Just suppose the Captain had said something along the following lines:
'Oh these excuses, heard them all before. (As we have and so have you!) It would have been nice if Servisair (or whatever) had sent us out that gorgeous new bird working in dispatch. That would have brightened up the morning a bit.'
Would that be construed as sexist, defamatory or disgraceful?
It is absolutely no different in content from the reported comment that, subject to vocal tonality, which cannot reasonably be reported, amounts to not a great deal really.
