Houston’s KPRC Channel 2 reports on a recent incident involving a pilot for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines whose cockpit microphone became stuck on, allowing air traffic controllers and crews from other flights to hear an anti-gay, misogynistic, ageist rant about what the pilot considers a lack of flight attendants suitable for him to have sex with.
An air traffic controller repeatedly tries to interrupt the pilot and alert him that his microphone is on, but the pilot doesn’t notice. Much of the anti-gay language has been bleeped out in the audio posted on Channel 2’s website, but it’s not hard to fill in the blanks:
“Well, I had Tucson to Indy all four weeks and, uh, Chicago crews … 11 out of 12 … there’s 12 flight attendants, individual, never the same flight attendant twice,” the pilot says. “Eleven (expletive) over the top (expletive), (expletive) homosexuals and a granny. Eleven. I mean, think of the odds of that. I thought I was in Chicago, which was party-land. … After that, it was just a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes …”
After an inaudible comment by his co-pilot, presumably about gays, the pilot continues: “Well I don’t give a (expletive). I hate 100 percent of their (expletive). So, six months, I went to the bar three times. In six months, three times. … Once with the granny and the fag, and I wish I hadn’t gone.”
Channel 2 has a complete transcript as well as the audio.
According to Southwest Airlines, the pilot was suspended without pay for the incident, but the company declined to say for how long and added that Southwest considers it “a family matter.”
The FAA also issued a statement saying it “expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews, regardless of the circumstances.”
Cece Cox, executive director of Resource Center Dallas, is quoted extensively in the story, and RCD reportedly will be issuing a follow-up statement about the incident Wednesday morning.
“This individual has made statements that are anti-woman, anti-age, and anti-gay in a way that can’t be disputed and they’re hateful and they’re damaging to the employees of Southwest Airlines as well as consumers of Southwest Airlines,” Cox told Channel 2. “I hope it’s an isolated incident. I hope they look and see what’s happening in their culture because clearly this incident shows that there’s something happening in this culture that allowed this person to make those kind of remarks and exhibit this kind of hostility, discrimination and hate.”
In case you’re wondering Southwest Airlines received a score of 95 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2011 Corporate Equality Index. According to HRC, the company conducts mandatory LGBT diversity training for all employees.
I don’t get the story. I mean these two guys were talking with each other and they didn’t know the mike was on. Are we supposed to hate SW Airlines now and demand they are fired? They were suspended? What are we saying to people? People don’t have a right to freedom of speech? It’s not like they went through the plane calling people fags, etc. This is just too much for me. I’m gay, but I don’t think I should expect the world to unconditionally love me. These guys did nothing wrong, and I am sorry my community thinks everything should be perfect. This is just wrong. It was a mistake, and I don’t believe any malicious intent can be taken. As much as we want to be queens, we can’t demand heads to roll every time we are offended. Good Lord!
Glad it was exposed. Hope it leads to increased/more effective training for SW Airlines employees– which in turn affects what Ms. Cox referred to as the SW Airlines “culture.”
Did nothing wrong? Nothing? I understand the feeling that we don’t get to expect everyone loves us, but this was a workplace issue more than anything. If those things were spoken in my office, I would fire the employee immediately. No other employee in the cockpit should be subjected to such hate speech in the office and companies have a serious legal calculation to make about how they handle such incidents. Speech is free but there are consequences. I don’t expect this guy to like me, but if I am working with him, I expect he will not use epithets, etc.
I think it’s also vital to note the connection between misogyny, sizism, ageism, and homophobia. They are cut from the same cloth.
The real problem with this is the fact that this individual blocked the ability for Air Traffic Control to do their job. During his entire tirade the individual responsible for hundreds, if not thousands of lives was unable to issue instructions to maintain the safe operation of their airspace. You may or may not agree with what he said, but not only did he endanger everyone in his airspace, but he also broadcasted curse words. Call the FCC!
First of all, this isn’t a Freedom of Speech issue. The amendment says that you have the right to free speech and the “Government” can’t stop. SWA is not the goverment. Whether you are employed by the NBA, SWA or any mom & pop shop, they can decide if what you say while you are their employee will affect your employment status. I’m not going to judge/condemn SWA for this one ignorant man’s statement. They did what they felt was appropriate for their employee… people should just move on. There are more important fish to fry in his world. And btw, I am a hetero and a huge gay rights activist, but this is not where I believe we should be focusing our energy.
I don’t know who’s the worst offender here, the ignorant pilot, Southwest for choosing to call this a “family matter” and brushing off any further obligation here or Eric, an allegedly gay man who seems to be just fine with bigotry, hatred, ignorance and an overall lack of basic human respect . It’s a sad day when this kind of disrespect is addressed with further disrespect – shame on you all.
i bet if he was calling them the “n'” would be out the door! Double standards.It’s okay to be little and make fun of gay’s right. Wrong.We are all accountable for the words that come out of or mouth and when, He should be let go being as if they keep him on Southwest is saying they agree with his words!
