Captain Neil Swindells, the new union boss representing United pilots, has offered an apology…to those he offended.
United Airlines Captain Neil Swindells Offers Apology To Union Brethren For His Online Conduct
Swindells, a Boeing 787 captain based in Chicago, was elected Chairman of the United Master Executive Council (MEC) Monday in a close 9-8 vote by United MEC members. The United MEC is part of the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), representing pilots for a number of airlines including Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, Hawaiian Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines.
After Live and Let’s Fly broke news yesterday of his incendiary online comments concerning women, homosexuals, and Jews, Swindles released the following statement yesterday evening:
December 20, 2022
Thank you again for the trust you have placed in me to lead the United MEC. Today, we concluded a two-day special MEC meeting on the heels of yesterday’s elections, held discussions on strategic planning, and approved opening a membership poll to begin on January 2. A survey will follow shortly thereafter.
I would like to address communications that have surfaced regarding things I posted on a private pilot forum. The language was often colorful, heated, and inappropriate. In retrospect, I wish that I had expressed myself differently. Those words do not represent what I stand for and I apologize to anyone I offended. As I stated in my opening message as MEC Chair, I intend to represent all pilots and am dedicated to bringing you an industry-leading contract. We have experienced significant internal turmoil over recent months and it is time for all of us to move forward together. I encourage you to participate in the coming polling and surveys so that your voice is heard.
Contract First, United Next.
In Unity,
Captain Neil Swindells
UAL-MEC Chair
Reactions have been about as divided as the 9-8 vote that handed him the MEC Chair, with many pilots steadfastly supporting him while others questioning his fitness for service in light of his questionable history of online postings.
If you thought his incendiary social media posts were bad yesterday, there’s more where that came from. Stay tuned.
image: @UnitedPilots / Twitter
SPILLIN’ THE TEA!!! GO MATT!
Umm, so let’s see, wishing those you don’t agree with to “die from anal cancer with copies amounts of seepage” is clearly just a heated exchange that does not reflect “what he stands for.” Sure. Got it. Very convenient apology and I don’t buy it. He should resign from the post and UA should even consider removing him from flying until he undergoes psychiatric evaluation and receives counseling.
“He could not help feeling a twinge of panic. It was absurd, since the writing of those particular words was not more dangerous than the initial act of opening the diary, but for a moment he was tempted to tear out the spoiled pages and abandon the enterprise altogether.
He did not do so, however, because he knew that it was useless. Whether he wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER, or whether he refrained from writing it, made no difference. Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed — would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper — the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.” — 1984
RESGIN, Neil Swindells!
Matt,
I used to occasionally read your articles and consider them “meh – why did I waste my time?”
Now I see you’ve taken up writing articles akin to mid morning trash shows like Rivera Live.
Please consider why Coleman provided you with the information that you so quickly published. It’s obvious he has an axe to grind and has diligently and unethically been collecting this information from a private forum for exactly a day like this.
This is his, and his handlers way to orchestrate a smear campaign against Captain Swindells because they simply can not face the fact that they lost their cushy jobs. In the many years these folks have held their ivory tower positions, the pilot profession has seen nothing but regression.
You’ve been used. Pure and simple. I would suggest you engage your brain before typing.
Please stick to writing articles such as “Watch Tom Cruise ride motorcycle…” as you have no business sticking your nose in to union business.
1. Coleman didn’t provide me with the information.
2. Swindells should be held accountable for his unbelievable lack of discernment and his filthy tongue.
3. I stick my nose where I care to, thank you sir.
* * *
Look, I’m not calling for Swindells to be “cancelled” or even to resign, unlike some of my colleagues. I understand why the MEC chose him and perhaps a bulldog is needed to secure a favorable new contract. But his choice of words are disturbing not just for their content, but due to a lack of discernment and self-control. I’ve been writing about the airline industry for 12 years and I am well aware of the “good old boys” fraternity that sill exists among many pilots. It is what it is and I understand there is sometimes a desperation to push back against a company that embraces anything “woke” and a CEO that mocked religious exemptions to vaccines during the pandemic.
But here’s the thing: there is no twisting of his words that somehow justify some of the incendiary language that he used. Swindells should man up and offer a real apology, then move on, not the disgusting “sorry if you’re offended” note he sent to pilots last night. A true man genuinely asks for forgiveness, learns from his mistakes, and uses those scars to become a better person. Here, it seems like Swindells is simply angry that he was caught.
His non-apology apology was meaningless and clearly something he was pressured to write. This is being discussed around the company and an embarrassment to so many, especially among the groups he disparaged but also to people who know right from wrong.
I’m sure it’s a separate subject, but how can a group likely to get a $100k a year RAISE (from $350k to $450k, based on the DL contract), be so unhappy and self-victimizing? A psychologist would have a field day analyzing this.
He’s lucky to still be employed, as almost any other employee making comments like that while identified as a UA employee would most likely be terminated.
Not only no place being in his new position, but also no place being with United without some serious discipline being issued.
I find it incredibly ironic that Swindell and other commenters keep mentioning that the things he posted were in a “private pilot forum” as if that is supposed to make it any less egregious. Thats like saying someone is only racist at their klan meetings. Clearly here we are in 2022 and this idiot still doesn’t understand how the internet works.
So, he’s basically saying:
1) Sorry I got caught.
2) Let’s just forget what a miserable piece of crap I am and move on.
This guy is supposed to be a leader? Of what?
United HR should be looking into this
Wouldn’t want this hothead captaining my flight.
PC police, and the enemies who leaked his comments got their wish. He resigned, for all the right reasons. Like to point out that all of his comments were made attached to his name. Yeah, they were fighting words, and very non pc, but he’s no coward. Just way too aggressive and opinionated for the public. That forum is nothing but a bunch of hotheads mouthing off, they all should know better these days.
News reports that he has since stepped down.
So United is cool with allowing their employees to post hatred online? I’m considering taking my business to American. If this pilot is what United’s brand is all about, I’m going elsewhere. I don’t want him to fly my plane, and I take a lot of 787 flights.