That was the best blog on the subject I have read so far!!Pablo's problems of over exuberance were,it seems,the main problem,and this incident was the final straw.However,the relationship with passengers has been lost for ever,as allowing them up front on a normal farepaying flights does not bode well for flight safety,with the possibility of one being a Numbskull fundamentalist!!We used to allow them up to the cockpit for the Take Off and Landing,especially during the Year of the Child telethon.We auctioned these positions,as did Air Traffic for descents and climbs,and provided several hundreds of pounds in Donations.The Roaring Lights of the Auroraborialis was another that we auctioned off to the passengers.If the Law now prohibits this,then it is a great shame,but there we are.How many of us now really enjoy this job?We monitor a series of screens,and sit with 5 computers doing the job we used to love.Hand Flying is now a NO No!!!A friend of mine was threatened with "Swords and Medals" confrontation with the Boss,if he dared fly his 747 manually.Do Pilots get any respite from the boring drone of a several hours flight now,unless they wander down the cabin,and chat to the odd interested passenger,or chat with the cabin staff?Most Companies impose a No Chinwagging policy below 10,000 feet,except for checks,so this also can result in Tea and Biscuits .The spy in the Sky,which HR and other gnomes frequently monitor makes for a very boring existence.I can think of No other reason for letting off steam,especially if you have a Charter Flight,where everyone is known to each other in the cabin,and relations between Cockpit and Cabin would be a "Good Thing",to quote" 1066 and All that".We will be hung up on racks in the future and fed into the cockpit on rails,like Thunderbirds,and then put back on hooks after the job is done.Is this how future Airline Pilots will end up????
