While I do think commercial airlines pilots should be polite rather than patronizing, sometimes a stinging rebuke is necessary. That was the case when a witless comedian made a stupid alcohol joke in front of a Southwest Airlines captain. Kudos to the pilot for his stern yet measured reaction.
Southwest Airlines Captain Schools Comedian Over Alcohol Joke
A “comedian” on TikTok confronted a Southwest Airlines captain on a jet bridge. Here’s the exchange:
Comedian: How you doing? Are you the pilot of this flight?
Captain: Yes, what’s up?
Comedian: You haven’t been drinking or anything, have you?
Captain: You know what, that’s the stupidest f*cking thing you could say to me.
Comedian: I’m joking around. It’s a joke.
Captain: No, I’m not joking.
Comedian: It’s a joke. Sir, it’s a joke.
Captain: I can pull you off right now.
Comedian: Oh my G*d, have you ever heard of a joke? I’m a comedian.
Captain: Come here, comer here [he approaches the man]
Comedian: I’m a comedian. It was a joke.
Captain: You don’t do that.
Comedian: I’m very sorry I [unintelligible]
Captain: And the reason being you don’t do that is because that gentleman right there [pointing] or anyone else around now doubts what I do for a living. So I don’t go into your work center and sh*t on your situation. Don’t do it agian.
Comedian: I understand. It was just a joke. I didn’t mean to offend you.
Captain: Thank you.
Comedian: Wow. See what I mean about life?
I will not link to his TikTok page, but you can watch the video here:
We take this kind of accusation very very seriously. This guy claiming to be a “comedian” has to be the worst one I’ve ever seen.
Do. Not. Joke. About. This. It’s not funny.
If you have concerns about a crew member, there are ways to address it. This is not the way. pic.twitter.com/0pZKlNSAR9
— Paul Barbee (@pbarbee) August 3, 2023
You don’t joke about a captain being drunk. As we have covered recently on Live And Let’s Fly, this is an extremely serious charge. It’s like asking, “When did you stop beating your spouse?”
It’s one thing to make self-effacing jokes, even ill-timed ones, but when they involve the integrity of the flight and are within earshot of others, it is akin to shouting fire in a crowded theatre.
CONCLUSION
I commend the Southwest captain for putting the comedian in his place. There is a time and place for jokes, but this was not one of them. The “comedian” was properly schooled and hopefully learned a valuable lesson.
What people do for attention on social media…
On a different note, pilots are probably more sensitive to this than before due to the drunk UA Pilot incident at CDG, which showed the serious repercussions of drinking before/on the job.
Last year the pilots on a United flight walk off the plane because a passenger decided to get onboard and ask them had he been drinking several passengers in line decided to laugh thinking it was funny. Passengers in first class heard it the pilots didn’t think it was funny at all gets on the PA and says we are taking a delay so they can voluntarily go take an alcohol/drug test. Nowadays with everyone having a camera and everyone wanting to be a viral sensation on social media pilots have to take a firm stance, they can’t just laugh this off especially if its not true and other passengers have heard this. You have to address it immediately an let passengers know this is no laughing matter.
In poor taste to be sure but I still think the pilot overreacted a bit. I think @Malik may be on to something as to the reason for the overreaction.
This guy is a 24 carat Jabroni and is symptomatic of our society at large ie more Jerry springer than dick cavet.
Great that the captain put this dweeb in his place. The only thing is I could live the profanity. While it doesn’t bother me in general it brings the captain down to this asswipes level…
Hopefully things turn around for this guy and he doesn’t have to continue to fly SW. Then again based on his maternal, I doubt it will.
Comedian and The View co-host Joy Behar speaks to the pilots whenever she boards a plane to assure the are awake and sober. Her words. It’s no joking matter and she has been doing it for many years. A pilot should not have an issue with a few simple questions
Joy Behar is an idiot. She is questioning the integrity of the crew without any cause.
“A pilot should not have an issue with a few simple questions”
If it’s the pilot of your private jet or privately chartered aircraft, I’ll agree. Otherwise, no.
When you see the pilot in the plane, or in the cockpit, or on the jetway to the plane that is being loaded, that pilot is working. The pilot has professional obligations that must be attended to in a timely fashion before the flight, and should be allowed to do those things without frivolous interruption. It is not your time to interrupt the work and demand some form of entertainment from them.
A southwest 737 seats roughly 150-175 passengers depending on the model. The pilot clearly does not have time for a Q/A session with each entitled passenger, or to do an amateur-hour Joy Behar-type field sobriety test.
At a minimum, before taking off the pilot will interact with the other pilot, some if not all of the FAs, often some of the GAs, and be in communication with ATC and potentially a number other folks relevant to that flight. If none of these people, many of whom are also entrusting their lives to this pilot, can detect the impairment of the pilot what makes you think your dumb line of questioning that you thought up on the jet bridge will detect the problem?
When this stooge encountered that pilot purposely walking away from the very plane that he would soon have to captain, the stooge gave no consideration to the task that he might be interrupting with his stupid question. We don’t know why the pilot was briskly walking away from the plane, but it’s safe to assume that he probably didn’t just think “well I’ve got a spare 15 minutes here before takeoff, I think I’ll take a quick social walk around the terminal”. The pilot was probably doing something necessary to get the plane ready to depart in a timely fashion, and this idiot decided to interrupt him with a stupid question.
I read until TikTok. Then I ignored.
The “comedian” was a jerk. He apologized and then took it back with “Wow. See what I mean about life?” Totally on the Captain’s side on this one.
