Another Captain W.O.W. case at Delta.
Grounded Delta Pilot Wins Back Pay Following Dispute Over Mental Fitness By Martha Brannigan
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Nov. 19, 1999 2:20 am ET
ATLANTA -- A Delta Air Lines captain who was grounded by the carrier five years ago over concerns about his mental fitness has been awarded partial back pay in an arbitration proceeding.
Wayne O. Witter, known by his initials as "Captain WOW," has been waging a legal battle against Delta since 1994, seeking reinstatement in his job and back pay. The Atlanta-based carrier had removed him from duty and questioned his mental fitness to fly after he got into an argument with his co-pilot and flight engineer in the cockpit. That incident followed his arrest and commitment to a psychiatric hospital after he was accused of threatening his wife.
Capt. Witter, of Dunwoody, Ga., declined to comment on the award, which was granted Nov. 5 by a private arbitrator appointed under the pilots' union contract. A Delta spokesman also declined to comment.
Capt. Witter, a Boeing 727 captain, had flown for Delta for more than 20 years at the time of the cockpit incident. His case was the subject of a page-one article in The Wall Street Journal in 1996, highlighting the difficulties airlines and regulators face in determining when a pilot's mental state is grounds for removing him from duty.
Capt. Rick Columbia, an official with the Air Lines Pilot Association at Delta, said the union supported the captain because it believes that Delta was using the medical-certification process for disciplinary purposes. "Wayne was a very strong personality, which is one of the things that most irritated the corporation," he said.