Closet-case / insecure ! He needs to be fired! Enough of this bullshit! People really need to start taking more responsibility for their actions! Sick of people getting away with their shit! Society has no more scrupals and morals!
I agree with dbruce. To be fair, if i wonder if something qualifies as discrimination or hate-speech, I apply the “N” test. If someone said “nigger’ instead of “fag”, would people react any differently? If we said it was illegal for blacks to marry -instead of gays- how would America respond? We must not let these situations pass without notice when they fail the “N” test.
I hope this pilot spends some of his time off in sensitivity training. This pilot’s feelings of entitlement to sex with flight attendants is pretty shocking. I wonder how his wife feels when she reads her husband’s transcript.
To all those condemning this guy with outrageous calls for his termination, let’s consider one thing. Has this pilot ever had complaints lodged against him for previous inappropriate behavior towards gays? Have those attendants who’ve worked for him previously noted anything other than professional courtesy towards them and their co-workers? Listen, you can mandate how people should accord themselves with others, but there is no rule, no regulation that can tell someone how to think. It was unfortunate that this ‘locker room’ talk was allowed to spill over onto the airwaves and had the pilot thought for a moment his conversation was being heard by others, you know darned well he would have bit his tongue. Clearly, the pilot felt comfortable speaking his mind to the second officer so what’s next? Are we going to call for his termination because he had the audacity to listen to this ‘rant’ without a word of protest? Call it homophobia, call it bigotry – it boils down to one thing. This guy has a right to condemn the behavior of those who do not conform to what he sees as traditional behavior and there is nothing anyone can do or say to change this. When people in the LGBT community understand this, maybe they’ll stop getting their feelings hurt so easily.
I don’t care if you go to Klan meetings on the weekends, don’t bring your shit to work.
ATC,
There is a kill switch that can be utilized if ATC thinks they need the air. It’s not just “one frequency”. All mic comm is recorded, whether its accidental open mic or intention communication. ATC can not be “blocked” as you say in your post. There are multitudes of direct TAC’s.
Are you gay? Are you Black? do you have a handicap? are you a legal citzen? Do you get put down everyday for the things you can not help? For the way you were born? Maybe you would understand if one of your kids was gay and saw how people treated them. He can speak his mind, But not in a work place!
First Tracy Morgan, now this guy. I think dating will be the least of his problems. It is a little scary to think who is in the cockpit responsible for your life. I found a site to post your travel adventures with airlines and more at airlineslodgingetc.com
You think he’s the only swinging d*** in a cockpit who talks and thinks like that? Unfortunate, but commonplace. The real issue was the stuck mike and the interruption to the ATC functions.
Eric is just a pussy-fag, nancy-boy loser.
If I made those comments in the workplace, I too would be seriously reprimanded. When you’re at work, it’s not acceptable. Privately, anyone has the right to be ignorant. If I thought this was the mindset of the airline in general, I would avoid using it. However, I doubt Southwest sanctions the pilot’s views. What the Pilot fails to recognize is that by alienating a portion of its customer base, it hurts himself and his co-workers as well.
It doesn’t matter what he said–two things:
He jammed up ATC, that’s a major safety issue, that’s why there are rules to keep communication brief and succinct.
If he wears the uniform of the company, it doesn’t matter if he’s saying the N or the F-word–he’s the public face of the company apart from the cabin crew.
And MarkInSavannah: Talk to me when you’ve been discriminated on, you’ll see why people are crying foul.
Well, it was behind closed doors in a private conversationbetween two guys. It was not intentional thatthe button got stuck. I would hate for myprivate conversations to be recorded, judgedOr reprimanded for b/c I tend to talk about HOTguys, in a sometimes very explicit and unprofessional way.I am not condoning his old fashion, close minded, homophobic, ignorant ass BUT this doesnt really seem like it was intentionally done.
May have been behind closed doosr, yes. But totally unaccepatble becuase #1 it is the work place. This man s held to professional standards which he breeched. The second reason which has already been mentioned, is that he jeopordized the safety of the very people his is supposed to look after as well as they flying public in that particular airspace.. If one cannot seem to observe an open mike, even after being told it is open by flight controllers, how do you know you have control over the rest of the aircraft. While he may have had some follow up training on diversity, there is no evidence from Southwest that that training was effective, nor have they even address the saftety concerns folks have expressed. . I’ve been a Southwest Frequent Flyer since 1987. If it were not for all of the past positive experiance with the company and their employess, I would say “adios”. Southwest…you are on probation.
Was the flight on time?
