Proselytizing Pilot

[JS]

This type of behavior is inexcusable. And I am a life-long Episcopalian. This sort of behavior reminds me of a quote from Gandhi.

For any who might not know...
Gandhi was educated at Oxford University in England, and he always said that he built his non-violent movement upon the Sermon on the Mount. However, he also once said, "Having read the teachings of Jesus Christ, I could have been a Christian very easily, if I had not met so many of them."

As the old lady said when the preacher asked her why she wasn't in church on Sunday, "preacher, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one."

This is why I left the Episcopal church. You people are a bunch of spineless Judases. I can't believe you have more faith in Ghandi than God.

 

[MCI transplant]

Would you feel the same if the pilot was promoting Islam, Buddhism, or some other non Christian faith?

<_< TWAnr---- In one word! "Yes!!" Why do we always have to be "Politically Correct!"????

 

[MCI transplant]

I stand by my original statement!"This company needs all the help it can get!"!!!Signed: "Just another redheaded stepchild!"

 

[medr]

What gives with American Airlines pilots/captains in the news??? Illegal job actions, flipping the bird at foreign officials, using the cockpit for their own personal pulpit. This is very poor judgment indeed, not to mention galloping self-inflation. Put these pulsating egos on hold, and to quote Kirkpatrick, fly the damn plane.

 

[orwell]

This is why I left the Episcopal church. You people are a bunch of spineless Judases. I can't believe you have more faith in Ghandi than God.

Wow...and people are worried that the pilot was unstable?

Dude - take a chill pill and cut back on the "you people" statements.

 

[jimntx]

This is why I left the Episcopal church.

On behalf of the Episcopal Church in America, may I express my heartfelt gratitude. Vaya con Dios.

 

[ss278]

... I guess we could get John Ashcroft to charge him with not being politically correct (PC).

No, John Ashcroft will probably give him a medal. I would even bet that he'll be the next designated hero in the gallery next time Dubya addresses Congress.

 

[orwell]

On behalf of the Episcopal Church in America, may I express my heartfelt gratitude. Vaya con Dios.

Amen! I'm not Episcopalian, but you're lucky to lose anyone that's that much of a jerk.

 

[TWAnr]

The CNN version:

NEW YORK (CNN) -- An American Airlines pilot made some passengers fearful when he urged them to make wise use of their flight time by talking to Christians, passengers said Monday.

Passengers were "shocked," said Karla Austin, who had flown on Friday's Los Angeles to New York Flight 34. Some reached for their mobile phones and others used the on-flight phones, she said.

"Just given the history of what's happened on planes in this country, anything can happen at this point. So we weren't sure if something was going to happen at takeoff, if he was going to wait until JFK (John F. Kennedy) to do something," Austin said. "But there was definitely implication there that we felt that something was going to happen."

Passengers complained to the flight attendants, who relayed their concerns to the cockpit and who then reassured them they had nothing to worry about, Austin said.

Attendants also told passengers they had contacted airline officials about the matter, she said.

"We were just at the beginning of our flight. The pilot came on to greet everyone and give his comments for the morning, and he said he'd recently been on a mission trip, and he'd like all the Christians to please raise their hands," said passenger Jen Dorsey.

He said, 'If you are a Christian, raise your hand.' He said, 'If you are not, you're crazy,'" said Austin.

Dorsey nodded her head in agreement that the pilot had called non-Christians "crazy."

Another passenger recounted a similar experience in an interview with WCBS-TV in New York. Amanda Nelligan told the station the pilot said those who did not raise their hands were "crazy."

Austin said no passengers raised their hands.

The pilot then asked passengers to look around at each other and use the flight wisely or "just sit back and watch the movie," Dorsey said.

About 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot apologized -- but his apology focused on the crew, not the passengers, Dorsey said.

"He came on and said, 'I want to apologize for my comments earlier. I think I really threw the flight crew off a little bit, and they are getting a lot of flack for the things I said. So I want to apologize to my flight crew,' " she said.

Wagner said the pilot offered to speak after the flight with anyone who wanted to discuss his comments.

On her way out, Austin said she told him that "he should be ashamed of himself."

"He just nodded and looked to the ground, and that was it," she said.

The airline is investigating reports about Friday's Flight 34, a company spokesman said.

American Airlines said that if the incident were true it "would be against our policy."

In a statement, the airline said, "It falls along the lines of a personal level of sharing that may not be appropriate for one of our employees to do while on the job."

Airline spokesman Tim Wagner said the pilot denies using the word "crazy." He told the airline he recently had returned from a mission trip and was encouraging people to use the four and a half hour flight to speak with passengers about their relationships with God, Wagner said. The pilot's name has not been released.

