AirTran Airways suspended one of its pilots for wearing his uniform to the circus in Atlanta, according to the National Pilots Association.
AirTran said in a statement “the pilot… wore his uniform to a non-work, NPA union-sponsored event in clear violation of the Flight Operations Manual and the collective bargaining agreement. This policy has been clearly communicated to the airline’s 1,700 pilots and is standard practice throughout the aviation and other industries. The NPA union leadership had the opportunity to avoid this suspension on several occasions, and they chose not to.”
But the union said the pilot was wearing his uniform while dropping off his wife and two children at a circus in Atlanta. The NPA sponsored a family day at the circus and the pilot was on his way to work when he stopped at Philips Arena to help his wife with their kids, the union said.
“The circus started at 3 p.m., and he had to be at work at 4:30 p.m.,” said Tim Baker, spokesman for the NPA, in a statement. “He was leaving on a four day trip and wanted to spend as much time with the kids as possible. He will soon be deployed overseas and is focused on spending time with his family. He only stayed at the circus for a few minutes. The rules even state that he can wear his uniform to and from work.”
AirTran said it would have no further comment on the issue and “will not conduct labor relations through the media.”
Source: News.com.au
By: Bmused55 - 1st April 2009 at 08:06
Petty or not, it’s in black and white and this particular pilot broke the rules.
Perhaps so, but suspension is, imo, a little overboard.
A slap on the wrist and maybe a month or so of crappy shifts would be more in line with this infraction, again in my opinion.
By: JetSet - 31st March 2009 at 20:05
Sounds like where I work – nay excuse to spring the “suspension” upon anybody. I think it’s an utter disgrace the way he has been treated. What would happen, say, if he was actually at the circus watching and he got volenteered for something, would that have the same outcome? Where it would be more of an advertisment for the company – in uniform as well?!?!?! I think things may have been different in that case.
By: Vicbitter - 31st March 2009 at 07:48
Looks like Airtran were trying to find an excuse to suspend someone, any excuse apparently :confused:
By: Whiskey Delta - 30th March 2009 at 17:54
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mangements powerplay here has something to do with being in contract negotiations with their pilots for 5 years now. Nothing like dinging a pilot at a Union sponsered event to send a message.
By: Richard Taylor - 30th March 2009 at 07:01
Hard to tell which is the bigger circus…..:rolleyes: Should throw Airtran jobsworths to the lions.
By: skycruiser - 30th March 2009 at 06:54
Im with WD on this one, seems to be a bit more to this story.
Don’t think to many airlines would give two hoots if a pilot was wearing his uniform whilst dropping the family off before heading into work, no matter what’s written in the manuals.
If the airline thought of this as a big problem then tea and biscuits with the chief pilot would have sorted it out.
By: rdc1000 - 30th March 2009 at 06:51
This is very interesting because only last week I was reading an article about AirTran in (I think) ATW. In this article a senior manager was making a big point about how much they’d done to encourage staff to wear their uniform outside of work with pride, because previously staff were changing on arrival and departure from work. The article was suggesting that wearing the uniform with pride had been a good marketing tool, especially after the disappearance of the Valuejet brand, for whom staff appeared embarrased to work for.
I do think it’s a little petty TBH, I can imagine that the guy had to quickly pick up a child to get to the circus. For a variety of reasons we all occasionally have to do things after work without time to go home.
By: steve rowell - 30th March 2009 at 04:55
Petty or not, it’s in black and white and this particular pilot broke the rules.
It is absolutely petty…the man was on his way to work and stopped off to give his wife a hand for goodness sake…their bloody Victorian rule book should be brought into line with the 21st Century
By: T5 - 30th March 2009 at 04:24
wore his uniform to a non-work, NPA union-sponsored event in clear violation of the Flight Operations Manual
Petty or not, it’s in black and white and this particular pilot broke the rules.
By: Whiskey Delta - 30th March 2009 at 02:33
It’s pretty common to have language in the FOM that limits employees to wearing their uniforms to and from work only. It’s unwritten but I’d believe most managements would give employees some leeway so not to punish someone for dropping their kids off at school or something similar in uniform. The intent of the rule is to prevent someone from actively doing something non-work related in uniform (ie shopping). Why AirTran went after this pilot is odd. How did they find out he was there and how did it get into the news? There might be more to the story.
By: Ren Frew - 30th March 2009 at 00:30
.
AirTran said in a statement “the pilot… wore his uniform to a non-work, NPA union-sponsored event in clear violation of the Flight Operations Manual
Do any of the pilots who contribute to these forums know of a similar ban on attending circuses whilst dressed for work ? And why would the Flight Operations Manual apply… Trapese ???
Sign In
March 29, 2009 at 11:44 pm