That being said… it’s an interesting comparison between how the Captain acted in this case versus the infamous situation Matt found himself in with the FA who kicked him off a flight for saying he was NOT a terrorist. Matt was NOT joking (since what Matt said is technically true) but rather, in a non-hostile manner, confronted either a hysterical or power-hungry FA who wanted him to “stay in his place” and him trying to talk to her was considered an affront to her authority. She didn’t care that he meant well, or that she was being excessive, but only escalated the situation to get him thrown off of the flight. The Captain on that flight didn’t bother to consider Matt’s side of the case and backed the FA.
The captain in this case exercised sound judgement in that, keep in mind that he had to make a quick decision to make and the passenger in the end was disrespectful but yet he made his point without losing temper (his temper was certainly inflamed but under control) and allowed the passenger to stay on board.
If I was the Captain, I would have added: “A simple apology was sufficient, you didn’t have to ruin it by opening your mouth again.”
What a little flower that “captain” is.
Remember, people: when you have a completely unprofessional atmosphere like SW likes to have (and I pray for you people who think it’s “fun”), this is what you get.
Now I’m sorry to see your authoritarian attitudes get you guys to immediately side with anyone in a uniform. But that’s just a bus driver on an expensive bus. If he doesn’t like the people paying his salary, he can find another grift.
500K a year, dear god. I bet it’ll be easy to dig up dirt on him.
That’s right, Loretta Jackson….
$500k a year and it can all be gone in a second if he shows up to work with the slightest hint of alcohol on his breath.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t think it was funny.
Just like everyone else’s job. Even those less privileged than this jerk. Imagine that, huh?
And it’s not like an off-hand joke means termination. In fact, this meant … nothing. And if SW didn’t want comedy in the air, maybe they should stop the cringe-fest that is flying SW in the first place.
Everyone who thinks rapping the safety briefing is funny should not have a problem with this.
Agree on the SW circus
Not appropriate to joke about active flight crew being drunk, but also not appropriate for the captain to use profanity and being judgemental. Simply state we don’t joke about that without grounds – if you continue to do so, I will be delaying the flight for a sobriety test.
Not funny at all and the comedian obviously doesn’t understand with his “I’m a comedian, it’s just a joke.” It is a serious accusation. Announcing a delay and his intent to submit to a voluntary sobriety test, due to the comments of one passenger, would probably have been the prudent thing to do.
There are a few things you just never ever ever joke about on an airplane. A bomb for example. And another is the flight deck crew being intoxicated. I don’t agree with the Captain dropping an F bomb but he was totally correct to put this guy in his place. And the so called Comedian is very lucky the Captain didn’t hear his last comment because I know it would have been enough for me to have the guy removed from the flight.
FYI at many airlines any comment even in jest about the flight crew being intoxicated is an immediate and mandatory test which will generate a hour or longer delay.
Please. Get over yourself Cap’n. Kick him off the plane for what… Hurting your feelings? The guy might have been a doofus, but the captain let his bravado get in the way.
I’m sorry Jerry, but this comedian has some pretty good material. The joke with the captain in this video is better than anything in your act.
Flight attendant here….
Boarding a flight one day many years ago… during boarding, a passenger yelled in the flight deck and said something to the effect of “Hey, didn’t I just see you guys in the bar a little while ago?”
Once boarding was complete, the Captain made an announcement that a passenger had made a comment questioning the flight crew’s sobriety and that we were going to deplane the aircraft while the pilots went and took a voluntary breathalyzer test. An hour later, the same pilots returned and we boarded up and left. A lot of people missed their connections… but I don’t blame the pilots. It’s just like this pilot said… you may be joking… but the passengers around you don’t know you are joking.
Some things just aren’t funny.
In that instance I certainly hope they called out the dopey passenger who was responsible for missing connections…
Oh you’re one of the angry, entitled waitresses. Now it makes sense.
Remember: there’s 200 qualified people waiting to replace every last one of you. They, too, can point to the exit in an emergency.
Some of them might even get off their behinds during the flight, imagine the novelty, Johnny. What level are you at in Candy Crush?
Joy Behar. Livestock is normally transported in the hold.
Are you serious? Pilot here. He’s right. Why do you attack the FA who works in the industry? This fake comedian is a complete idiot who almost screwed up to 175 people. It’s ok you don’t understand the industry and federal laws but do not criticize those who live it.
FAs across the industry demand upwards of 92 dollars an hour for mistreating passengers, while clamoring for the right to put pax on no-fly lists.
Less talk, more clicking the auto-pilot button, please.
Loretta, you sound rather angry and entitled yourself, based on all your comments above.
Naw, she rocks. You suck tho
I bet he also considers himself an influencer too, right? He’s nothing more than a blowhard that is an embarrassasment to himself but will never recognize it. Wouldn’t you love to be his seat mate on that flight listening to him spew him small-mindedness for all to see and hear. They’re a dime a dozen these days.
Kudos the the Captain!
This stupid idiot was very lucky, the pilot didn’t cancel the flight in order to submit to a voluntary blood alcohol test.
I would have!
Loretta is awesome. What a welcome voice on here. The rest of you are little snowflakes. Cry more and fill your diapers you little Whitney b*tches.
I went to high school with two pilots. Not exactly Ivy League material. But they can hit the autopilot button and yell “let’s go Brandon!”
And yeah, flight attendants. What a joke. I am in Japan right now and the US flight attendants should thank God we have no sense of pride or standards in the US. They would be out of their jobs, while someone who knows what hospitality means replaced them.
I guess I’m the one-off here because I think the pilot completely overreacted in an unprofessional and crude manner. There is never a good reason for people to use profanity to each other. I’ll grant the “comedian” was out of line to a degree, but the pilot has to acknowledge that there have been several pilot drinking incidents over the past several months. The pilot should have said something like “No, sir, it’s the guys on the other airlines that drink” or ” I dont have to drink because I love my job”. The profanity killed the effectiveness and legitimacy of the pilot’s response.