Below are stories in the SendtoNews archives that indicate Airline as their primary category:
One of the most common themes of airline news these days seems to be about misbehaving pilots. From drunken pilots to out of control pilots, there seems to be somewhat of an epidemic lately. No airline seems immune to what has been going on.
JetBlue recently escorted an out of control captain off of a flight from Las Vegas to New York. He reportedly came out of the cockpit yelling about terrorists and religion, and stated that he would use insanity as a defense if he was set for trial. Sure enough, he is attempting to use the insanity plea and is still in a Texas jail.
Frontier Airlines is not immune to spectacle pilots either. A flight from Omaha to Milwaukee was delayed in February when the pilot was suspected drunk and kept from boarding the plant. Tipped off by a hotel shuttle driver, police detained the pilot and determined there was reasonable suspicion of impairment. According to airline news, this forced the airline to bring in another pilot, which delayed the flight by two hours.
Apparently this is an international problem as well. In March of this year a senior Air India pilot was caught drunk before attempting to operate a flight in Chennai. This pilot was removed from all administrative duties for three years and had his training captain status removed. As a result, improved alcohol sensors and pre-flight testing are now being demanded by the international flight community and authorities. Between job losses, increased ticket prices, fees for bags and miscreant pilots, we could all use some happier airline news these days.
