An easyJet flight from Manchester to Alicante avoided further delay after a passenger stepped up to pilot the aircraft when one of the pilots did not show up.
This was not just any passenger, of course, but an off-duty easyJet pilot. Michael Bradley was traveling with his family on holiday to Spain. When he saw that the flight was delayed and faced being cancelled, he offered his services to easyJet when he arrived at the airport. EasyJet quickly accepted.
Bradley took to the PA system to explain what was going on:
My wife who’s on row 15 with my little boy – hopefully he’s asleep by now, I should keep it down or else I’ll get told off – she rolled over and punched me in the back of the head and said ‘our flight’s delayed by two hours because they are minus one captain for the flight’….
So just before we went through security I thought I wonder if this is worth a phone call, I think it is because I’d like to go on holiday.
I phoned up easyJet and said ‘Hiya, I’m standing in the terminal doing nothing. I have got my license with me – deliberately from being punched in the back of the head at 3am – I have got my ID with me and I’d very much like to go on holiday and if you need a favour I’m standing here ready to go.
Apparently, easyJet said they would check and call him back…and did so 38 seconds later.
Bradley was dressed in casual clothes and told the cabin:
So if you’re alright for one of your pilots to look like this today, we’ll go to Alicante.
The cabin erupted in cheers.
CONCLUSION
It’s a nice story and I give great praise to Bradley for being willing to step up, even if it served his self interest. Speaking of the incident, an easyJet spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News:
We are grateful to one of our pilots who was travelling on holiday from Manchester to Alicante on 2 September with his family and volunteered to operate the flight.
This meant customers could get to their destination and shows the commitment and dedication of our crew.
This is fully in line with regulations as he had his licence and ID with him. Safety is always our highest priority.
On that last point, the pilots had been off the last four days, making him legally able to fly the aircraft.
“On that last point, the pilots had been off the last four days, making him legally able to fly the aircraft.”
I’m confused by this statement. There is surely not a rule that a pilot must be off for four days before flying.
No, but there is some minimum rest required that the pilot easily exceeded since he had been off the last four days.
How did they get the Aircraft back I wonder, presumably he didn’t fly the return leg if he was on holiday so did easyJet have to fly a pilot out to fly the return leg, seems like it must have been a Manchester based aircraft as easyJet tend to fly both the outbound and return in my experience.
This is a classic Gary Leff title
Is there a compliment or insult? 😉
Nah…Gary would’ve written “Domestic violence victim awoken at 3 am, forced to fly plane full of holiday-makers”. Gotta be way more clickbait-y.
Not really click baity, that’s pretty much exactly what happened…
Totally click bait. “Off-duty pilot flies plane” would be more accurate, but wouldn’t generate the revenue.
Thanks for your click Lance.
I read the Sun article about this same story. The Sun article was a confusing mess that was very difficult to follow. You cleaned it up nicely!
CLick bait bullshit. Its becomming the norm with these bloggers. An Honest title would be— Off duty pilot flies plane. These bloggers were once good people.
Well, even tough his occupation is pilot at easyjet, he is a passenger on that particular flight. Its not clickbait nor twisting the facts. Your assumption that comes from limited knowledge that you had or lack of brain capacity to procure any facts delivered, was actually causing you to interpret this as clickbait and the likes.