Who the hell cares what was said behind closed doors?! Yeah, they interrupted the frequency but honestly, I cant’ stand the people who are demanding more training blah blah blah because of someone’s opinions. Offended? Get bent.
Was that Rick “adios mofo” Perry in the cockpit?
“If he wasn’t your governor, chances are that Rick Perry would be spending his days in the left seat of a Boeing 737 cockpit as a Southwest Airlines pilot.”
https://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/from-farm-to-politics-perry-follows-in-familys-224276.html
I’m pretty much afraid of the comments I’ve read. Some are positive and most of them negative. Why would you want the pilot to be fired? There is the option of free speech; however, the mic was left on which is a total
misnomer on the pilot’s fault, whether the button got stuck or not. He voiced his opinion about certain entities and will now feel the brunt of his mistake. Let Southwest take care of the problem; we can’t offer any cure for
his mistake and certainly can’t offer an apology to those who’ve been offended….Southwest can, however, and I think they’ve done their duty within their own guidelines. There’s no reason to condemn the pilot for this mistake. It was totally unintentional and his conversation with his co-pilot was on a personal level. Yes, we all heard it but the fact remains it was intended to be between the two of them. It was a mistake,
pure and simple. His being pardoned is not acceptable and Southwest knows this. They’re taking care of the problem with their own standards. Lets not get our undies in a bunch over this. It happens every single day in our lives where homophobes make dangerous and submitting gestures. His comments are totally stupid on his account but I consider the source. There are much more waryimg people out there who’d just love to catch a gay guy and beat the hell out of him. This I fear, but the pilots comments go into one ear and out the other. There’s no need to be upset about his homophobic attitude. He’ll come around soon enough and will ultimately be a supporter, in kind.
Oh, and I should mention that I’m a gay guy who had the shit kicked out of him on the streets of New Orleans.
These are the sorts of people to be wary of, not the pilots who make conversation about their own desires.
Come on its a normal conversation between guys.
Thats how we roll …
He had bad luck with the stuck mic….
Glad to see the Local TWU 556 Flight attenendants taking a stand on this. There are standards of civilty that should be maintained in any enviornment, much less a professional one. One needs to take a look at the root cause here. I am not nescssarily saying this man should be fired, on the other hand, I for sure dont think 30-90 days of suspension and some training actually fixed the problem. TWU Local 556 represents 9,400 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines….see their statement here
https://dallasvoice.com/southwest-flight-attendants-respond-pilots-rant-call-airline-remedy-injustice-1080874.html
Pilots are scumbags. I thought everyone knew that. A lot of people are scumbags in private, as he must have thought he was.
This happens all the time! Sometimes the button gets stuck and sometimes it just happens. If you want robots to fly the planes, call congress and tell them. I’m sure everyone would love to get rid of pilots.
One more thing….ATC does the same thing too.
Thank you for setting the record straight on what “happens all the time” It sure does give the flying public the information we need to protect ourselves. Shame…..
Fire the pilot… This behavior is not acceptable or forgivable…. The trust is gone between his crew members and the “Pilot in Command”. These people are trained to put themselves in harms way (sacrifice their own lives) in order to save their passengers and people on the ground.. Why would a crew member risk their life for this idiot…. Passengers in the future are now in danger flying Soutwest Airlines since this behavior is acceptable with a slap on the hand…
Free speech in what they thought was a confined environment. Big deal. Sorry but when behind closed doors you should be able to say whatever you want.
If you’re too stupid to operate a mic, should you really be trusted to fly an airplane? And if you can’t operate a mic why should women think you’re capable of operating your dick well enough to make sex with you worth their time?
Free Speech is one thing.. Damaging free speech that breaks the trust of a working and trusting crew might get you killed is another. The pilot was in a working environment and this type of free speech is against company policies. Sorry, company policy rules over “Free Speech”… Save the “Free Speech” for the bars, home and in public… Interesting to see when the new flight deck will be equipped with full time video and audio capturing in the near future. Some airlines have it now..
His beef is that he couldn’t get laid because he was flying with “gay, grannies and grandes” I doubt the man gets much action because of the pig he has clearly demonstrated he is.
The hate he expresses AT THE WORKPLACE toward his coworkers is totally unacceptable. The evidence shows that he was irresponsible and negligent to his job (mic on) while ranting about non occupational topics. I would think 30 to 90 days would be too light. And his name should be broadcast to Southwest employees.
Seems like SW Airlines should review their policies on Hostile work environment, discrimination, and sexual harassment. The fact that something this offensive only warrants a suspension and a diversity training – is outrageous. What do you have to say or do to your co-workers to get fired here? Seems like the problem could be that there is similiar idealogy throughout the organization so the attitude was unacceptable but understandable. – If I made the same comments in my workplace, and was overheard by co-workers I would definitely lose my job and have seen people say much less offensive things and be termed – What is going on in this organization? I will be flying alternative airlines whenever possible until they take this more seriously.