"American Airlines apologizes if anyone was made to feel uncomfortable by the comments of this pilot," Wagner said.

The airline spokesman declined to say whether the pilot has been relieved of duty while an investigation is under way. The man, a senior pilot with the airline, did not fly again over the weekend, Wagner said.

The spokesman also declined to say whether the pilot is scheduled to fly this week.

The result of the airline's investigation will not be made public because it is an internal matter, Wagner said, adding it will be "handled internally according to American Airlines procedure."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/02/09/airli...nity/index.html

 

[emjpilot]

Frankly, as someone who is not xian, I am deeply offended by this incident. To have a fellow employee suggest that I am "crazy" in this manner would be, had I been on the flight, creating a hostile workplace, and therefore a violation of my rights and company work rules, specifically rule 32. It also applies to the passengers: it was also a violation of their rights to be subject to this sort of prosyletization and insult.

This puts the company in a very awkward position: how do they discipline this pilot without alienating xian passengers? At the same time, this clearly must not happen again. If people want religion, they go to church. If they want a plane ride, they buy a ticket. We would not do much business if everytime a pilot want to force his beliefs on the passengers, he made such a statement to a captive audience. Imagine if you went into, say, a McDonalds, and the server asked you if you wanted a little Jesus with your fries? Mickey D's would quickly lose customers. So will we if we force people to listen to religious sermons.

I'll be honest: I am not religious at all. Religion has already done enough damage to this company and this country. Religion, you will remember, is why a bunch of assholes decided to hijack a couple of our planes and fly them into buildings. Religous proseltyizers are worse than telemarketers. One tries to be tolerant, and to be an atheist in this country requires a lot of it. However, no means no. If I don't want to listen to religious crapola, I shouldn't be subject to it as an employee or as a passenger. Yes, I do want freedom from religion, and we would all be a lot better off if we had a lot less of it. In any case, religious preference is a personal matter, and one that a representative of a corporate entity has no business intruding upon.

When some zealot creates a hostile work environment in this manner, they should be disciplined. Fired? No. Suspended? Yep. Read the riot act, put on probation, whatever. But if he keeps it up, embarrasses the company, alienates customers and fellow employees, they must be shown the door.

Appropriately, and perhaps out of necessity, AA isn't talking about how they are handling the matter. This is the best way, as it keeps the guy from being a martyr.
:down:

 

[desertfox]

First the incident in Brazil, then this,..whats a next GAY or T/G asking for a show of hands?..........JUST FLY THE PLANE!!

 

[mweiss]

Imagine if you went into, say, a McDonalds, and the server asked you if you wanted a little Jesus with your fries? Mickey D's would quickly lose customers.

Not that I'm excusing his behavior (I'm not), but AS does (did?) include cards with a line of scripture with each meal. It doesn't seem to hurt their business. Of course, it's much less "in your face" than the captain's approach...

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

No, John Ashcroft will probably give him a medal. I would even bet that he'll be the next designated hero in the gallery next time Dubya addresses Congress.

ss278,

I've got a news "flash" for you, ASSCROFT, and DUMBYA,
"THERE IS'NT GOING TO BE A "NEXT TIME" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to John Kerry..........Gephardt/Graham(florida)/Edwards.

NH/BB's

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

WOW!!! Some of these responses are WAY out there!! What this pilot did is mildly inapropriate. I can't belive how many people want him suspended or even FIRED! Would we respond the same way if he was Muslim or Hindu? I doubt it. God forbid we OFFEND them. How about if he asked all the Vegetarians to raise their hands and then share their beliefs? I doubt anyone would bat an eye and most of these zealot Vegetariens are WAY more annoying than these zealous Christians!

AAmech,
You and I(and others) have been "patrolling" these boards for some time now.

I AGREE with you that Captain "christian" should NOT be terminated.
I DISAGREE with you. He SHOULD be (moderately) repremanded !!!!!

First, we've got Captain "christian", on saturday.

Second, we've got on sunday,(60 minutes lead story), more fanatic's(who were in Dallas area, no less), telling interviewer Morley Safer, that if you were not a "born again" christian, that you were'nt getting into heaven.

(Just for the record, as a child, I was baptised christian)

I've got to tell ya', after many years of trying to figue out religeon, I've DEFINITELY come to the conclusion that Native Americans have had it RIGHT all along.

1. THE CREATOR
2. Mother EARTH/NATURE(and all the beauty that goes with her).

"End of story" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NH/BB's

 

[jimntx]

And, let's remember that the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that "Freedom of religion" also means Freedom FROM religion.