuff was stowed. I had swapped seats with someone so I could have an empty seat next to me and my carry on bag was on that seat.

I was really confused. The crewmember seemed to have really overreacted to that woman's kid's seat being back an inch or so, but she hadn't even noticed that my stuff wasn't stowed. (I would have stowed it if she'd reminded me about it, I just went from being asleep to watching the argument to feeling the plane set down.)

As I left the plane, I was mentioning my confusion to a man who had been sitting near me. I couldn't imagine why the crewmember was so quick to get the woman in trouble while not even noticing me. He supplied the answer. Apparently, the crewmember had been loudly talking during the night and her voice kept waking up the woman's kids. (The woman, her kids and I were in the last row of the plane, and the blonde crewmember was in the back.)

So the woman had complained about the crewmember making so much noise. Twice.

As I left the plane, I saw airport security interrogating the woman as her freaked-out children watched. That image is still bothering me.

I get that air safety is really important and the unruly passengers can cause a lot of problems. But from my perspective, this really looked like the blonde crewmember called the police not because the woman was creating a disturbance, but because the woman had gotten her in trouble earlier in the flight.

I love your airline and have recommended it to my friends. I get that this was an isolated incident and I will fly Jetblue again. Your customer service has been awesome literally every time I've flown with you, except for today.

All that said, I really think this crew member is, to put it bluntly, a whackjob who is better suited to working for one of your more sadistic competitors.

At the very least, she needs a talking to.

Thanks

(Photo: Getty Images)