Stilton Says:
That's my point, she did NOT do what she was trained to and did NOT follow company policy.
Do you know this for a fact, or are you just making stuff up?
I worked for a major competitor of UAL so I don't know their policy but I would be surprised if it was not the same as at my airline. It was written right in the policy manual that in cases like this we should put the best qualified person the empty seat even if that meant a flight attendant. In addition, we trained for it in the sim. Furthermore, landing the aircraft solo would subject the F/O to criticism and at a minimum a "rug dance" in the Chief Pilot's office or even a hearing. I've never been, but they used to say "You won't like it. To start with, all the ash trays are at the other end of the table".
If you are actually a pilot (in real life, not just on the Internet), please post your company and full name so if I ever get on a flight and hear it mentioned on the PA I can bail out before they remove the jetway.
