Men-Only Controllers Some One Wanted Men Only to Handle Prince's Plane

abc spews ^ | ABC

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Men-Only Controllers

Some One Wanted Men Only to Handle Saudi Prince's Plane on Bush Visit

April 26 — When Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah met with President Bush this week to discuss the violence in the Middle East, someone asked air traffic controllers to keep female flight controllers from handling his plane.

The request, officials from the National Air Traffic Controller's Union said, was not made formally by the U.S. State Department or the Saudi government, but it came to the airport manager at Texas State Technical College Airport in Abilene, where Bush and others land when they stay at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Air Traffic Controller's Union officials said the request came in before the prince arrived in Crawford to meet with the president. The request was then passed on to the tower at Texas State Technical College Airport — which is not run by the Federal Aviation Administration — and passed from there on to FAA controllers at nearby Waco.

The FAA controllers apparently weren't sure how to react to the unusual request, but kept control of the plane in the hands of a man while they sorted it out. Normally, the controller scheduled to be handle the plane then would have a woman.

Certified Regardless of Sex

The request was not honored when the prince left Crawford and headed back home Thursday. Insulted union officials said it should never have been considered.

"I think it is ridiculous that their request was even forwarded," said Mark Pallone, the Southwest regional representative for the National Air Traffic Controller's Union. "Our controllers are all certified the same — no matter what sex, race. They all meet the same qualifications in order to be certified."

FAA officials could not confirm whether the prince himself made the request.

"We never treated this request as valid. We didn't take any action to comply with the request," said FAA Spokesman Bill Shumann. "This request came in third- or fourth-hand through the airport manager."

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

The request was not honored when the prince left Crawford and headed back home Thursday. Insulted union officials said it should never have been considered

FLASH AIRPORT UNION STARTS INTERNATIONAL INCODENT GAY SUADI PRINCE INSULTED BY THE SIGHT OF AMERICAN WOMEN ?

[Bonaparte]

Give him what he wants. There must be at least one male ATC who lost a family member on 9/11.

[Arthur McGowan]

This kind of misogyny is genuinely pathological. Islam is mass psychosis.

[TLI]

Abilene,....... interesting.

[nevergore]

Some of the best controllers I've had direct my flight have been women controllers......

The heck the little towel head....let's nationalize the Saudi Oil Fields and then hand control to a woman....

NeverGore

[onedoug]

And so we subvert our values to accomodate the islamist death-cult.

[Bush2000]

What a homo...

[Mr Rogers]

At PSAB, female controllers are not allowed. After all, it would be below the dignity of some fat Saudi pilot to be 'controlled' by a woman - at least in public.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Although not that important to the story, the sloppiness of this reporter is pretty glaring. I'm quite confident that they don't land the planes in Abilene, with it being 150 miles from Crawford. More likely it is in Waco or Temple.

[Cold Heat]

The butt brains make us jump through hoops to be in their country and the make us jump through hoops when they visit!

What is wrong with this picture?

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Oh good God!!!

It is high time the world stood up to the two-bit camel jockeys and treated THEM exactly as the cry to be treated. This double standard you enjoy may work back home Prince Abdullah Mohammad Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Mohammad Abdullah… but you can shove it up yer arse here my smelly friend!

[DBtoo]

During the 80s I lived in Houston, TX working in a barber shop. It was the time of the oil boom, and there were many people in town who had moved to Houston from other countries. At the time, there were quite a few Saudis living and working in Houston for the oil companies.

There were eight of us barbers in the shop, three of us women. When the Saudi men came in for haircuts, they refused to have a woman cut their hair. I believe it was a religious thing. Also, they never said, "please" or "thankyou", never smiled or made small talk, and never, ever tipped. It got to the point where some of us would run to the back room when we would see a Saudi coming in the door (there were a few who would allow a woman to cut their hair). They just weren't friendly people, and had no manners. It just wasn't worth dealing with them. They also tended to want their hair cut at least 3 times, starting off saying they wanted only a tiny trim, and then after that another tiny trim, and so on.

This article caught my eye because it brought back memories of the Saudis who came into Piney Point Barber Shop way back when.

[TopQuark]

And you think he will ever shake hands with an Israeli Jew --- if a woman cannot even "touch" through the radar his plane?

[deport]

It's Waco.... They got the James Connally Air Force Base in Waco when it was closed.....

[Texas Cornhusker]

I dont think he lands in Abeline, it is about 5 hours or more from waco. Doesnt make sense

[opbuzz]

The first women allowed in the Saudi HQ during Desert Storm were from SOCCENT. The Commander, SF Col Jesse Johnson told the Saudis that they were important assets to his command and were required. A few days later the Saudis asked him to remove the "attractive" ones because they were causing a distraction. Some were removed and slipped back in to the rotation within a week as the arabs got used to women being around. I would've hated to be the guy to make THAT decision!

[TLI]

No it doesn't make sense unless they are covering for the actual location. The airport is about 4-5 miles north of the Davidians land and I have personally seen AF1 "pullin' in" at the airport, on the north side of WACO, not Abline, and yes it is a "technical college," but that technical college has got some mighty fancy aircraft commin and goin'. I wonder why they are pumping disinfo?

[Texas Cornhusker]

Who knows, maybe the press are idiots. It seems that way since I used to have to drive Highway 6 for school and Waco is not near Abilene. Wish it was though, the drive to Lubbock would have been alot shorter. Abilene has a large airbase, so you'd think anyways that they would land there if it was indeed where they landed for a 5 hour drive to Crawford.

[zarf]

I frankly don't blame the Prince. Of course, I grew up with a mother who chronically got into car wrecks.

If women drive like they fly, I'm in the Prince's corner on this one.

[CrossCheck]

Knowing what you know now, it's too bad you folks didn't give them the kind of haircut they deserved. An attractive bowl cut would have discouraged their repeat business.