United GRU-ORD Divert to MIA to Offload Purser

[Juud]

Many here are unwilling or unable to see past the in-your face tone of some of Rainboeīs posts. In some ways understandable, but unfortunate none the less.
Unfortunate especially for those who do not work within civil aviation yet come to PPRuNe because they are interested in our world. If you allow yourself to look beyond Rainboeīs tone, the man is a goldmine.
A goldmine when it comes to explaining what actually happens on-board but beyond the view of the pax.
A goldmine when it comes to explaining why things happen.
A goldmine when it comes to explaining how pilots think, how they work together, how the decision making process works on board and how professional cockpit and cabin personnel interact with each other and with various ground departments.
If you are here to learn, you can do a lot worse than absorbing a Rainboe-rant.
If you are here merely to opine on things you really do not know about, absorbing a Rainboe-rant is just the ticket as well.

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The case at hand. None of us knows what really happens. From what we read by BoF, with Airbubba corroborating that the Captn in question is not for the moment flying, we can form an opinion. Based on scant facts.
Standard procedure in my particular airline is that when management or the authorities feel the need to look into the actions of crew members involved in whatever kind of incident (or behaviour that was unlawful/in contradiction of SOPs even if the behaviour did not lead to incident), all crew members directly involved are suspended from flying duties until the facts are clear and decisions have been made.
Do we know for a fact, other than from BoF, that the Purser in question was not suspended? We donīt.
And if she wasnīt, to me that seems very odd indeed.

In this post BoF describes what went down according to him/her.

1. The Captn informed the Purser that he wanted the crew decs.
2. The Purser, instead of complying, asked if she could supply them at a later time, more convenient to her.
3. The Captn informed the Purser that he wanted the crew decs immediately.
4. Instead of delivering them in the normal fashion, the Purser pushed them under the cockpit door.

BoF seems to think that the above scenario clearly puts the Captn in the wrong, and the Purser in the right.
Reading it with my CSD/Sr Purser half-spectacles on, I disagree with BoF.
If the Captan wants the crew decs right now, itīs the Purserīs job to supply the crew decs right now. Chain of command, easy peasy.
As per BoF, it takes 30 secs to fill them out. On an 11 hour flight, the Purser has the time to both fill them out, go through the procedure of getting into the cockpit and hand them to the Captn without this in any way shape or form impacting negatively on the service to the pax.
Yes it is inconvenient, yes it seems to the Purser unreasonable and illogical but as Purser, thatīs what you have to deal with.
Heīs the Captn, youīre the Purser, and as long as a request from the Captn doesnīt put peopleīs lives in danger, you deal with a Captnīs request promptly and courteously.
If you have understood during the trip that the guy is difficult, hard to please and a pain in the rear, it is your responsibility to deal with his requests even more promptly and more courteously to avoid exactly the kind of thing that happened here.

Many here harp on about how it is possible for a Captn to lose it. Yes it is possible, but it is very very unlikely. In 28 years on the line, I have never seen it happen, nor have I ever heard about it from colleagues.
I have seen guys who in my and other peopleīs opinion were not fit to be Captn, and invariably they were eventually retrained, retired or demoted.
In a large airline, where the pilot department is still run by pilots rather than beancounters, the system works. Not always quickly, but it works.
The chance that a mentally unstable individual becomes and remains Captain in a company like United is infinitesimal.
Difficult, arrogant, hard to work with, yes they exist.
Mentally unstable, very very unlikely.

As Purser, you have many different responsibilities, requiring a diverse set of skills. One of the responsibilities is dealing with Captains who are not to your liking and whose requests clearly demonstrate a lack of understanding for and empathy with their cabin crew.
Winding up a Captn who has an inflated sense of his own importance is the easiest thing in the world for any Purser worth his/her stripes.
Been there, done that.
Dealing with such an individual without anything escalating can make your blood boil and give you an instant ulcer, but it is the only professional option. That and reporting him after the trip for his unreasonable behaviour.
The ability to deal effectively with a well known īdifficultī Captn should certainly be part of an experienced Purserīs skill set.

This Captain and Purser were unable to complete a normal 4 day trip together.
From what BoF writes, it reads to me as if both, in different ways, failed to uphold the professional standard demanded by their rank and their pay.