The pilot probably already knows this, but now we know too. He will have to go and warm his own chicken or beef whenever he flies now. He was having a go at flight attendants, and referred to them as a “continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes,” according to a transcript of the March 25 flight over Texas.

The pilot, from Southwest Airlines, was on the Austin to San Diego flight and was referring to the sexual orientation, age and attractiveness of flight attendants. Grandes refers to the size of an individual, apparently.

The Federal Aviation Administration admitted that the unnamed pilot had been speaking to a fellow crew member using a cockpit microphone that had become stuck.

The outburst was heard by other airline crews for more than two minutes before the pilot got wind of what he’d just done.

Captain Chuck Magill, Southwest’s vice president for flight operations, was sorry and issued a video statement apologising on the pilot’s behalf and explained his punishment.

Southwest chose to go easy on him: he was reprimanded, suspended without pay for a period and received a diversity education order before he was reinstated.

Have a listen to the actual transcript (caution: NSFW):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfKyHvaAZxA

TWU Local 556, which represents 9 400 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines, issued a statement in response to Captain Chuck yesterday.

It was highly displeased that the “homophobic, misogynistic rant,” had been met with such a light punishment. It felt the video response did nothing more than rub salt into the wounds.

From the union’s statement:

[We are] dismayed by the response from Southwest Airlines’ management, it has added insult to injury.

The union also said its attorneys will investigate the possibility of filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government.

We hope not to have to go that route, and instead, we are counting on Southwest Airlines to remedy this injustice.

Bigotry in the workplace is bad business and unacceptable behaviour on the ground and at 30 000 feet.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Southwest responds to this and whether any hot scrambled egg breakfast and coffee lands in Captain Chuck’s lap next time he flies.

[Sources: CNN, DallasVoice]