Typical male chauvinist pig! Karma is a bitch, the schedulers need to load him up with the gay boys, grannies and grandes for the rest of his career with SWA!!!
The thing to remember is that stuck mics are fairly common in all radio services, from CB radio to VHF/UHF public safety services to, yes, aviation frequencies. It’s a matter of proper maintenance. Does the mic button on this particular A/C have a history o9f sticking and has it been flagged for replacement? If so, then by the standards some are advocating, the maintenance crew needs to be fired also, for aiding and abetting this.
If it hasn’t been flagged, then it comes under the heading of “shit happens”. The pilot has no way of knowing his comments are being broadcast to anybody with a receiver set to that frequency. Well, actually he does have a way, there is a small red LED on the face of the radio that glows when it is transmitting. Not part of the regular pilot scan of instruments, if he tried to check each and every instrument on the panel his fatigue level would rise dramatically.
Now, unless the FAA plans are making something of it, the situation is up to SWA to handle internally. I think it is a good thing NOT to fire the pilot, that would just give the bigots and narrow-minded politicians are martyr to wave around. And that’s not a good idea with the big elections coming up. Suspend him WITHOUT pay and require him to take additional diversity training is an appropriate response by SWA. It won’t change his beliefs but he should be more circumspect in voicing them.
And for those who are wondering, I’m a lesbian and have been since jr. high. And that was a l-o-n-g time ago. I personally find the pilot’s comments reprehensible. But realistically, these were not public comments and were not made to the people being discussed. Therefore the punishment is up to SWA, which probably has rules and guidelines in place. I’m sure this will end up in his employment jacket and the next step of punishment will be far more severe.
In short, get a grip people! You are making a mountain out of a molehill. We need to fight the battles that matter and not get sidetracked on nonsense.
I am not sure why people keep thinking this is a free speech issue. The only “free speech” protections are that that the government cannot arrest you for what you say. Your employer can fire you, your friends can abandon you, your associates can censure you…You may not get arrested, but speech has consequences.
Now all that aside, even if you do consider this to be his personal opinion discussed in what he though was a personal environment, I frankly do not appreciate his attitude regarding other people and I may choose to not place myself in proximity to him, which may mean not flying Southwest Airlines if it comes out that his attitude is common place within that corporation. I see his shotgun bigotry as inappropriate on all levels and just as at one time people felt at ease describing “primitive” peoples as lesser human beings, I personally think it is time for individuals like this one to join us in the 21st century.
Frankly, nothing he said effects me directly (I am a straight, middle of all the roads male), but how many times do we have to hear of the adage of “they came for the Jews, but I was not Jewish so I said nothing” until we all see only ourselves as important? Were his words directed at me? No. But I am not the only person on the planet and when I stop seeing how my rights are interwoven with the rights of all others, then there will always be someone degrading someone else and there will always be someone feeling like they have to “pick their battles.” Sure you have to win battles to win a war, but only fighting for sure things will never advance your cause.
Buddha once said: “The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
It is clear what this individual thinks. Regardless of the order – thoughts then words or words then thoughts – it is clear what he thinks. Has he already become okay with expressing intolerance verbally. Has he been expressing intolerance in the voting booth? Is it illegal to marry who you wish because his speech to others has validated what then once wanted to believe, but now they have a willing partner in putting their thoughts into actions? Has your company refused to extend domestic partnership status regarding insurance? How many individuals like this SWA pilot have the power to make you a second class citizen because what they thought, they became? Intolerance does not happen by accident. Putting intentional intolerance into actions happens all the time. Which slippery slope do you want to be on? The one that slants towards allowing bigotry to self perpetuate or being on the one that leads toward resisting all forms of intolerance?
I may not, as an individual, be able to stop intolerance in my lifetime and I know that I may not step up in every situation, but when I fail to do my part, I hope there is someone right behind me that will say “that is not right.” Something this ingrained can only be defeated when all of us stand up. I pledge to do my best for you. WIl you pledge to do your best for your neighbor?
This is not a simple matter of saying “oh well, there are jerks all over the place.” I would not be surprised if this individual was not a bully on the playground and now he is a bully as an adult. I was not okay for him as a young man and it is not okay for him to be one now.
I am appalled about all of this. Southwest should stand up for us and not let these bullies get away with it!!! They are scum and we deserve better. They can call me if they don’t like it and come on over. 979-575-1098
What is wrong with all these people anyway! Don’t they have a brain cell in their head! I wish I they’d come talk to me and see how tough they really are. They should fire anyone who talks like that guy did. We do NOT deserve to be discriminated against like we are. Gay people have feelings TOO.