What Does It Take To Get Fired From Air France?
You’re busy and don’t really care. I get it. Isn’t everyone like that?
So maybe you missed a recent story in the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve. I did for a number of reasons.
- Who reads newspapers?
- The Tribune de Genève is in French.
- I’m not so lad-de-dar that I swan around reading foreign newspapers, despite the impression I may give.
- I’m busy and don’t care.
But luckily, I did hear about the aviation story of the century.
I can’t read French, but I do know that Bagarre means “fight”. What is the worst thing two pilots can do while they are supposed to be flying a plane? It’s a fight in the cockpit.
This wasn’t a spat, where the pilot came on the PA and said, “Welcome to Air France. I am Phillipe, and I am your pilot today. The co-pilot on the flight today is Jacques, who is a stinky head,” followed by an announcement from Jacques informing us that he was not a stinky head and Phillipe was not only a liar but also a poor boules player. Later, Phillipe comes back to inform the passengers that he was an above-average boules player, but Jacques was, according to his wife, an inadequate lover.
No, this was full-on fisticuffs, taking place in the cockpit of an Airbus A320. During a flight in June from Geneva to Paris
“It was then that I body slammed my co-pilot, Jacques, your honour, and his foot caught the lever that caused the engine to stall and the plane to nose dive, killing all but five people on board.” A scene from the upcoming trial.
The fight was so bad that the cabin crew had to intervene when they heard the ruckus.
They separated the pilots, and one crew member stayed in the cockpit until the plane landed. I hope they had to sit in between them, similar to how you separate toddlers, except this time there were hundreds of lives at stake.
An A320 has about 170 passengers on board. It’s not a very big plane. Every single passenger could have heard the fist fight taking place up front.
Air France has suspended the two pilots and would like us to know that the fight didn’t affect the flight at all. If that is true, what do pilots do? If you are driving a car on the highway and start a fight with the front seat passenger, it’s going to affect the drive.
Air France has been having a rough time of it of late. French aviation regulators issued a report last week saying Air France had “a culture which lacked rigour when it comes to safety procedures.” I wonder where that idea comes from? If two adults, brawling instead of flying a plane doesn’t scream safe, what exactly does it do?
The only silver lining is that while most airlines are cutting everything they can and charging for what was once considered a part of the core service, like luggage fees, it’s nice that Air France is bucking the trend by adding a show.
To answer the title it takes a lot to get fired from Air France.
