Mr Chips,
If someone has a problem with me and is too weak or too vindictive to approach me with his/ her problem, then I'm afraid, in my opinion, s/he is either spineless, or a snitch, or possibly both. How would you handle the problem?
Yes , James was doing his job, but I believe the way he handled it resulted in too severe a punishment. Had he instead, for example, approached the cap, then if no satisfactory response was forthcoming approached the company, threatened further action. This may have seen the pilot even lose his job, but 6 months in the slammer is ridiculous.