American Airlines flight misogyny related delay

Once upon a time, in prehistoric 2016…

American Airlines 777, from Bizjournals.com

American Airlines 777, from Bizjournals.com

As reported by local newspapers in Argentina, American Airlines flight 909 from Miami to Buenos Aires was delayed for over an hour yesterday in departing from Miami because… misogynists.

As recounted by an Argentinian passenger onboard, when travelers were boarding the flight just before 8pm Miami time, the pilot made the customary announcement welcoming them onboard and thanking them for joining her and the rest of the crew, which also included a female copilot.

Moments later, 7 passengers were seen deplaning. The very few remaining passengers on the plane were delayed as all luggage from the travelers who abandoned the aircraft were being taken off the plane. The passengers’ ages and nationalities remains unclear, but what is clear is that they were not onboard with both people piloting the plane being female. Or as they probably called them, lady-pilots, I can only assume.

Visual approximation of passengers leaving plane because both pilot and copilot are female.

Visual approximation of passengers leaving plane because both pilot and copilot are female.

 

It baffles my mind to hear that in this day and age people would think it is acceptable to be perfectly OK with having female flight attendants serving them drinks and protecting their lives while flying, but would absolutely shun the idea of ladies, who have received the same training and preparation to become experts in flying a freaking metal tube in the air as a male pilot would, in charge of getting them to their destination.

I only hope that American did the right thing and didn’t rebook them in a different all-male crew flight and instead made them buy new tickets.

Are you as infuriated as I am with news like this?

Author: Ben Nickel-D'Andrea

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22 Comments

  1. Is English your first language? The grammar and sentence structure is so bad it’s difficult to follow. Small highlights:

    Moments later, 7 passengers were seen deplaning. The very few remaining passengers on the plane were delayed as all luggage from the travelers who abandoned the aircraft were being taken off the plane.

    Small thing: one through ten should be spelled out, numbers above.
    Bigger thing: After seven passengers deplaned, there were “very few remaining passengers.” Really?

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    • Hi James. English is in fact my third language, as you can quickly notice by reading a few of my posts. While I’m disappointed that my stylistic choices prevented your reading comprehension of a post written in your mother tongue, I trust that you’ll stick around to see both of our skills improve. Thanks!

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      • Ben, your English is superb. Ignore those comments. I am very impressed that is it your third language!

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        • Thanks, Mary! I have no doubt it’ll get better and better the more I write!

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    • Numeric style ;”7″ vs. “seven”) actually depends on which style guide you are following.

      Criticizing people in comments is always in poor taste.

      Post a Reply
      • Indeed! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’re enjoying our blog!

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    • Dear James unprovoked aggression is a bad trait.
      If you wanted to be productive and help the writer, you could have corrected the grammar in a way non confrontational . Your first sentence is unnecessary, speaks volumes about your humanity and little about the author of this article.

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      • Thanks Gabriela! I was hoping that my grammar wouldn’t distract from the information I was writing about, but alas! I hope you’re enjoying our blog!

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    • English is my first language, and this is not hard to follow at all. Also, this is a blog, not an academic publication. Maybe you should find a better use of your time than leaving comments like this, which are not useful for anyone.

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      • Thanks, Wanderer! I’m glad that SOME people are focusing on the content of the blog. I do know that with time my writing will only get better, so stick around for more interesting topics!

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    • Sad to confirm that men in my country are still pretty backward. I also hope they were obliged to pay a new ticket.

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    • As a multiple idiom speaker I can tell you I didn’t even pay attention to anything but the news itself. Outrageous that something like that can happen now, 21st Century!!!
      Now, as a very little and insignificant side note, do you know that we are criticized by the ones who only know one idiom? Congrats and keep posting????

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  2. Sad, so sad when the empty spaces in some people’s brains take control of their decision-making process. One can only pity them and pray that the next time it happens no one else is around to be affected.

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    • I couldn’t agree more, Debi!

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  3. Hi Ben,
    As a commercial pilot for a major airline for the past 35 years, it appears that those particular people have been living under a rock!! At the very least, they have very little understanding of the rigorous training that men and women undergo to become a commercial airline pilot.

    The first female pilot in the USA was hired in 1936. Her name was Helen Richey. However, because of the misogyny at that time she was not allowed to join the pilots union, thus not allowed to keep her job at the airline. In January 1973, Emily Howell Warner was hired at Frontier Airlines, and women have been working as pilots for airlines in the USA since that time. For more information, please see the website of The International Society of Women Airline Pilots, http://www.iswap.org

    Thank you for your supportive comments and understanding!

    Post a Reply
    • Thanks, Suzanne! It’s hard to believe that some people still refuse to live in modern times. I’m glad people like you have been pioneering this and other industries to push it to where it currently is, though by the looks of it, there’s still some more pushing to do!

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  4. Hi Ben. In my formative years (long ago) I bristled at undeserved or obtuse criticism. My dear mom would then say; “Honey, when kicked by a mule, consider the source.” She was right, of course. I offer this comment because in today’s age of immediate-access bloggers are like bright flames to moths seeking self-validation. In James’ (um) “defense” he has every right to react. After all, you publish in the open and have an active comment section. Similarly, James can get naked, bark at the moon and yodel at the mailman. He is not right or wrong doing either thing. You and the mailman both have a choice in how you choose to react. With respect, after your initial reply, no need to continue referencing him in your kind replies to others. Those folks verified that you m need not worry about the weak criticism. There was need to verify their verifications, if you get what I mean. I work for colleagues who command 5 languages, by the way. Cheers to you for blogging in English… On a side note, there are studies about how globalization, adaptations by those who have ESL and the nature of texting & social media have forever changed some of the rigid conventions we were taught in the age of print news. KWIM? Thx. GR8 blog! Cyu.

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  5. * Oops. The above should have read “There was NO need to verify their verifications.” Airport wifi. Two thumbs. Didn’t proof typos or autocorrects… Those are my excuses. Girding my loins for potential mule kicks 😉 Ciao

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  6. A sad situation that fully qualified, highly experienced, top of the aviation industry pilots are deemed inadequate by seven idiots.
    Even more sad is that AA probably gave them an upgrade and miles for their next flight due to their bad experience.
    Your explanations were clear and right on. I must ask the commentors to refrain from giving the mule a bad name. I own several. They are smart animals. It’s best not to confuse them with an ass. The latter is clearly more appropriate for the analogy.

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  7. Sadly this brings back memories of a time that I thought was in the past. But I must share what happened to me more than 25 years ago when I was a first officer for a regional carrier. I was getting into my seat when an older woman saw me and said to the one flight attendant at the door, “Oh I hope she is only talking on the radios. I don’t want to be on this airplane if she is going to be doing any of the flying.” The flight attendant, without missing a beat, said sweetly, “Well let me escort off the airplane then. Because we don’t want you flying with us.” And she then proceeded to do just as she said and walked the stunned woman off the airplane. I never heard any more about it but our chief pilot also happened to be a woman so I suspect she fully supported the flight attendant’s brand of “customer service.” I sure did! And we left right on time I should add with no delays for our passengers. I always thought that maybe if they treated the actions of those passengers described in this blog as a crime for interfering with the actions of required crew members then maybe all crew members would start getting the respect they deserve. Thanks for sharing this.

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