مزاج الكابتن !

Onboard one of the national low-cost airline's planes, passengers boarded while waiting for its departure. However, a pilot from the airline's crew, who was to fly the plane on its return journey, found that his seat was malfunctioning. He insisted on requesting a maintenance team to fix it, refusing the cabin crew's request to move to another seat in the same cabin. His colleagues tried in vain to convince him, which led to the flight's departure being delayed for several hours. In the end, the plane was changed, and the captain of the return flight, who had the issue, went home after exceeding his regular working hours!

This story indicates two things: first, the pilot's lack of responsibility and his disregard for the passengers' interests and their connections to onward flights, business meetings, or medical appointments. Second, it highlights the weakness of management and the absence of an emergency mechanism to address such situations by replacing the pilot, instead of facing a breakdown, wasting time, and changing the aircraft, which would cost the company a significant amount that it could do without!

I hope this pilot faces serious accountability and that the system's loopholes that allow manipulation of service times at the expense of travelers' interests and the regular operation of airports and the airline's flight schedule are addressed!

A week ago, I was at one of the American airports, and the delay in the arrival of the service crew caused the plane's departure to be delayed by 3 hours due to losing the departure window in the busy airport schedule. During the flight, the captain apologized to the passengers for any impact the delay might have on their onward flight schedules and personal commitments. However, he pointed out that this delay would affect all subsequent scheduled flights linked to this aircraft, as if he were reprimanding his colleagues in the service crew for their tardiness. Fortunately, the timing of my international connecting flight waiting for me at the domestic arrival airport was suitable; otherwise, I would have found myself in trouble with the other airline, which would consider itself not responsible for the delay of my flight!

In short, those working in the sector must understand and realize that the matter goes beyond their personal whims when it comes to the interests of travelers and the flow of air traffic!