Posted on 03/06/2014 2:00:13 PM PST by nickcarraway
A routine flight from Calgary to Victoria was marred by a passenger who apparently didn’t appreciate having his flight captained by a woman. CTV Toronto: Pilot shocked by nasty note
Instead of thanking the female pilot, a passenger left an angry note behind on a napkin. Colin D'Mello has the story. Canada AM: Passenger leaves sexist note for pilot
A WestJet passenger has caused an uproar after he left a note for a female pilot that said the cockpit was no place for a woman.
A female WestJet pilot says she was in “shock” after a passenger left behind a note following a weekend flight to say that the cockpit is “no place for a woman.”
Crew cleaning the aircraft found a note, written on a napkin and signed by "David," after passengers deplaned from the Calgary to Victoria flight on Sunday.
In addition to suggesting that women don’t belong at the controls of an airplane, the note also said that “A woman being a mother is the most honour, not as ‘captain.’”
“PS I wish Westjet (sic) could tell me a fair lady is at the helm so I can book another flight,” David went on. On the back of the napkin, David wrote that he was “not impressed,” and signed it “Respectfully in love, David.”
Carey Steacy, who has been a pilot for 17 years and has been flying with WestJet for more than nine, says her first reaction to the note was “shock.”
“It made me feel sad. It was just surprising,” Steacy told CTV Vancouver. “I can’t believe that there’s people that still think that way.”
The female flight attendants and her male co-pilot all had the same reaction. “All of us had our mouths open in shock,” she said. “We didn’t know what to say.” Steacy took to Facebook not only to rebut David’s antiquated view of women, but also his airline terminology: the cockpit is now referred to as the flight deck.
"You were more than welcome to deplane when you heard I was a 'fair lady,' Steacy wrote on Facebook. "You have that right. Funny, we all, us humans, have the same rights in this great free country of ours. Now, back to my most important role, being a mother.” Steacy told CTV that she felt she had to "respond to his opinion. He absolutely has his right to his opinion and I have a right to disagree with it.”
Steacy said she has received widespread support since posting the note and her rebuttal to Facebook.
“I have to think that’s very much an uncommon opinion among the general public,” she said.
Steacy said she has never seen anything like the note left for her, she has heard “the odd comment in jest, usually in jest. “That’s the only time I’ve ever seen something as raw as that.” But she acknowledges that it is still a shock for some people to see a female pilot, because far fewer women than men choose to pursue a flying career.
“Almost every day people I find are a little bit surprised, and I think it’s just because women aren’t enrolling in flight schools -- not because they’re not being hired, but because they’re not enrolling in it,” Steacy said.
“Either it’s because they don’t think they can or they have been told that it’s not for women or that they can’t do it. And I just hope that that mindset can change, like it has in a lot of professions.”
As for David’s comment about motherhood being the highest honour, Steacy said she agrees.
“I have two beautiful children, it is the highest honour.”
“In shock”?Over a note?Jeez,it’s not like somebody shot her dog.
My thoughts also.
What we invariably find in these cases is that the victim is usually the person who wrote the note.
That being said, I certainly would not want any person who would be “shocked” by a silly note to be in charge of navigating a vessel with me or my family on board. Anyone with that thin of a skin has no business being the pilot of an airship.
The picture you’re looking for was posted on another thread about this. Guilty as heck, but Laz would hit it.
Gasp! Not the note! Anything but the sexist note!
Which dot?
Thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3130369/posts
Bright side: It appears she’s a natural blonde. Downside: Needs lips. Even a little would be nice.
Yes! The note! Posted on Facebook, no less!!!
(GD Hoax)
I can’t believe the cleaning crew gave it to her. I would have just thrown it away after making an editorial comment about the writer. Not worth the bandwidth to pass along some idiot’s ill will to others.
The most important thing to note in this story is that the napkin was Green Seal Certified.
I guess that makes up for the 20,000 pounds of carbon that the airplane leaves in the stratosphere every day.
This is such a non-story if even true. Big whup! as Rush would say.
My thoughts exactly. The things that make people SHOCKED and OUTRAGED and OFFENDED these days is laughable.
Put on your big-girl pants, sweetheart, and move on.
So sick of these bullchit fake notes on TIPS and NAPKINS and the companies are always supposed to pay.
How hard is it to check the passenger manifest for “David” and identify the guy?
Instead of all of this fainting over the note?
If she is so “sensitive” as to be “in shock” just maybe she shouldn’t be piloting an airplane full of passengers.
I, too, caught that, although there's a movement in Canada to do swap British spelling with American.
I’m not sure about this, but in one of the “Airplane” movies, the stewardess walks into the cockpit and says to the pilot, played by actor George Kennedy, “You pilots are such MEN!”
He replies, “That’s why they call it a ‘cockpit!”
In what cultures is normal for passengers to applaud the crew for landing the plane? I've encountered this frequently when traveling to South America and my recollection is that it also happened on Alitalia flights into Rome and Milan. I don't ever remember applause breaking out upon landing on a flight where the majority of passengers were American or British.
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