What would airline crews want passengers to know?

The answer of Jim Guibault (line pilot and captain in an American airline), translated by Claire Heinrich:

We would like passengers to know that there are no spare planes and crews waiting at every airport. The plane you are boarding has probably just landed. And, depending on the duration of the flights, it could be the third or fourth flight of the day for your crew.

If it’s the first flight of the day, the (only) crew will be coming from a hotel, with no backup solution to use if someone gets sick. And when you land at your destination, their day is far from over. The plane probably sat empty all night or may have been towed off the tarmac and then brought back. No maintenance has been carried out, unless an observation makes it necessary.

This means that if there is a delay or a mechanical problem, it is very real and the crew is none the happier than you. They know they’re going to be late all day, with no time to breathe and grab a sandwich at the next stopover.

I heard everything: “They are lying to us! I know they have a thousand crewmembers based there, find another one!” There is no “just”: just find another plane, just find another pilot or another air hostess… a step, and any airline that tried to recruit and equip at that time would be so outrageously expensive that you couldn’t afford to fly with them anyway.

Bad weather can’t always be circumvented, even if your brother-in-law says the weather is great back home. Sometimes you get stuck a hundred yards from your gate, if only the ground crew could “just” come and park us… But they can’t.

Would you want to be standing on the tarmac in ankle-deep water in this situation?

The takeaway is that if you can find a simple solution, we’ve already thought of that too. And if we don’t do it already, it’s because it wouldn’t work. We really do everything in our power to ensure that you arrive on time. Because it also allows us to spend more peaceful days.