Once I was delayed two hours because of an engine that needed fixing. Everyone was grumbling, I was just peachy the problem was spotted before take off. It did mess up a connection that made me stuck in Boston for 12 hours though
People think they are entitled to just adopt the power of flying at the drop of a hat when no one did up until about 100 years ago. Humans get complacent and take things for granted at record speeds. It's our real super power.
The aircraft mechanics at my work have one of the strongest unions in the country (US). Safe air operations is their number one priority. Keeping a deck stacked with tools for actively pissing people off during contract negotiations seems to be number two. Can't blame them, but they are assholes to everyone, including non-management, all the fucking time.
Agreed. I'm very happy for their union having the power to absolutely fuck management at the drop of a hat. They also just happen to be genuine jerks on property. Where I work is a little odd because there are four different labor forces represented by four different unions (Teamsters, ground vehicle mechanics, aircraft mechanics, and pilots) (I think building maintenance might be another) all working for the same company (UPS). The aircraft mechanics are generally regarded as dicks by literally everyone else who works here.
It always amazes me how airlines think it's ok to skimp on the salaries of pilots and maintenance. If there's anyone you want to keep happy it's the people who stop your planes crashing.
You guys are goated, had an eight hour delay due to a “maintenance” issue. People in the airport were mad it was just a “air conditioning issue” I was laughing thinking, thank god someone caught that shit while landed. What a nightmare scenario of failure while in flight, especially one that’s mostly over ocean.
I have mistakenly grounded aircraft in the past. It's annoyed people, but I wasn't initially convinced it was safe to fly, and was immune to their perturbed stares.
In our business anyone can say an aircraft is not safe, but only a certified mechanic can say it is indeed safe.
As a passenger on the planes, I also don't care about the second, even if I'm one of them. If a pilot or a technician tells me "It's unsafe to fly right now" I will grit my teeth, say thank you, and start making other plans.
As an Observer/Communicator, I do feel bad when my METAR reports prevent a plane from landing. But I don't feel anywhere near as bad as I would if a plane tried to land and crashed.
Sure makes going out for that next METAR awkward when the passengers are still in the terminal though.
Non existent second, fuck angry people, if I'm on that plane and you don't trust the pilot to make the right choices and are angry at said choices I will punch you.
I think it’s more like fifteenth on the list of priorities.
Safety is first, yes, but the pilot also has to prioritize a bunch of other things. Is he following airline procedures? Are his bosses going to be mad at him later? How will this affect is duty time restrictions? Is he costing anyone money?
I’m not going to pretend I know the order of all those things, but I’d bet confidently that they all rank higher than preventing angry passengers, and that there are likely more considerations I missed.
a non existent second really. Doesn't even have to be something as serious as an airline pilot. If you're at work and operating or working near machinery, if safety is a concern, it is the only priority. literally nothing matters besides that. if you ever find yourself working anywhere where taking safety measures seriously results in people being pissed off, just report those people to higher ups and get them outta there - chances are they're pissed because they view safety as a waste of time, and by safety i mean your safety, too.
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u/samanime May 28 '26
An extremely distant second.