Today is the 2nd anniversary of my last flight as an airline pilot. I miss the flying but don't miss what the industry has become.

The sad state of affairs is the product of passenger demand for the cheapest seat regardless of anything else (but then complain about everything!), corporate management squashing costs to pump up short term profits, and the general incivility in society.

Employees are disempowered in most cases from making decisions or taking action. That's the direct result of lawsuits and social media, even when not justified.

I am an airline pilot so perhaps I am slightly biased, maybe. It isn't the airlines that are the problem here usually, mostly it is the passengers. I am not saying the airlines don't do stupid things that cause issues, they absolutely do. The vast majority of issues I have seen in 24 years in the business though is 9 out of 10 times caused by a passenger losing their mind over something and it is usually something not worth losing your mind over.

Stupid, simple things. People lose their minds. One day I stepped out of the cockpit to use the head. Lady was already in there so I was waiting. Guy jumps up and stands next to me. Flight attendant very nicely asks him to return to his seat because of the "don't form a line in the forward galley" rule. He bows up to her and refuses (he is a big muscle headed guy), she nicely asks again. He refuses. I turn to him and very nicely tell him what she said expecting him to comply (pilots rarely get push back from customers for a number of reasons). He bows up to me and refuses. I get my captain voice going because as soon as I do the first seven rows of pax look up and I can tell that half of them already want to "save" me and beat his ass. lol. He quickly realizes the error in his judgement and the problem evaporates. The thing is people kind of check their brains along with their luggage when they go to an airport. Combine that with the general decline of common decency and politeness and it is a bad mix. Not saying the industry is innocent, they aren't. Traveling is also very stressful to some people. Stress manifests in odd behavior sometimes.

I make my living flying people everywhere. When I travel I avoid flying if at all possible. It's a shitshow out there. lol

Things got to the point several years ago that when I get on a plane, I write my seat number on one of my retired LEO business cards, hand it to a flight attendant and say, "I'm retired, but if things start to go really bad and you need another pair of hands, that's where I'm sitting."

I will not get involved in anything unless someone puts the safety of the plane or a crew member at risk.

I was an a-hole once. I have long deplored the seat back function. Being a big guy (6'2") my knees are already in the seat in front of me. Virtually every flight I go on it is a common courtesy to not lean back in your chair. Anyway, I was in the back row and this guy leaned back. I pushed his chair back upright and then wedged my knee up so he could not lean back again. With him leaning back it pinched my knee, I did ask politely for him not to lean back he told me to 'f off' so . . here we are.

we spent the entire flight with my knee wedged there and with him pushing on the seat back.

The flight attendant (when he complained) said he had no reasonable expectation to be allowed to lean back (not part of the ticket) and some seats did not even have that function.

I have always kind of felt bad for being such an a-hole.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
In South Korea in May, a passenger opened his aircraft’s emergency exit midflight, forcing the jet to land.

I’ve been told for YEARS this is absolutely NOT possible due to the 1000+ psi forcing the emergency exit doors shut until the cabin pressure is equal to the outside pressure.
Is that not the case anymore or was this The Terminator on a flight?

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
In South Korea in May, a passenger opened his aircraft’s emergency exit midflight, forcing the jet to land.

I’ve been told for YEARS this is absolutely NOT possible due to the 1000+ psi forcing the emergency exit doors shut until the cabin pressure is equal to the outside pressure.
Is that not the case anymore or was this The Terminator on a flight?

1000+ psi?

Dude, you been lied to.

Aircraft are pressurized to between 7 and 9 psi, lower than the atmospheric pressure at sea level.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

I’ve been told for YEARS this is absolutely NOT possible due to the 1000+ psi forcing the emergency exit doors shut until the cabin pressure is equal to the outside pressure.

Cabin pressure is equal to outside pressure at low altitude, say, for example, a few thousand feet, so this might have happened on departure or arrival.

I no longer fly very often, perhaps 2x a year. I have never had a problem with a flight attendant or cabin crew. They are professional, courteous and demonstrate a sense of humor that I could not maintain when dealing with the general public.

It's the passengers. 99% are good. That 1% are something else. Dealing with carry-on space is the worst. I flew over Thanksgiving and there was an entitled bitch on the other side of the aisle. She was "advising" the flight attendant about "making the most efficient use of the overhead" meaning all her many carryon bags should be accommodated. The passenger pushed pretty far including flipping the bird when the flight attendant walked away.

There is a reason I never had a job that required direct interaction with the general public.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
In South Korea in May, a passenger opened his aircraft’s emergency exit midflight, forcing the jet to land.

I’ve been told for YEARS this is absolutely NOT possible due to the 1000+ psi forcing the emergency exit doors shut until the cabin pressure is equal to the outside pressure.
Is that not the case anymore or was this The Terminator on a flight?

About 7 psi multiplied by the area of an overwing exit is indeed in the range of 1000 pounds of force.

Overwing exits are usually plug type, meaning it has to be pulled into the cabin. A few non-plug types are out there. Main doors are not plugs, but they are big so there is a lot of pressure on the latches, which means they are not openable when fully pressurized.

It is possible to move the latch on a plug type door, which will indicate then that the doir is open (or more accurately detects the door is not latched). Perhaps this is what happened on the Korean flight.

Under partial pressurization, which is the situation at low altitude, opening a non-plug door might be possible.