A United Airlines pilot is in hot water after making a flippant statement about the unresolved flight attendant contract on a public social media page.
United Airlines Pilot Under Fire For Mocking Flight Attendants In Public Post
Earlier this week, United flight attendants voted down a new contract by a lopsided margin, reasoning that it did not go far enough in providing workplace safeguards like sick pay, leaving them open to exploitation by the company. United Captain John Randolph, posting on a Facebook Aero Crew News page, a public forum for flight crews, mocked flight attendants:
“Love it, now they will get nothing. They all want pilot pay!!! Kirby should go to a local University where they are all a dime a dozen!!!!”
Angry flight attendants have started a change.org petition urging for his ouster:
This statement is explicitly derogatory toward Flight Attendants, reducing their value and professionalism to being “a dime a dozen,” while mocking their advocacy for fair compensation. The tone and language are not only dismissive and degrading, but they also foster a hostile work environment and contribute to a culture of division and disrespect within the flight crew community.
Such behavior is in direct violation of our company’s Flying Together guidelines, which require all employees to treat one another with dignity, act with professionalism in public and online, and refrain from harassment, bullying, or disparaging remarks—especially in public forums that reflect on our brand and culture.
This incident has already drawn significant backlash from other aviation professionals, as seen in the responses from multiple individuals challenging the remark and highlighting the damaging impact of his words. The post compromises not only internal trust among crew members but also our external reputation as an airline that values all of its employees.
United has not yet publicly commented on this issue. The airline’s social media policy is vague, but it not inconceivable that this statement runs afoul of company policy.
Should The Pilot Be Fired?
No, I don’t think the pilot should be fired. Heck, View From The Wing points out that United wouldn’t even take action against vile Captain Ibrahim Mossallam, a pilot who celebrated the Hamas massacre against Israel on Facebook.
But, he’s lost his credibility with the flight crews he must work with. It goes beyond just no longer being able to eat or drink the food onboard without wondering if it has been spit in or finding flight attendants are too “busy” to give him a bathroom break. There’s such a hostility that it is fair to wonder whether he can safely work with flight attendants in case of an emergency.
CONCLUSION
It’s important to guard our words carefully, for once uttered, they cannot be taken back…at least not fully. Randolph has deleted the post and will doubtlessly apologize, but his words are forever etched into the world wide web and are now going viral amongst United flight attendants.
Let this be a warning to other pilots: I’m sure many are thinking the same thing…but it’s just not the sort of thing you say out loud and not a smart way to undermine solidarity with your unionized brethren (to borrow that old term).
This a self-inflicted wound.
Another crazy pilot imagine that. Writing something like this is basically saying you’re crazy and don’t give af about what’s to come and the hazing that you’re about to experience. The way he’s going to get forced out that was all him. Another MAGA that needs a psych evaluation
He’s 100% right, but some thoughts are better left unsaid.
He’s not 100% right about anything since the flight attendants never asked for pilot pay. They asked for better work rules and that was the reason for the TA rejection. You and him are both idiots who can’t bother to actually do basic research
MAGA are the only sane ones out there.
This is just another example of unhinged lefties who are looking for scalps because people have the nerve to disagree with them.
You must be the alter-ego of the alert troll farm. Readers have noticed these things. The days of pretending are over.
“Everyone that disagrees with me is a troll farm or bot”
You lefties are delusional.
Never said that but the truth doesn’t matter to maga, and that is how I know you are a propaganda spreading troll.
Wow, flight attendants are asking for a half million plus a year? That must’ve slipped under the radar.
This guy is a colossal pos. He gives Florida Man a bad name.
Paraphrasing Lao Tzu. Watch your thoughts as they become your words.
Wow, that was quick! Looks like they already removed him off several trips
My primary requirements for FA will result in Sidney Sweeney on my flights . She is worth at least as much as Kirby gets , and she can wear blue jeans anytime .
Fixed it: “This guy is a colossal pos…” but he’s a saint compared to Douchebag Dave Edwards and Sh!t Hsuan.
He’s not 100% right about anything since the flight attendants never asked for pilot pay. They asked for better work rules and that was the reason for the TA rejection. You and him are both idiots who can’t bother to actually do basic research.
Meanwhile, story suggestion, AA started offering upgrades with both miles and cash today. On the flights I checked they are valuing miles at 0.9 cents each.
Interesting at a minimum, a future devaluation at worst.
Incredibly stupid behaviour from someone who is entrusted with hundreds of lives at a time. I’m not going to say he should be fired, but, at a minimum, he needs some extensive training in people skills.
The AFA and many individual United Flight Attendants supported the United Pilots during their recent contract negotiations. It is also true that the vast majority of United Pilots and their union sincerely support the AFA and their membership in their efforts to achieve a new agreement. One outlier is not sufficient to drive a wedge between these two labor groups. Most get that we need and support each other.
This guy is trying to out-dbag the AA pilot featured on “The Rehearsal” that was banned from every dating app
Flight attendants in the US really are the worst.
Ok, Eurotrash.
Suspend Him..!
he can always fly a crop duster..
He posted something that some people found offensive. Obviously he should be sentenced to life in prison without a chance for parole.
Work rules are work rules. Every employee signed up for them when they took the job. Scram, moron!
My sister is a surgeon and I am a Dosimetrist. Pilots like to compare them themselves with doctors and those in my profession where we must be very advanced in math and radiation physics to save lives! On what planet could they ever think they are in league with such professionals is beyond me. Careful when you soar so high that you want to look down on others. You learn to take on off and land and read instruments since most planes are automated. In a rare scenario, you might be called upon to use your skills but that often times is rare. Throttle back your grand standing dude because you are not that special!
That’s what you are paying them for though. In the rare case scenario they have 200+ lives in a metal tube going 500+ mph. The training and requirements are also grueling and long, on top of that are all the FAA medical requirements.
All of this just distracts from the simple point that the FA union negotiators made such poor judgements for so many years that it is now to the point that it is hard to see how they can dig themselves out of this situation.
Agreed. I say Buh Bye Sarah Nelson, she will land somewhere else on K street comfortably, but sadly this disrespect from a pilot is part of the fallout .